No-one has yet mentioned the fact that by actually talking about the “HGV 40 limit” on national radio has now informed about 7 or 8 million people that the limit for HGVs is 40mph on SC.
If in that 7 to 8 million people 10% actualy remember we can only do 40 that is still approx 3/4 million people that have now stopped winging that HGVs are holding them up on purpose.
Lets face it, the limit is never going to be raised for several reasons…
Too many voters will winge about speeding HGVs
Loss of revenue via Scamera vans
There is a bit of leeway anyway…ie 40 + 10% is 44mph …up the limit to 50 and +10% gives 55, so every one would be flying around on the limiter !
Trucks at 40 holds up the general public and even taking into account the numpty overtaking, the majority of cars are quite happy to sit at 40 like sheep, thus reducing the accident rate anyway.
The answer to the problem of speed differences is education,education,education, to quote a phrase. The more motorists that know the different limits of different vehicles the better.
This should all be addressed at the early stages of the driving test.
Ideally school kids in their final year should do Driver Ed as in the States and get the theory test passed BEFORE they leave school.
There is a bit of leeway anyway…ie 40 + 10% is 44mph …up the limit to 50 and +10% gives 55, so every one would be flying around on the limiter !
True speedometers are allowed 10% error, and your car will still pass MOT, suppose your speedo is reading ‘slow’, ie an indicated 40mph is actually you doing 42 mph now to be ‘reasonable’ you up the speed to an indicated 44mph, now your actually doing 46mph, enough to set a gatso off, same scenario at 50 mph etc,
I’ve been reading various reports from different EU countries ,there are calls for a europe wide max speed limt of 80 kph for lgv’s, to make up for the lack of ‘progress’ on the motorways trucks will no doubt ‘plough on’ at 80 kph wherever they can do it ,speed limiters do not prevent speeding on unsuitable roads, but stop trucks from ‘speeding’ on a motorway, you cant make this stuff up…
Most speedo’s read OVER by upto 10%, they are never supposed to read UNDER. Now, let’s say you’ve got a Ford Mondeo, it’s available with wheels ranging from 14" - 19" out of the showroom. The speedo should read somewhere near on the 19" wheels, do you think they recalibrate the speedo for every set of wheels?
The 10% + 2 is only a guide, it’s not rigid and can be individually set by each council. Stockport / Cheshire council famously had some roadworks cameras set at +1mph on the M60 40mph stretch about 12yrs ago, people went to the papers after getting tickets doing 41mph in a 40, and basically were told that they were doing 41mph in a 40, hence were speeding, the daft gits argued that they weren’t even doing 45 on their speedo so shouldn’t have got done
I check all my speedo’s against my sat nav or my old garmin gps device, give’s me a rough idea how accurate they are - and, to be honest, most have been within 1 or 2 mph at 60mph, nowhere near the 10% most people say, and then I drive with my speedo reading the speed limit anyway, that way I’m under. If I have my sat nav on, I’ll use that speedo (since I stick it over my speedo anyway) but still stay under the limit, so 40mph on single carriageway’s. Not 44 or 45, but 40.
bit of a grey one this ?
I think most drivers can sus the roads out & there’s no way i’d drive over 40 on the A39 for instance from Glastonbry > Bridgwater but i’d happily run at 50 along the A361 Tiverton > Barnstable although i do stick to 40 We got stickers in the cab of the various speed limits for various roads a basic company message that says ‘well at least our bums covered’ ! it makes my day longer , but hey what doesn’t get done today will have to wait till tomorrow.
Maybe a compromise for 45mph would suffice ? it’s surprising how mentaly acceptable those few MPH make you feel like yer going at a half sensible speed instead of that dawdling feeling of the day sliping past you .
after all the limits were introduced when a driver would almost physicaly have to stand on the brakes just to slow it down let alone stop it !
How long have these speed limits been in force?
Lorries are far safer nowadays, it’s not speed thats a problem it’s inappropriate speed!
I can get across woodhead on the limiter in a powder tank, wouldn’t dream of doing that with other types of trailer! So if you up the limit then you’d still have people whining because driver A in tanker can throw it about, but driver B who doesn’t want a creamy mess in the back is taking it steady!
And I can be found on the limiter when safe to do so(not in built up areas) & I’m hourly paid! Work to live, not live to work!
And while we’re at it. Lets get rid of the limiters, sick and tired of dual carriageway standoffs with 2 trucks side by side forever! That ■■■■■■ people off more IMO than 40mph on a SC.
our TM once had a call from a woman who was being held up at 40 mph by one of our bag lorries , only to be told that the driver was legal , he then asked her if she was on hands free to which she replied no after which a few seconds of silence when the penny dropped , she hung up
limeyphil:
the speed limit should be the same for all vehicles.
just because you can do 60mph in a car, dosn’t mean you do that sort of speed if it isn’t safe.
hourly rate should be banned, it makes people drive at ridiculously low and dangerous speeds.
far too many jobsworth pricks coming into the job.
Really??.. there are a lot of DWLs (dicks with licences) that run on single carriageways at 56 when it aint safe, and as for hourly rate being banned , are you serious? it,s one of the reasons that most drivers benefit by sticking to speed limits, or are they “jobsworth pricks” for trying to keep a clean licence?
Why are BRAKE given any airtime when all they spout is “speed kills”? They’re just a bunch of parents who wont accept that their kid would still be alive if he hadn’t driven like a ■■■■■, instead blaming anyone else who goes above 50mph.
If I hear a BRAKE spokesman being introduced I switch off for a bit, they’re not worth the time of day. A bit like Greenpeace, CPRE and prison reform muppets.
Muckaway:
Why are BRAKE given any airtime when all they spout is “speed kills”? They’re just a bunch of parents who wont accept that their kid would still be alive if he hadn’t driven like a ■■■■■, instead blaming anyone else who goes above 50mph.
If I hear a BRAKE spokesman being introduced I switch off for a bit, they’re not worth the time of day. A bit like Greenpeace, CPRE and prison reform muppets.
Harsh but true.
I’d say that most - NOT ALL - people who die on the roads are idiots, either driving like idiots, or stupid pedestrians who think they’re tougher than a car / bus / van / truck - how often have you had someone just stroll across the road in front of you?, or a ■■■■■■■■ cyclist who decides he’ll go up the inside of this truck / bus with the left indicator on etc.
There are of course the innocents that get killed / injured every year, but in all honesty, I bet they’re the exception rather than the rule.
I get sick of hearing off parents who’s kid drove into a tree saying “this road’s been bad for as long as I can remember, something should have been done before now”, if it’s been that bad for that long, why not point this out to your kid, so they don’t go driving down it like a ■■■■ and hit the tree that’s been there 120 years
Adding to what Waynedl said about stupidity, there was a fatal accident in the Swindon area a few months back where a 19 year old passenger in a Corsa was killed when said car (in a 30mph limit) left the road, hit a tree and caught fire. Cue the car pimping chavs all in support blah blah blah and not one asking in the papers’ comments section how can you lose control on a straight bit of road in a built up area, hit a tree and burn?
A few days later, any reference to the fact the car caught fire were removed (you could see from the pics the burnt tree and scorched road) and loads of praise and support for victim and driver.
I’m amazed BRAKE weren’t campaigning for roadside trees to be cut down…
After finally getting around to hearing the whole programme, I think that though this case has brought the HGV speed limit to slightly wider public attention, on this forum we know this has all been done to death many times before.
For me the whole point of this matter has not been mentioned: someone has at last chosen to go to court, even though he admitted guilt, to try to raise the matter of HGV speed limits being reviewed and for that Mr Kaye deserves some plaudits. Good on him for sacrificing a bit to raise the issue, though it is difficult. That terrible situation Mr Vain found himself in a while back springs to mind (re slower speeds encouraging dangerous overtaking) though perhaps it would have been inappropriate to raise the issue there: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=53977.
For example, the A15 near Snitterby (which I admit I have never been on) does not look the greatest of trunk roads - it looks like it’s not been much upgraded since Roman times (in comparison with e.g. modern bypasses). Maybe it would be appropriate to moderate one’s speed there, though I don’t think 48MPH is entirely excessive, depending on the circumstances. OTOH it was 0330 when he was caught so I presume it was the Gatso near the Blyborough turn-off that did it, for which I have little sympathy:- if you don’t notice that sort of thing and prepare to be legal well in advance - in his case, (Gatsos can differentiate between large and small vehicles and so will flag up e.g. 46MPH+ as a potential offence if detected as a large vehicle) then you are not paying full attention IMO.
Whereas the A361 in North Devon (as has been mentioned) is a modern road (1990s IIRC), wide single carriageway, on which it is relatively safer to get up to illegal speeds, not that I have ever taken an HGV up there either. It’s a fair bit hillier than most of Lincs though there are mobile and static cameras around.
