Lorry speeds?

[AdamW]

We've all been there before. You are on a 2-lane motorway or dual carriageway, happily motoring along at *ahem* 70mph when you find yourself behind a riveting and nail-biting game of "who's speed limiter is set to 53.0001mph and who's is only at 53" between two lorries.

When I've been in the States I've noticd that their lorries appear to be subject to the same speed limit as the cars. This might seem mad, but I've just read this from here:

when a truck travels 16 km/hr (10 mi/hr) under the prevailing speed, the likelihood for a crash increases by 3.7 times. If the LCV is traveling 32 km/hr (20 mi/hr) under the prevailing speed, the chance of a crash goes up by a factor of 15.5

Now, our motorway lorry/car speed differential is generally around 20 mph, often more... what d'ya reckon, would a lorry limit of 70 improve matters on our roads?

Of course, they would have to figure out a way to make lorries go round the M25 without spontaneously turning over every other week.

 

[hondacrm]

Heard on the news yesterday that on a certain section of the M42, LGV's will be banned from overtaking. This part of the road is an uphill section so when an LGV decides to overtake another LGV who is only slightly slower, it takes minutes for the faster vehicle to overtake safely. Apparently it causes tailbacks of several miles on a regular basis. I travel this road fairly regularly and have often been caught in a line of cars waiting for the road to clear. This then encourages drivers to undertake and perform other exciting manoeuvres to try and beat the delay.

This problem is caused by the M42 being a 2 lane motorway which is a joke seeing it is the main link between the M1 and M6 in the East Midlands.

I used to do a lot of driving around the UK and have on a number of occasions been forced to accelerate by Renault Magnum's and the like travelling at speeds in excess of 75/80 mph on the flat.

 

[oilman]

Do you mean HGV?
LGV is every small van, they're not capable of going less than 80 unloaded.

 

[andy]

what annoys me about trucks overtaking is on single carriageways. now, there limited to 40 altho many trucks will do more than this to help traffic flow.

then you get 1 truck who wants to go faster than the truck ahead who is doin 50. at an uphill section where the road widens and there is a 2nd lane, the other truck tries to overtake. often, doesnt manage it and at the same time has stopped everyone else from overtakin. same at next hill. and people wonder why cars try to overtake on single carriageways and get past 2 trucks before they hit an oncoming car

 

[oilman]

......there limited to 40 altho many trucks will do more than this to help traffic flow.

Help traffic flow? they couldn't give a monkey's, they do it to get there quicker.

 

[hondacrm]

Oilman,

The term HGV "Heavy Goods Vehicle" was replaced a number of years ago by the term LGV or "Large Goods Vehicle" along with different types of categories as opposed to the old class 1, 2 & 3 system.

"Large" doesn't sound as impressive as "Heavy" IMO.

 

[andy]

......there limited to 40 altho many trucks will do more than this to help traffic flow.

Help traffic flow? they couldn't give a monkey's, they do it to get there quicker.

there is that aswell...


and then you get the odd truck who slows down to 40 for the gatso's

 

[TexMex]

Actually, despite all the griping of the delays caused by lorry drivers, I feel that overall, their driving standards are better than the average car driver. Given the choice of a spotty teenager that has just passed his test, driving at 60mph in his dads company car, or a Lorry driver at the same speed, I'd recon that the lorry driver is the safer bet.

If they were all allowed to drive at the same speed as the rest of us, it would reduce the need for all those hazardous overtaking manouvers.

There I go, stereotyping again. Appologies, in advance, to all those spotty teenagers that have had years of experience behind the wheel. And I suppose that I should also acknowledge that there are plenty of teenagers without spots, that are also a law unto themselves, on the road.

 

[ferdinanddebargos]

when a truck travels 16 km/hr (10 mi/hr) under the prevailing speed, the likelihood for a crash increases by 3.7 times. If the LCV is traveling 32 km/hr (20 mi/hr) under the prevailing speed, the chance of a crash goes up by a factor of 15.5

Now, our motorway lorry/car speed differential is generally around 20 mph, often more... what d'ya reckon, would a lorry limit of 70 improve matters on our roads?

This is not really relevant. In the US, their trucks are configured differently than in Europe. Tractor units longer than ours and trailer bogies located further back. I used to do this for a living. It would not be wise to allow LGV's to travel faster in an attempt to alleviate the problem of congestion, either. The problem is not that LGV's cannot go any faster. they can but are now governed, it is stopping them. I was driving down some motorway once, cannot remember the exact road. You guys living in the south will know it. Left the M25 heading for Sittingbourne and saw a sign saying 'Possible stationary traffic ahead'. Thought, 'Yeah, b******s, not at this time of day'. Went around a long, sweeping bend to find the aforementioned stationary traffic and Oh s**t, mummy, daddy, mummy, daddy . Fortunately, I managed to stop in time, but learned a valuable lesson from it.
I did a lot of miles in those days, not so long ago, and one of the favourite tricks of some drivers was known as 'blocking', appear to attempt to overtake and then match your speed with the lorry you are meant to be overtaking. Pretty frustrating for anyone in a car attempting to get past.

 

[meldrew's_mate]

I did a lot of miles in those days, not so long ago, and one of the favourite tricks of some drivers was known as 'blocking', appear to attempt to overtake and then match your speed with the lorry you are meant to be overtaking. Pretty frustrating for anyone in a car attempting to get past.

Not half as frustrating as getting my Escort Van up to the 70 limit on the A40 at Uxbridge, only to have to slow to 50 because some dopey Dan thinks the limit is 60 and hits the brakes. Takes me a mile to get back up to speed, then there's a 50 limit, another speed camera at B&Q, and I'm now hitting the brakes again down to 30.

Oi, MondeoMan, just drive at the b****y speed limit and you won't have to worry about the speed cams!!.

Thanks forum, I feel much better now.

 

[kendor]

I did a lot of miles in those days, not so long ago, and one of the favourite tricks of some drivers was known as 'blocking', appear to attempt to overtake and then match your speed with the lorry you are meant to be overtaking. Pretty frustrating for anyone in a car attempting to get past.

Not half as frustrating as getting my Escort Van up to the 70 limit on the A40 at Uxbridge, only to have to slow to 50 because some dopey Dan thinks the limit is 60 and hits the brakes. Takes me a mile to get back up to speed, then there's a 50 limit, another speed camera at B&Q, and I'm now hitting the brakes again down to 30.
Oi, MondeoMan, just drive at the b****y speed limit and you won't have to worry about the speed cams!!

Thanks forum, I feel much better now.

Bit dangerous typing and driving at the same time isn't it?

 

[Zampa]

what annoys me about trucks overtaking is on single carriageways. now, there limited to 40 altho many trucks will do more than this to help traffic flow.

then you get 1 truck who wants to go faster than the truck ahead who is doin 50. at an uphill section where the road widens and there is a 2nd lane, the other truck tries to overtake. often, doesnt manage it and at the same time has stopped everyone else from overtakin. same at next hill. and people wonder why cars try to overtake on single carriageways and get past 2 trucks before they hit an oncoming car

Exactly....why do they have to do that??....is it some "my lorries bigger than yours" thing between lorry drivers???

Another why.......if you get talking to one...why do lorry drivers have to bore you to death with every single twist, turn, bend, weave, truck stop cafe (how many sausages to get in a big breakfast) every car thats cut them up, every crash they have seen, every hitch hiker, the ins an outs of a tachograph..and the problem they had in unloading at their distination????

Then.......you get the same story......but in reverse for the journey home!!

 

[Steve]

lorry drivers that do deliveries to our stores always have something to moan about - if its not someone parked at the loading bay (usually me ) then its someone has just nearly run into them on the main road or other stupid things. They must have really boring or depressing lives.

there is a stretch of the A1M near Doncaster that is a hotspot for lorries overtaking each other. Only 2 lanes, so you can be stuck doing 50 for 3 miles sometimes, because a lorry is going about .00001mph faster than his mate. Then you get past that fool and theres another one!

 

[TexMex]

and one of the favourite tricks of some drivers was known as 'blocking', appear to attempt to overtake and then match your speed with the lorry you are meant to be overtaking. Pretty frustrating for anyone in a car attempting to get past.

WHY? Is it just some kind of power trip, to compensate for their small willies?

 

[Zampa]

and one of the favourite tricks of some drivers was known as 'blocking', appear to attempt to overtake and then match your speed with the lorry you are meant to be overtaking. Pretty frustrating for anyone in a car attempting to get past.

WHY? Is it just some kind of power trip, to compensate for their small willies?

I never knew that.....how do you know by the way????