Safe Speed Forums

Assuming a single carriageway, they can't. The national speed limit for trucks is on SC roads, unless a lower limit applies.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

I think he meant that he doesn't understand why the 40 limit is absolute and not Xmph below the 'normal' limit.

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

truck drivers dont understand that either

im sure someone somewhere has their reasons as futile and worthless as they are

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Richie

SSAFA supporter
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=126025031585

Its because you're all incompitent Richie, and unable to set your own speed...

Actually as an afterthought. Was the limit introduced in the days when some trucks struggled to keep their speed, in order to level the playing field with those who could afford newer, faster trucks?

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

No, it was all to do with braking efficiency. It was raised because it was possible to stop quicker as brakes became better -AFAIK when air brakes became the norm.

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Smokebelching,CO2 making,child murdering planet raping,granny mugging,politically incorrect globally warming (or is it climate changing now it's getting colder?)thug.
That's what the government want you to believe of me. If they get back in I'm emigrating.

Lorries don,t seem to go faster when limits are dropped it is just the fact that some drivers seem to think that a speed limit is a "target" to be beaten or exceeded as they think the boss thinks more of them until something goes wrong then the boss says "I don,t ask you to speed" so as they say in Russia "tuffsky lucksky you are on your own on this one!"
Why do we keep hearing every day of a road closed because a lorry has overturned?
Because of the idiots who think you can go round a bend with a 44 tonne gross weight at a speed to fast for the road or bend then find they can,t make it and as they say the outcome is a lorry on it,s side because they can,t read the road!

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"There But For The Grace of God Go I"

"He Who Ain,t Made Mistakes Ain,t Made Anything"

Spannernut

Stormin---might i suggest (respectivallly) that you revise /edit your last post ,then grovel profusely /etc to the truckers on here-

First of all you are lecturing to Professional drivers ( in my view , i respect their views)
Secondly - the limit is not a target to them , safety is their target, after all it's not an accident that they cause a minority of accidents.
Thirdly - bosses are mostly ex drivers , so appreciarte the problems drivers face.(and HSE regs would hit any boss forcing drivers to break speed limits)

Fourthly - only idiots like you think these blokes go out to cause accidents.

And truckers - i'm not a HGV driver, i just get to live on the roads ,because you blokes are looking out for blokes like me

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

Firstly (Botach) I am a professional driver HGV1 I am also a member of the IAM (passed the car / m/cycle / HGV tests).
Secondly I was a finalist in the Lorry Driver of the Year Competition for 5 consecutive years representing the company I worked for!
I have been an HGV 1 driver for over 30 years on local and long distance work in various types of work from distribution to general haulage etc.
So I think that with the experience I have I like to think I at least have some knowledge of road transport (I am also a qualified transport manager CPC National & International ).
I will say categorically that the standard of driving has gone down considerably over the years and I am not talking about "the good old days" of 30 years ago!
Tha culture of a lot of drivers is now quite simply to "get in front" and never mind the person you are pushing out of the way you ask any decent driver and they will tell you that time & time again they move over on the m/way to let a HGV out and what do they do THEY HOLD YOU OUT ON THE 56MPH LIMIT and stay on the inside, just take a drive on the A34 to Southampton from the M40 or try the A14 to Felixstowe from the M1 and see the antics of the 56MPH brigade on a road that is a 50 MPH limit any wonder we get a bad press about lorries creating problems some of us believe it or not try and adhere to the limits "WE ARE NOT SPEED ENFORCERS" just someone trying to do a job and complying with the law and yes we do try and stay safe just like you and whenever possible I will consider other road users I didn,t design the roads so I have to "read the road ahead" and allow for bends etc. so as not to a) be involved in an accidentand b) try not to cause one as well but unfortunately like all professions we have "cowboys" who think that the boss thinks more of them than the "professional drivers" only to find out as I said when things go wrong they say "you were responsible for the problem you are in" not us.

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"There But For The Grace of God Go I"

"He Who Ain,t Made Mistakes Ain,t Made Anything"

Spannernut

Stormin - firstly -i am not a HGV driver , or one of the IAM elite -i passed my test in the old days, before HGV came in ,and IAM was a mirage. I could have got a HGV licence undre the "grandfather laws " at the time - but i chose not to .
I am a driver with about 2 million SAFE miles on my licence, not just driving cars, but vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes .
I don't go in for competitions - could probably win a few - but what does that prove??

I don't go in for competitions / multi tasked qualifications - i just like to drive safely.
(AS those of days of yore used to do)


Perhaps today , some of those prophesing to being safe drivers might look at their driving and ASJK QUESTIONS (LIKE YOU)

Botach, i think we have a slightly confused issue here regarding Stormins post. he (presumably) is not implying that all professionals (or so called in some cases) are going out to cause accidents but to be fair, there are people out there driving trucks who should not be at the helm of a push bike. as with all professions, there are those with lower standards who are giving the rest a bad name and those are the ones who are highlighted in the media and who invite criticism causing problems for the rest of us. the majority of professional drivers are just that but it is largely down to attitude. there are a minority who do not share the same attitude and that leads directly to a lower standard of driver

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Richie

SSAFA supporter
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=126025031585

Thanks "Scanny" for at least managing to see what I was getting at regarding the "antics" of some of the so called "professional" drivers who as you say wouldn,t trust with a push bike let alone a 44tonne vehicle.
Firstly "botach" don,t knock the IAM "Elite" as you call them when you have taken the time like I did to LEARN new skills and to improve your driving skills then you can call them as you say you don,t go in for competitions as you are so good you would win them anyway!
you may have covered over 2million "safe" miles but that doesn,t make you so good that you know everything!
In over 35 years of safe driving I have probably covered a lot more than 2 million safe miles and unlike you as you are so PERFECT (or so you think) maybe you have not had any accidents but that doesn,t make you a better driver than anyone else it just confirms that you are a conceited individual who thinks you are better than anyone else and cannot see what the post I sent was all about, and having read it numerous times I DID NOT SAY THAT DRIVERS GO OUT TO CAUSE ACCIDENTS!
How you manage to be such an EXCELLENT driver is beyond me because as you haven,t mastered the art of reading a simple post on the forum how do you manage to read road signs?
It is simple as I said the standard of driving is getting worse as simple as that and yes there are employers who do take the attitude that it is your problem if you are caught breaking the law and want nothing to do with being involved and they do leave you to take the blame!
I also don,t profess to be as perfect as you as I take the view that EVERY day I am learning something new even after over 40 years on the road from cars to lorries as I am not as so conceited as you that I profess to KNOW EVERYTHING!

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"There But For The Grace of God Go I"

"He Who Ain,t Made Mistakes Ain,t Made Anything"

Spannernut

Now then lads, I don't think this calls for pistols at dawn.

We all know how easy it is to misunderstand people's intentions on internet fora, and I am sure that neither of you meant to belittle, insult or undermine the other.

Please don't waste any more time and effort warring amongst one another when there are clearly so many pressing road safety issues that need addressing and I know we all agree on, in principal at least!

For future note, punctuation and paragraphing makes posts easier to read and less likely to be misinterpreted!

Peace now!

It seems to me that you could have two definitions of the word 'professional'. There are those that are paid to do a job and are therefore professional and there are those that carry out the job in a professional manner.

I don't think that the driver of a LGV can really be called professional if they dont know the relevant speed limits for the vehicle. It has already been pointed out that they would/should have been told this during their training. With regard to lorry drivers not liking the different speed limits for lorries, until they change they are the law and infringement can affect more than just the driver's licence. Repeated offences by LGV drivers can affect the Operators Licence as well.

Whilst the police often used to ignore the 40 mph speed limit for lorries on single carriageway roads, the Ministry wouldn't if they checked a tacho and found excessive speed. A visit to an Operator by an Inspector from the Ministry is just something an Operator needs!

I agree totally with what you say about "speed limits" for HGV,s as firstly they are there for a purpose and should at all times be complied with irrespective of what "the driver" thinks is a "safe limit" for him / her to drive at and as I have said I try as best as is humanly possible to drive my HGV professionally at all times.

I also try to drive in a considerate manner towards other road users but there are those as "scanny" says have a total disregard for any limits and unfortunately these are the ones who get the majority a bad reputaion.

I don,t make the laws I just try to comply with them and don,t knowingly put other drivers in danger by excessive speed or bad driving.

A simple example happened to me today on the A442 from Telford to Bridgnorth I was being "tailgated" by a 4 wheeler (class "C") purely because I chose to be "Legal" (40mph) and because I WOULD not exceed the limit, on 2 separate occasions cars overtook me and the "tailgater"and nearly ended up in head on collisions with oncoming vehicles but had the idiot tailgater who was running up my rear end had left room for a car to "fill the gap" (as per the highway code) the 2 near misses would not have happened as they could have "bunny hopped" (i.e. slipped in between me and the following vehicle) and then overtook me when safe to do so.

Again a simple example of forward planning works wonders that is one of the reasons why as I have said in previous posts I am learning EVERY day and I don,t profess to have ALL the answers I just try to drive in a safe and professional manner and take a pride in doing so!

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"There But For The Grace of God Go I"

"He Who Ain,t Made Mistakes Ain,t Made Anything"

Spannernut

Are they?
What is this purpose?

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Andrew.

in my personal opinion, there is only one definition of a professional driver (in this context). the other is a person who drives a truck for a living. the difference is purely attitude.
one drives a truck to earn a living
the other WANTS to earn their living by driving a truck

the difference in standards would astound any bystander

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Richie

SSAFA supporter
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=126025031585

Which was EXACTLY my point - those who are capable of acting in a professional manner should be allowed to use professonal judgement and those who are NOT capable of behaving in a professional manner shouldn't be behind the wheel of a truck.

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

I take your point on board but "who" is the one to decide which is which?

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"There But For The Grace of God Go I"

"He Who Ain,t Made Mistakes Ain,t Made Anything"

Spannernut

traffic commissioner

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Richie

SSAFA supporter
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