haribo4000:
i tend to sit at 40 on single track roads, I do feel quite guilty when there is a huge queue of traffic behind me though.
Its not really the car drivers that make me feel bad about doing 40, its the other LGV drivers revving up behind me trying to push me on. I know that they are getting frustrated with it but 40 is the limit, its that for a reason.
Sorry, Law is Law and i dont want points on my licence and a fine. I come to work to earn money, not to lose half of it paying fines.
Some drivers tend to rush round for the company I work for, why? you dont get paid any extra for it and they certainly wont pay your fines.
limeyphil:
i can’t see the point of holding people up.
if 50+ is safe, then it’s safe. there are areas that even 40mph would be far too fast. i think looking at the road instead of the speedo is the safest thing to do.
So, according to this poll, at this particular time, 72% of our ‘professional’ drivers are speeding and of course breaking the law■■? I’m devastatingly upset and enraged and hope that the enforcement people are too.
Spot on 40 for me.
It’s my license, not going to chuck it away for a few mph.
Quite willing to tuck into the side to let the speeder fly past, after all I tend to meet them a few miles down the road… stuck in the same queue as me.
Squiddy:
Always do 40 now. If I was involved in an accident and I was doing 45 or 50 regardless of whose fault it was who do you think would get the blame? The HGV driver no doubt. And If I was involved in an accident doing 50 and it was my fault and someone died I would probably be looking at a prison sentence.
1+.
40 or 42 for me now.
I gota taste of the “causing death by dangerous driving” a few months ago. Running down hill at about 47 mph approaching a cross roads, a farm worker pulls out infront of me in one of those little 4x4 buggy’s with a roof, abit like a golf cart FFS!
I nearly T-boned him with an Axor. Although he looked but didnt see, who do you think would have been done for it??
I value my freedom.
But then as a night worker it is very usual for me not to see another soul for miles and miles, on wide open A road, 40 is hardly appropriate in that situation, and besides I find driving at 40 in those situations far harder concentration wise than I do sitting at 50, I have always been a strong believer that between 11pm and 4am they could raise the speed limit by 10mph for all classes of vehicle very safely (apart from 30mph zones)
Phantom Mark:
But then as a night worker it is very usual for me not to see another soul for miles and miles, on wide open A road, 40 is hardly appropriate in that situation, and besides I find driving at 40 in those situations far harder concentration wise than I do sitting at 50, I have always been a strong believer that between 11pm and 4am they could raise the speed limit by 10mph for all classes of vehicle very safely (apart from 30mph zones)
I certainly agree that there should be more flexibility on speed limits, some SCs could be driven quite safely by an HGV at 50 or maybe more. Typical that its just a blanket 40 though, totally stupid on a nice flat straight road…
If everyone stuck to it and caused a bit of “disruption” the limit might be increased due to the outcry. As it is, the teararses provide a nice little earner in fines and courses.
Has anyone actually been told by their employer to speed up?
on s/c 40 always for me never know where the cameras are !! but on d/c if i know the road well dont tend to stick to 50 , mind you payedby the hour so no incentive to speed for me
Going from what I see on the roads (and I encounter a fair bit more SC work than most) and assuming that the members of this forum represent a fair cross-section of lorry drivers,I can draw one of two conclusions;
Most of the drivers on here work for Tesco.
or
Most of the drivers on here think they’re a little bit more law abiding than is actually the case.
40 for me too , not paid any more to go any faster . If your one of the Big Wheeler knob jockeys that drives as close as possible and weaves in and out of my mirrors to try to intimdate me …Ill knock it down to 38 .
or , like today
If you catch me quick , but realise I’m sitting at 40 , and sit back and leave a gap , I’ll more than likely pull into a lay-by and let you carry on . Why rush around , you’ll get there in the end …wont you
Used to work with a guy who would steadfastly refuse to exceed 40 on a s/c under any circumstance.
Anyway, he gave me a lift home in his car one night, got onto the M4 and booted it straight up to 90.
Did make me laugh
Like a few others I drive to what feels safe. Know that if I’m involved in an accident and over limit they might through the book at me but don’t also believe (like I think some sometimes do start to) you magically won’t be involved in an accident with injuries if stick to the limits.
Good wide well maintained road with good visibility 50-ish and on the limiter on long straight stretches.
Will also alter based on load tending to go faster when empty/light.
If you stick to 40mph it seems too slow for other traffic and provokes car drivers into poorly judged overtakes. At 50mph it seems mostly only people used to overtaking do so and not the less competent mums/old folks etc (unless they see someone else and then decide to copy them.
At 40mph it seems to encourage the not so great car drivers into embarking on risky overtakes.
Sounds like those ■■■■■■■ in cars who insist on doin 45/50 in a 60 and then plough straight through the 40/30 limits without a care in the world !!!
I had a rigid playing games tonight coming across from Spalding, I was doing my usual 43/45 and caught him doing 40, no problem, just hung back, but it was like he was baiting me, really slow into the roundabouts and flying off them when it was clear ahead, basically making sure i couldn’t get past even if i wanted to when there was a gap, not that i ever intended to go past, we reach the end where you go around the roundabout on the A45 both lanes turning right, left lane to head up to the A1 right lane heading opposite direction, and I needed to genuinely go in the left lane but I sensed the rigid only went on the right lane to block me should I try and pass, which I wasn’t going to, anyways sure enough I went right around the outside of him and low and behold he wanted my lane, surprise surprise, he dipped out and had to cut back over into the CORRECT lane.
My point ■■? Do what speed you like, but ffs don’t go out of your way just to deprive or irritate others, like the people who bumble along at 38 then boot it to 56 on a short section of DC, sorry but IMHO that’s just the sign of a ■■■■■■■
Phantom Mark:
But then as a night worker it is very usual for me not to see another soul for miles and miles, on wide open A road, 40 is hardly appropriate in that situation, and besides I find driving at 40 in those situations far harder concentration wise than I do sitting at 50, I have always been a strong believer that between 11pm and 4am they could raise the speed limit by 10mph for all classes of vehicle very safely (apart from 30mph zones)
Why do you need to concentrate on the speed - stick the CC on and relax.
Driving at night on mostly empty roads on CC is exactly what I don’t want, and I don’t want to relax to that degree, I want my mind to be stimulated and alert, something which I find hard at 40mph, it’s no effort mentally, 50 at least keeps me on the boil
limeyphil:
i can’t see the point of holding people up.
if 50+ is safe, then it’s safe. there are areas that even 40mph would be far too fast. i think looking at the road instead of the speedo is the safest thing to do.
Agree with this.
If folk want to sit at 40 fair doo’s but these are ‘‘usually’’, sometimes the same ones who also moan when someone dare try and overtake them, refuse to help anyone past or move over into a layby if holding up a queue and also like to open the taps as soon as there is a duel section preventing anyone passing.
40 limit promotes a conflict on the roads. Trucks 40, vans 50, cars 60. Just asking for problems and frustration.
Whats ‘‘safety’’ sitting at 40? Nothing, its just being legal that is all. There is nothing safe about it
ajt:
Whats ‘‘safety’’ sitting at 40? Nothing, its just being legal that is all. There is nothing safe about it
You’re absolutely right there’s nothing at all safe about it. In fact it’s probably more dangerous if anything due to the frustration it causes. But it’s the law and I’m sticking to it . My solution is to just pull in every now and then when things reach a dangerous level. It saddens me a lot though that the law actually works AGAINST instead of FOR drivers in so many ways like this. Just the same as all the other BS laws (like pedantic tacho “infringements”, WTD, “overspeed”, and setting limiters to 56 when the max speed limit in the UK for an HGV is 60, etc…) they actually end up making a driver’s life more stressful trying to keep to them all.
But as long as it’s clueless bods in offices in charge of drawing up the rules then I don’t see them ever changing in favour of common sense any time soon… probably getting even dumber as time goes on (I can imagine the bloody EU eventually setting their sights on trying to limit astra sized vans to 56 and put tachographs in those. ).
So yes, they might be idiotic, but at the end of the day they’re the ones with the power to tarnish your licence with points, or even seize it… so I’m sticking to the limit.
