i was just thinking today whilst i was driving at 40 mph with a huge que of traffic behind me on a single carriageway,
i was wondering what the statistics are for accidents on the roads, and how many accidents where truckers to blame for, it just seems to me that 40 mph is a ridiculous speed on a half decent sized road, and if the road was smaller then surely the driver shuld use his professionilism and decide the speed him self… 40mph is a joke i think…
and i also think that the majority of truckers could drive a lorry safer at 54 mph than some of the eejits driving cars.could at 40…
I agree, but I can’t see them putting the limit on single carriageway roads up to 50, even where it would seem appropriate.
For one thing, most truck drivers would see it as carte blanche to drive on the limiter, everywhere.
Another reason, can you imagine the hue and cry from BRAKE and their contemporaries? We would all go deaf.
One final reason. In theory, a car should be able to pass an artic doing 40 very easily. Accelerating from 40 to 60 plus a car should get passed in say 500 yards roughly■■?
Accelerating from 50 to 60 plus, passing could take 1/2 a mile. So the car is in a dangerous position for much longer.
(The distances I’ve used are only to illustrate the difference)
Now we all know that even at 40, in reality, a few cars will pass you easily, quickly and safely. Then you will get some inconsiderate idiot behind you who will sit out but be waiting for the letter you sent three weeks ago, to tell them when it would be safe for them to overtake. Even when you get a mile long straight with nothing in sight, they will still be behind you at the end of it, still waiting for that letter.
Pretty soon, you are at the head of a mile long conga.
BRAKE are campaigning to get the national speed limit dropped from 60 to 50, so there’s no way in a million years that the truck speed limit will be increased. Forget it.
Frankly I don’t see what the fuss is. Like Simon says, a car should easily be able to overtake a truck doing 40mph. Hell, I overtook an Irlam’s artic in my artic only a few hours ago on the A43 between Corby and the A1 as he was doing 40mph and I wanted to do 56, and didn’t have any passing problems.
Personally I think that the majority of accidents that involve cars getting hit by a HGV are caused by the drivers of cars not understanding what it takes to drive such a big vehicle. I know we all like to get to our destination quick but a few drivers will take stupid risks to do so.
When I am out in by car and I get stuck behind a HGV or a coach I just accept that the driver of the that vehicle is complying with the law. After all its better to get somewhere late and in one piece than not to get there at all.
So, you do a run in x amount of time at 56mph and get y pay, or you do the run in z amount of time (sticking to speed limits = another hour+ at least) and still get y pay. It’s a no brainer to me.
If you want to do the speed limits then fine, I have no problem with that, but I’d like to do 56mph thanks. What’s it got to do with you what I’m doing? Is it affecting you? No. End of.
All this 40 mph on single roads make me laugh big time
The only people i see doing 40 mph on singles are shopping trolleys .So either the rest of you are lieing or you work for not so supermarkets .
paul@midway:
All this 40 mph on single roads make me laugh big time
The only people i see doing 40 mph on singles are shopping trolleys .So either the rest of you are lieing or you work for not so supermarkets .
With insurance companies putting up rates for drivers with 2 speeding endorsments the cost of speeding can make the difference between making a living and not. Couple that with the cost of the fine and increased private car insurance and I think you are a braver man than me.
Theres another aspect now, have an accident at 56 in a 40 and you can kiss the licence goodbye for a while.
I personally think that 40 on a single causes accidents except when the roads are narrow and twisting but I dont want to register my protest by losing my licence
paul@midway:
The only people i see doing 40 mph on singles are shopping trolleys …
With a lot of the supermarkets stuff Paul if you go fast at all you end up scraping your load of the floor an putting it back in cages/on pallets. They don’t load them to good, heavy drinks/tins etc. on top of little plastic pots etc.
i still think that 40 on a long straight road is to slow, but obviously depending on the road and if its full of bad bends or not is a big factor, if its a windy road then common sense tells me to go slow…
i don’t have half the experience that most of you guys do but i know this much… i absolutely DESPISE single carriageways. Being confined to 40 is a good thing in some respects but also gives rise to potentially dangerous situations when someone impatient is behind you.
I HATE having to look in my right mirror and “hope for the best” every time i see traffic approaching - there’s been some close calls, some people are absolute morons. Just out of interest is there some kind of signal you can give to the driver behind you to say “yes it is now safe to overtake me”, so far all i’ve been doing is just slowing down and keeping left, but if there is some universal signal i’d like to know from you guys… cheers
Smile!. In answer to your question about signals, it used to be common practice if safe for an overtake, to flick the left indicator to let following cars know ,BUT in these days of H&S and compensation culture etc if that drivers manouvre went pear shaped then it’s more than likley when plod turns up YOU will be to blame I don’t bother anymore , let em’ wait.
shade:
Smile!. In answer to your question about signals, it used to be common practice if safe for an overtake, to flick the left indicator to let following cars know ,BUT in these days of H&S and compensation culture etc if that drivers manouvre went pear shaped then it’s more than likley when plod turns up YOU will be to blame I don’t bother anymore , let em’ wait.
And before such things as flashing indicators were invented, we just used to wind down the window and wave them past . Shade has a good point above though, you are relying on the muppets who are slow on the uptake not to get the message too late and then bang into something.
Spanish hands will correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe it was obligatory to fit and use green lights to the back end to signal ‘clear to pass’. It may well have been illegal for following drivers to not wait for the green light and pass anyway.
40 mph on single carraigeways is just about right, I generally set the limiter at 44 and chill, after all its a limit not a target and I really don’t care who i hold up.
Trouble is the 40Mph limit applies to all single carriageway roads, that dont have a lower limit.
There are some where yes you probably could drive at 50 in perfect safety, however there are a lot of them that i wouldnt even do 30 on. That even applies to some A roads.
What ever speed you drive at there will always be some idiot who thinks he should go faster. I dont drive anywhere fast, no point, though i drive at the speed limit conditions permitting, no matter what i’m driving.
Even if you’re in a car doing 60 on a single carriageway you’ll still get some peice of turd stuck to your arse, and decide you’re not going fast enough.
Here’s something to think about too, if the limit ‘was’ raised then in theory you could do more work in a day, so TM’s would expect drivers to do more work, which means they would ‘need less drivers’ to do the same amount of work we do now…
another thing that i dont understand, and that confuses me is, that on a single carriageway have to do 40mph, now, this road could be a huge wide road and i still have to do fourty, but take for example the centre of any towns, such as leeds where i was last week, on narrow raods in a built up area with loads of house driveways and loads of junctions and kids playing i can still do 40mph… there is a big difference on some roads in relation to safety.
. Shade has a good point above though, you are relying on the muppets who are slow on the uptake not to get the message too late and then bang into something. 