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The Goods, the Bad, and the Ugly
Thank you for raising the issue of ridiculous speed limits on Heavy Goods Vehicles in your recent column. I drive a 580hp Scania regularly on the M25. For some bizarre reason the speed limits on motorways for HGVs is 60 mph even though we are governed to 56mph.
We drive on motorways on cruise control, since this is programmed to enable us to get the best mpg figures we can. Dropping one or two gears on an incline reduces our instant economy from about 8mpg to nearer 4 or 5mpg. On 3 lane motorways, the most frustrating thing is an empty first lane and a car doing less than 56 in the middle lane.
We drive on motorways on cruise control, since this is programmed to enable us to get the best mpg figures we can. Dropping one or two gears on an incline reduces our instant economy from about 8mpg to nearer 4 or 5mpg. On 3 lane motorways, the most frustrating thing is an empty first lane and a car doing less than 56 in the middle lane.
Asked on 19 September 2010 by AG, Kivetonn Park
Answered by
Honest John
A car driver complained about being held up by HGVs which, for the sake of clarification, convey and deliver just about everything we as a nation depend on apart from water, gas and electricity. I gave a valid way to ensure that car drivers were not held up by HGVs.
But the survival of the nation is less dependent on car drivers than it is on HGV drivers, so perhaps the motorways should be shut for cars for 12 hours a day to allow HGVs to get on with it (and use all lanes), then re-opened for 12 hours a day solely for the less essential movement of cars. Then there would be no chance of families getting wiped out by HGVs.
But the survival of the nation is less dependent on car drivers than it is on HGV drivers, so perhaps the motorways should be shut for cars for 12 hours a day to allow HGVs to get on with it (and use all lanes), then re-opened for 12 hours a day solely for the less essential movement of cars. Then there would be no chance of families getting wiped out by HGVs.
Tags:
hgvs
speed limits
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