Safe Speed Forums

Folks,

Anyone noticed how much truck duelling there is on the motorways these days? I have waited for lifetimes while two trucks of obviously equal power slug it out, inching painfully past each other, taking up both the slow and middle lanes. I haven't noticed this much in France, where trucks stay in the slow lanes mostly. But here it seems to be 'de riguer'.

C.

Yep. It's bad enough on 3-lane motorways, but a nightmare on 2-lane motorways and dual carriageways (although thankfully I don't have that "pleasure" too often).

It's a tricky one; although it's frequently safe for lorries to go above 56mph, many drivers don't want the limiters to be taken off, because they're worried that their employers will make unreasonable demands as a result. The best solution I've heard is some means to exceed the 56mph temporarily in order to avoid the "elephant-racing" that you describe.

But TBH it's a selfish act a lot of the time. I don't pretend to know what it's like driving a lorry, but surely if it becomes apparent that you're not going to get ahead of the lorry alongside you any time soon, it's only polite to "concede", brake a little and tuck in behind. It's not going to lose you any momentum or time to speak of. This "I know a lot of traffic's building up behind me, but I don't care, and anyway I'm bigger than them" is most unhelpful to say the least. I'm not saying all lorry drivers are like that by any means, but it doesn't take many to cause a lot of congestion.

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Paul Smith: a legend.

"The freedom provided by the motor vehicle is not universally applauded, however: there are those who resent the loss of state control over individual choice that the car represents. Such people rarely admit their prejudices openly; instead, they make false or exaggerated claims about the adverse effects of road transport in order to justify calls for higher taxation or restrictions on mobility." (Conservative Way Forward: Stop The War Against Drivers)

Perhaps the most irritating incarnation is when the overtaker gets about level, realises they have nothing left, and ends up pulling back in, having obstructed the lane for several miles/minutes!

No, the most irritating thing is when the overtaker realises they cannot pass anytime soon, and then realises that the space behind the truck that he/she is trying to overtake is filled with another truck. Which is not going to back-away anytime soon either. And to make things worse, they then need to get off at the next sliproad....so the overtaker then slows-down to 10mph in the MIDDLE lane of the M1 and waits for a gap to go across....and yes, I was behind that prat yesterday.

I was also driving along the A6 near Bedford a few weeks ago, when it was foggy, to suddenly find the dual carriageway had all but stopped....oh dear I thought, an accident. No. It was two trucks pulled-up on the outside lane trying to get across the dual C to a layby by using a crossing point in the central armco....according to the side of the trucks they were from a firm in a town called POTTO.....change it to POTTY and it's about right.

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The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

Robin,

That's it.

C.

*yawn*

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

Wait 'til all the 3.5 tonne+ vans are restrticted too, we'll have a de facto 56 limit on all our busy DCs. I guess that was the idea.

You can see what will happen. When they restrict the 3.5t vehicles (they will they also be restricted to lane one and two) the only lane worth using will be lane 3, motorways will become even more congested very quickly. The government won’t accept blame for the congestion but will instead introduce pay as you drive in lane 3, to try and cut down on the congestion they have caused.

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Useless laws weaken necessary laws.

The limit for trucks is 50 on DCs.

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The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

But it's not physically enforced yet...

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

Wait until you are lumbered with a speed limiter which restricts you to 4mph below the speed limit. See how fast you are at overtaking then.

No, I'm not a truck driver but I do sympathise.

Homer,

Yes, I can see that. Probably the truck drivers are under tight time pressure to make their destinations.

However, it is still unnerving to have the middle lane choked up with an artic waggling around in the wind as the driver struggles to make a mile long overtaking manoevre. It has all the fascination of a tortoise race on thin ice, and I'm pretty sure the drivers are not doing this for fun.

It would be interesting to get the lowdown from a trucker on this one.

C.

A driver where I work is awaiting the decision from the police as I type. Stopped as he drove at 60 on a sc road, the digital tacho printout gave his speed. The police used another card to store the tacho info on.

Don't worry, the SCP's will get onto the case soon.....their income is dropping as more people travel slowly, or get to know where the cams are.

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The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

You miss my point. Tachos have been being scrutinised by certain operators for years. But there is no LIMITER restricting the speed to 50mph

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

Indeed. So perhaps you should stop choking it up yourself.

_________________
Paul Smith: a legend.

"The freedom provided by the motor vehicle is not universally applauded, however: there are those who resent the loss of state control over individual choice that the car represents. Such people rarely admit their prejudices openly; instead, they make false or exaggerated claims about the adverse effects of road transport in order to justify calls for higher taxation or restrictions on mobility." (Conservative Way Forward: Stop The War Against Drivers)

Whilst I can still sympathise with lorry drivers against the speed limiters, what really winds me up is those on D/C's who attempt to overtake going up a steep hill at 15mph.

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Only when ideology, prejudice and dogma are set aside does the truth emerge - Kepler

I see what you mean. The speed limiter is only for the maximum speed allowed for the vehicle and not the allowed speed on a particular road. Well, that goes for cars as well.

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The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

I am not a trucker (though my ashmatic old VW transporter has a similar "Performance enverlope" to a heavily laden HGV )

I can however imagine that driving a "Governed" vehicle at a speed only an MPH or two below the "cut off" speed might feel a bit odd making following a slightly slower vehicle for any great distance a bit tricky leading to a desire to pass, even if the advantage of only 1 or 2 MPH, so that they can go back to driving on the limiter.

(I cannot believe that any desire to gain that extra MPH is simply down to meeting schedules. The idea, which I have seen claimed elsewhere that "An extra MPH can mean being 10 miles ahead at the end of the shift" is arrent nonsence!)

Perhaps (In the absense of a more radical change of the rules) Truck drivers might find it easier to fall in step with the trucks in front if they had the ability to adjust the govener downwards at their own descretion (like cruse controll) so when confronted by a slightly slower vehicle in front they can go back to driving on the limiter untill a better or more appropriate oppertunity to pass presents itself or the slower vehicle turns off.

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"The road to a police state is paved with public safety legislation"

Dusty,

Well, yes. That makes sense to me.

C.

Bombus,

Fair point. However, most trucks are not travelling at 70mph, particularly on uphill gradients, and some of these painfully slow overtaking manoevres do take place on uphill gradients. Also, it is not so easy for a long artic to pull back into L1, and so the choke up can be quite severe. On a busy motorway, with faster traffic holding in L3, the problem is compounded.

C.