the maoster:
if a police officer caught you doing 60 mph in a HGV on the motorway he would be within his rights to start a prosecution against you. The reasons being, that assuming your vehicle is new enough to require a limiter then either the limiter is defective (an offence) or your vehicle is coasting downhill (an offence).
You cannot be prosecuted for doing 60mph. So lets take it step at a time
You can drive with a defective limiter, it depends upon when its found and reported.
I too was under the impression that coasting downhill was illegal, but perhaps not as such. Most if not all the new opti cruise/auto boxes do it themselves.
the maoster:
What part of that was unclear?
Thatâll be the bit where you say youâll get done for doing 60mph !!
Mike trust me on this, the points on my licence tell me that you can be prosecuted for doing 60 on the m way.
Iâll tell you the story. M1 southbound, 51 plate truck just under 44 tonne, the long drag down to Leicester services (most folk will know this long downhill section) I let it run at 60 touch the exhaust brake now and again, just before the services the pretty blue plain wrapper behind me hits the blue lights. I pull in to be cautioned by the officer for speeding. End result 3 unwanted points. Unfair, yes. The law, yes.
the maoster:
Mike trust me on this, the points on my licence tell me that you can be prosecuted for doing 60 on the m way.
Iâll tell you the story. M1 southbound, 51 plate truck just under 44 tonne, the long drag down to Leicester services (most folk will know this long downhill section) I let it run at 60 touch the exhaust brake now and again, just before the services the pretty blue plain wrapper behind me hits the blue lights. I pull in to be cautioned by the officer for speeding. End result 3 unwanted points. Unfair, yes. The law, yes.
How fast where you going? The law clearly states the limit is 60mph? And as far as iâm aware you have to break it to get points. You must have been going faster than 60mph.
scottishcruiser:
If the law is 90kmh why is it you can do 60mph/100kmh on the motorways?
The law says the limiter must be set to 90 kph,but we are all prone to a bit of overspeeding on a downhill stretch,so the legal speed limit is still 60 mph.
The speed limiter setting of 56 mph/90 kmh is what has been worked out by the boffins as the most economical top speed.
I donât know if its still the case, but, a Tacho Fitter type person told me about ten years ago, the limiter can be set at 85 kmh with + 4 kmh tolerance. I would much prefer as much as poss, 100 kmh was much more sensible. But, has anyone seen in official writing that the the limiter should be set at 90 kmh ?
Next time anyone speaks to a Tacho Fitter person ask for the latest gen please.
Honestly mate I kid you not. Average speed of 59 point something over a measured distance approaching 2 miles. Iâd been warned of this before by another traffic cop, but never in a month of Sundays did I think theyâd actually enforce it.
the maoster:
Honestly mate I kid you not. Average speed of 59 point something over a measured distance approaching 2 miles. Iâd been warned of this before by another traffic cop, but never in a month of Sundays did I think theyâd actually enforce it.
Did you accept a fixed penalty or did you go to court?
As from 1st January 1996 (1st January 1995 in the case of vehicles used on international transport operations) all goods vehicles first used on or after 1st January 1988, with a maximum gross weight exceeding 12 tonnes and with a maximum speed exceeding 56 mph when a speed limiter is not fitted will have to be fitted with a speed limiter. The speed limiter will have to be adjusted so that the stabilised speed of the vehicle is not more than 56 mph. If the vehicle is first used on or after 1st October 1994 or the speed limiter is fitted after that date,
Stabilised speedâŚThink youâll find this means that a vehicle cannot go faster than this under its own power and therefore the max speed limit is 60mph as per the following
buck73:
can i ask why speed limiters are set to between 52-56?,is it age related?,why not set them all to 56?.the reason i ask is because,whichever truck i get,it always seems to be the slowest in the fleet.newer trucks in our fleet,also of the same make older or newer fly past mine like im stood still.i borrowed âthe petsâ sat nav last week,and on there it says im doing 52 flat out,yet my speedo reads dead on 90 kph.its an 07 daf cf by the way.
Your tacho is out of caliberation. So report it.
Are your tyres on the drive axle worn? If so get it caliberated, Then get some new tyres on it. But donât put the new ones on first.
Ok your tacho will be out by a little but itâll be the right side of 56.
I was lead to believe the tacho was calibrated at the gearbox, so it wouldnât make any difference.
Trust me it does make a difference, my gaffer used to take the truck in with 295âs on the drive to have the calibration done, then straight back to the yard and swop them for 315âs
the maoster:
At the risk of putting my head above the parapet and having it shot off. I was under the impression that the limit was left at 60mph, because itâs a bit of a pain to actually change a law, and with the advent of limiters it was deemed unneccessary to do that. The limit for HGVâs on a MâWay is actually 56mph, any over that and you risk falling foul of the law (zero speedo error allowed with a tacho). Also (Iâm sure Rog will correct me if Iâm wrong) it is illegal to coast in a vehicle as it is deemed that the driver is not in control of said vehicle, so doing 60mph downhill is also an offence. I stand to be corrected here, but this is what Iâve always been lead to believe
Every single I -shift that is being driven properly will be coasting on any down slope.Obviously retarder kicks in on the eco roll setting if the driver has set it to not run over 60 mph.
limeyphil:
As we all know limiters are supposed to be set between 52mph and 56 mph.
So if you set your limiter to 58mph. you are breaking a silly law.
IF you set your limiter to 50mph. Are you breaking the same silly law?
To get someone to actually set it to 58 you might need a trip to possibly Eire or Holland.
I asked the Dft why a UK limiter should be set at 56mph and not 60mph? Is it because there has to be a tolerance of 4mph for over running down hills?
The reply was "No. Itâs because the speed limit for HGVâs in most other EU member states is 90kph/56mph and nothing to do with over running. The speed limit remains at 60mph for HGVâs on motorways in the UK. This was confirmed in the high court when a judge stated that there canât be 2 speed limits.
Vosaâs reply to this was âwe shall still keep persuing this through the courtsâ
A speed limiter has a tolerance of +/-5%.
The terminology has been changed a few times over the years, But prety much means the same.
So therefore if you get pulled and they say your card shows no more than 63mph. Then you canât be breaking the law.
None of the above means you can set your limiter to more than 56mph though, as that comes under construction and use regs.
And donât mention tolerances when you get pulled because all they say isâŚ
âWeâve already taken that into accountâ
Someone mentioned coasting down hill being illegal. Firstly the defenition of coasting would be to select neutral or disengage the clutch. To the best of my knowledge this is not actually illegal, although I stand to be corrected but it could constitute dangerous driving if proven and I do not consider it safe in any vehicle. Secondly, every truck I have driven is quite capable of reaching and exceeding 60mph downhill, and I have no problem allowing it to do 60mph as that is the stated legal limit. By doing so I have not interfered with the limiter and as far as I am concerned it is perfectly legal.
I have asked a couple of traffic police friends about this, and they agree that the limit is 60mph. Provided the limiter is working and correctly set they would not consider reporting a LGV for 60mph if it were safe.
buck73:
can i ask why speed limiters are set to between 52-56?,is it age related?,why not set them all to 56?.the reason i ask is because,whichever truck i get,it always seems to be the slowest in the fleet.newer trucks in our fleet,also of the same make older or newer fly past mine like im stood still.i borrowed âthe petsâ sat nav last week,and on there it says im doing 52 flat out,yet my speedo reads dead on 90 kph.its an 07 daf cf by the way.
DAFs have a real problem mate. We had some brand new 56 plate CFâs tri axle tractors delivered with auto box when I was at M&S. They went like â â â â off a shovel. I mean they absolutely left bulk tippers standing. One of our drivers got pulled by the Police. They asked him how fast he was going, the tacho readout and the speedo readout both said 90kph. They said he was doing 64mph!!!
The trucks had to be sent back to DAF to be sorted. Even though the registered speed was 56mph, they were doing 64mph.
They also had problems with the rear axle securing bolts and fifth wheel bolts being loose. We only found out when one of the axles moved about 20 deg.
Report it as a defect. Request it be taken to Lucas or someone and have the calibration checked.
the maoster:
At the risk of putting my head above the parapet and having it shot off. I was under the impression that the limit was left at 60mph, because itâs a bit of a pain to actually change a law, and with the advent of limiters it was deemed unneccessary to do that. The limit for HGVâs on a MâWay is actually 56mph, any over that and you risk falling foul of the law (zero speedo error allowed with a tacho). Also (Iâm sure Rog will correct me if Iâm wrong) it is illegal to coast in a vehicle as it is deemed that the driver is not in control of said vehicle, so doing 60mph downhill is also an offence. I stand to be corrected here, but this is what Iâve always been lead to believe
Sorry mate, but the legal speed limit for a goods vehicle is 60MPH on a motorway. The speed limiter SHOULD be set at 85kph (look for the 85kph set speed sticker in a new truck) but you are allowed to have it set up to 90kph.
As for coasting. You can coast down a hill, as when driving an auto box like the I-Shift after 90kph there is no power input. Strictly speaking you are not coasting because the auto box is still engaged. But as long as you stay at 60mph or below you are not braking the law. All that happens is that the digitach flashes that you have overspeed. You can also set the over run on a Volvo so the retarder doesnât come in until say 100kph.
Iâve never had an overspeed violation on my tacho infringement reports, and I let her go.
As for getting done on a motorway for doing 59.*mph, I would have gone to court over that.
The pain in the arse is that you have a UK speed limit - 60mph/hgv/motorways and an EU regulation - hgvâs above 12 tonnes, limited to 85kph (+/- 5% or is it 5kph, I canât remember). The EU regs supercede the older UK law on vehicles that are recent enough to come under them. (I think that makes sense ) The tolerance on the 85 kph generally brings most trucks upto 90kph/56mph. For trucks between 7.5 tonnes and 12 tonnes there is a different type of limiter, so with the tolerances taken into account this can legally bring them upto 60mph.
As for lowering the limiters top speed, I think this is supposed to be a way of acheiving better fuel economy.
Smee:
I say again the Highway Code quite clearly says the maximum speed for LGVs on a motorway is 60mph. What part of this is unclearâŚ
Whoa, easy there tiger. Whilst I agree that the speed limit for a HGV is 60mph, the point I was trying to make (now fasten your seatbelt 'cos this doesnât conform to âThe world according to Smeeâ) is that if a police officer caught you doing 60 mph in a HGV on the motorway he would be within his rights to start a prosecution against you. The reasons being, that assuming your vehicle is new enough to require a limiter then either the limiter is defective (an offence) or your vehicle is coasting downhill (an offence).
What part of that was unclear?
By using the term,âCoastingâ,I assume you mean out of gear,now that is dodgy.What the majority of posters mean I am sure is,âOver runâ,going downhill when the weight of the vehicle takes you above your govered speed.
I am sure most of us,as myself,allow the truck to over run up to 60 mph.
As long as it states in the Highway Code in black and white that the motoway speed limit is 60 mph,notwithstanding the speed limiter,I donât see how any procecution can stand up,Iâd be willing to challenge it.
Further to my last post,heard on the news this morning mention of bringing in more severe penalties for,âExcessive speedersâ.These are the ones we see every day doing a ton and getting away with it.
One point mentioned was,âACPO generally allows 10% over the speed limitâ!
Therefore,if plod decides to nail you for exceeding your governed speed but you have not exceeded 60 mph,whereâs the case?
There is a difference between speed limit and speed limiter!
) The tolerance on the 85 kph generally brings most trucks upto 90kph/56mph. For trucks between 7.5 tonnes and 12 tonnes there is a different type of limiter, so with the tolerances taken into account this can legally bring them upto 60mph.