Although this subject has been raised many times on TruckNet and has support and opposition in equal numbers!
40mph speed limit too slow
Commercial Motor is running it’s Pushing 50 petition and you can write to Alistair Darling and ask him to increase the speed limit for trucks on single carriageway roads.
One of the problems is how can a road be upgraded to 50mph? Can you say that the A143 is safe to drive a truck at 50mph? I mean all the way from beginning to end.
Is the A15 suitable for 50mph trucks? Possibly yes, in places! that is where the problem lies. We dont have a variable speed limit for trucks in the UK and I envisage that the limits will be then set by local councils. Then instead of getting 50mph you will probably be limited to 30mph instead.
An example of this happened yesterday morning in Wales. I am near Abergavenny on a wide straight piece of single track A40. I know I can safely do 50 but up ahead there is a slight bend. I meet a tipper coming towards me on the wrong side of the road. Can we make the A40 one speed limit for trucks and another for cars? Then can we alter the speed limit for the truck back to 40 for 2 miles until the road straightens out again?
How can you have high unstable trucks doing 50 on a narrow twisty road? some are unsafe above 30mph
I was carrying a machine which was 9 feet high and 24 feet long and weighed eight tonnes at the front top corner and about one tonne for the cradle it was fastened onto. Some of the other roads I had to negotiate left barely room for a leaf between mirror arms of oncoming trucks. These were straight single lane carriageways with national speed limit signs shown! Would 50 be ok on these?
I feel that increasing the truck speed limits will cause more problems than it solves.
Instead of a few disgruntled car drivers trying suicidal manoevres, there will be trucks trying the same dangerous overtaking antics.
The outcome of this could be that the council will decide what road is suitable to do 50mph on and then put 7.5tonne weight limits on the others and 30mph or even 20 with traffic calming devices to keep the residents happy
I understand the need to petition for some limits to be raised but I think it is unworkable in its current form
The road speed setting policy is madness. All of the roads would have to be rated on merit, e.g. is it safe at that point of a road, not just a blanket limit. I mean, country lanes 6ft wide at 60mph! what genius thought that up? Same with the other roads, but it’ll take a lot of work. And what we up against to my mind is we are run largely by ■■■■■■■ that aint got a grain of common!
I agree with what your saying malc, its got to be on merit, if a road can take it, all good, if it cant then no. Blanket and bloody blinkered is what seems to run the show over here tho!
Commercial Motor are wasting their time it will NEVER happen, in these days of 20 mph limits being introduced in some areas and a lot of roads with limits being dropped elsewhere i,ll bet my house on it NEVER happening.
Theres the nimbys to start with then all the road action groups not a hope in hell of it ever happening.
Wheel Nut:
How can you have high unstable trucks doing 50 on a narrow twisty road? some are unsafe above 30mph
I was carrying a machine which was 9 feet high and 24 feet long and weighed eight tonnes at the front top corner and about one tonne for the cradle it was fastened onto. Some of the other roads I had to negotiate left barely room for a leaf between mirror arms of oncoming trucks. These were straight single lane carriageways with national speed limit signs shown! Would 50 be ok on these?
Oh dear…
YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE A PROFESSIONAL DRIVER. A speed limit is just that, A LIMIT!!. It is not a “must drive at”.
So what you’re telling me is that because all those lovely windy single track country lanes are signed as national speed limits, you’d drive down them in your car at 60 even though it felt unsafe?
WAKE UP!!!
As always, we’ll drive down the road at a speed siuitable so the good parts of the A15 will be done at 50MPH, the bad ones at a speed appropriate.
I’m not going to get involved in this thread
I’m not going to get involved in this thread
I’m not going to get involved in this thread
I’m not going to get involved in this thread…
Rob K:
I’m not going to get involved in this thread
I’m not going to get involved in this thread
I’m not going to get involved in this thread
I’m not going to get involved in this thread…
i take it rob that you ain’t going to get involved in this thread and why is that may i ask
i never take any notice of the posted limit
i drive as fast as I feel is safe
strangely this is usually LOWER than the posted limit on A roads
but just saying this i know all the PROFFESIONAL wingers will say i need my licence taking off of me
No easy answer for sure, but it does need looking into by competetant persons who have some idea of what they’re doing.
IMHO all roads would have to be assessed individually.
mezzzz1211:
i never take any notice of the posted limit
i drive as fast as I feel is safe
strangely this is usually LOWER than the posted limit on A roads
but just saying this i know all the PROFFESIONAL wingers will say i need my licence taking off of me
Well first of all you would have had to, just to pass your test!, so what you are saying is you passed your test, then forgot everything you were taught!
Its called making progress and if you fail to drive at the road limit chances are you will fail your test!
Limits are to be drove at! not above and where reasonably possible, not below!
I dont want to give the impression that i’m a speed crazed maniac, but 50mph We were on a work to rule at a firm i used to work for, this obviously meant adhering to speed limits, and i was surprised at the reaction that i was getting from some other wagon drivers, and as for the skateboard jockeys, well its surprising how small a gap a ford mondeo can get through when facing an oncoming 40 tonner. Now quiet clearly bad driving has no excuses, but on many ocasions i feel that had i been going just that 10mph more, bringing me upto 50mph my normal sought of speed for this type of road { and i know that this could be considered bad driving, but in my professional judgement its not } fewer of these type of incidence would’ve occured. And realy i’m not a speed crazed, even though i did zapped for 48.9mph on the A15 nth side of Lincoln 2 years ago
No easy answer for sure, but it does need looking into by competetant persons who have some idea of what they’re doing.
