I feel this may have been touched on around here before, so apologies if so.
As the name implies, I’m pretty new to this lorry driving malarkey, but I drove buses for 12 years (dons tin hat), did local, Nat. Express, excursion work, a bit of everything. Anyway, less about me, I’ll cut to the chase.
A-roads. A double deck bus, fully loaded, can weigh somewhere in the region of 17 tonnes. This vehicle can legally travel at 50mph. An empty 7.5t lorry, or any empty lorry, legally must travel at 40mph. Ok, I’ll hold my hands up and state that I tend to drive at 50 when I can (TBF, the A-roads around here are fairly straight and easy to negotiate), but is the 40 limit for HGV’s outdated? I mean, gone are the days of drum brakes and hoping you could find a lower gear in time, the majority of the nation’s trucks now have state-of-the-art ABS systems, Jake brakes, etc., and I don’t know if anyone feels similar, but I find if I’m moving that bit quicker, I concentrate that bit harder. I also believe that increasing the limit could actually lessen accident numbers, as less people would be inclined to take unnecessary risks.
So come on, do your worst and call me an irresponsible so and so, but I’d say there’s an argument for saying that a lorry can be just as safe, if not safer, on such roads. Thoughts?
I’ll be the first to post (maybe 2nd) but please look at previous posts - been done to death on numerous occasions but look on the bright side…this will still make 2 pages
Silver_Surfer:
I think they’re looking at putting it up to 50 from 40.
Sorry, forgot about the obsession with speed kills etc speed limit will never be raised - they are lowering all over especially near schools with mandatory 20mph
Silver_Surfer:
I think they’re looking at putting it up to 50 from 40.
Yes, they are looking to increase it. I understand that it’s likely the law will be changed in 2014. Too late for me, having been done driving my last lorry on the A1 (in the early hours of the morning) doing 50 when I should’ve been doing 40, despite the road being at the national speed limit on that stretch!
It is about time, as previous posters has said, it is actually more dangerous for other road users due to (almost) every one of them risking life & limb to get around!!
Whilst searching for the above I came across something from January 1953 where they were talking about the fact that speed limits did not apply to empty lorries!
I read that they’d abandoned the S/C speed increase, mostly due to
those irritating vegetable-eating,tree-hugging,sandle-wearing,teetotal,Prius-driving,
Clarkson-hating,eco-friendly,re-cycling liberal objectors.
[present company excluded ]
The amount of abuse I get on the roads from impatient idiots is unreal, doing delivery work around Exeter where the roads are practically all 20mph in the center. I stick to that speed, I will not risk my clean licence for anyone, specially someone who is impatient and being a dip stick hooting his horn in anger…
]