ADUK Archive

Might be a silly question but why would lorries not be pulled over or recorded for speeding?

Rick101 wrote:Might be a silly question but why would lorries not be pulled over or recorded for speeding?

Experience tells them that driving on their limiter, 56mph, means they don't get a NIP.
Why I said "the hyprocrisy of Governments", in that this truth is not publicised, therefore the conflict between car drivers with a not true 50 mph on their speedometers and lorries at a 56 true mph.
Then, you also have to take into account the commercial pressures on lorry drivers, again something Governments are hypocritical about.

Does anyone know for certain that these lorries are doing 56MPH or is it speculation? Remember their speedos are much more accurate than car ones.

ACPO guidelines are such that NIPs begin to be issued at limit + 10% + 2mph, i.e. 57mph.

Since the speed limiters are 56mph (90kph), it's possible to drive on the limiter without getting a ticket.

Many UK fleet trucks are limited to 52 or 53 MPH depending on their engine/gearbox configuration it would appear to be more economical to travel at this speed.

onlinegenie wrote:Does anyone know for certain that these lorries are doing 56MPH or is it speculation? Remember their speedos are much more accurate than car ones.

I am only basing this on my GPS speed reading and not on my speedo which reads 55 @ a GPS reading of 50mph. I'm not particulalry bothered what speeds the trucks decide to drive at but the manner of some of those I encountered was inapropriate to say the leat.

onlinegenie wrote:Does anyone know for certain that these lorries are doing 56MPH or is it speculation? Remember their speedos are much more accurate than car ones.

I know it's for sure, because my dad has followed quite a few lorries and kept up with them, and the satnav usually reads at 55/56 mph.

Obviously there always going to be non-conformists, and they will usually keep to 50, but the majority keep going as fast as they can.

It is kind of a no-brainer, really, as if your car was restricted to 56, why would you bother trying to keep to 50, when you know the police won't go after you for doing 56.

The fact they do it in roadworks is the fact that infuriates me the most, as we're constantly told by the government that just doing 5 mph more is enough to kill road workers etc blah blah, so why is it acceptable for lorries which are much heavier to speed?

TheInsanity1234 wrote:The fact they do it in roadworks is the fact that infuriates me the most, as we're constantly told by the government that just doing 5 mph more is enough to kill road workers etc blah blah, so why is it acceptable for lorries which are much heavier to speed?

Well for one thing, there are miles and miles and miles and miles and miles of motorway speed restrictions for roadworks where there aren't any road workers right now. In terms of road worker safety, it can only be unacceptable for lorry drivers (or anyone else) to speed in places where there are road workers to put at risk. Do you observe any of these drivers slowing down where the hazard is actually present?

GJD wrote:

TheInsanity1234 wrote:The fact they do it in roadworks is the fact that infuriates me the most, as we're constantly told by the government that just doing 5 mph more is enough to kill road workers etc blah blah, so why is it acceptable for lorries which are much heavier to speed?

Well for one thing, there are miles and miles and miles and miles and miles of motorway speed restrictions for roadworks where there aren't any road workers right now. In terms of road worker safety, it can only be unacceptable for lorry drivers (or anyone else) to speed in places where there are road workers to put at risk. Do you observe any of these drivers slowing down where the hazard is actually present?

When I say "roadworks" I usually mean bits of the road that are actually being worked on.

When it's just a load of traffic cones, then they (t'people in power) can just go stuff themselves, I'll keep up with the traffic to a reasonable extent, but when there are actually people working, I still see lorries ploughing on at 56.

That's what annoys me.

I agree it's a bloody nuisance. But it is possible to drive around it. Part of the problem is we all want to do exactly 'our speed', whatever that is. Once we accept that trying to be bang on target speed the whole time may be unrealistic, it gets a bit easier. I mostly set cruise control for indicated 50 to start with, then tap up and down a few mph as needed to keep space around me. Tailgaters can often be dealt with by slowing down, thus encouraging them to overtake and bugger off ahead. So my advice - pick a 5mph range and adjust tactically within that.

I often drive the 50mph stretch on the M1 and I agree with zadocbrown it's best to set the cruise control and knock it up or down a couple of mph when needed to keep a safe distance from others

The thing is, if I had to drive through roadworks, I'd love an automatic with radar-guided cruise control, so you just set it to 50, and let the car speed up and slow down by itself, whilst maintaining a good gap in front

TheInsanity1234 wrote:The thing is, if I had to drive through roadworks, I'd love an automatic with radar-guided cruise control, so you just set it to 50, and let the car speed up and slow down by itself, whilst maintaining a good gap in front

I haven't tried adaptive cruise control, but i imagine it needs a bit more input from the driver than that, to stay safe in these conditions. Maybe someone else will comment - how good is this technology?

zadocbrown wrote:

TheInsanity1234 wrote:The thing is, if I had to drive through roadworks, I'd love an automatic with radar-guided cruise control, so you just set it to 50, and let the car speed up and slow down by itself, whilst maintaining a good gap in front

I haven't tried adaptive cruise control, but i imagine it needs a bit more input from the driver than that, to stay safe in these conditions. Maybe someone else will comment - how good is this technology?

No, Jeremy Clarkson demonstrated the adaptive cruise control on the Jaguar XJ.

It works like a traditional cruise control system, you stick it to a speed you want, and select a following distance you'd like to have (Some cars offer adjustable following distances, others offer a fixed distance), and you just have to worry about steering. Obviously, if the car in front brakes sharply, I think you have to assist the system by braking too, but for gradual deceleration and small changes in speed, then it works perfectly fine.

I think it's only available with auto boxes, as a system on a manual car would just cut out every time you changed gear, which is no good for when you're in those types of jams, where everyone seems to randomly accelerate and slow down between 50 and 30.

My car is manual with adaptive cruise control. Changing gear is no problem. Following distance is adjustable