A few days ago I was in a convoy of traffic following a HGV along a single-carriageway NSL road at a "good" 60mph. A few cars ahead of me sat a marked police vehicle quite happy to tag along at this speed.
Of course, 'technically' the HGV was limited to 40mph - so do the BiB accept that this limit is unrealistically low, and that maintaining good traffic flow can sometimes be more of a priority?
Would they exhibit the same leniency towards a passenger car travelling at 60mph in a 40 limit?
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I would like to think that an experienced Traffic Officer would have a reasonably well developed level of common sense. I am not a Police officer and know nothing of the training or the job but I have a close relative who is a retired motorcycle cop. He, when asked about these things, tells me that he tried to assess whether a driver was causing himself or other road users any danger or inconvenience before deciding whether to take any action or at what level to take it.
For example, a mildly speeding vehicle being driven otherwise well and in light traffic and good weather might be ignored. A similar speed being done in heavy traffic and or poor conditions would incur his professional attention. He interpreted his job as that of helping to maintain road safety while keeping things moving. He has an expression which I rather approve of. He says that the most useful aid to his job was not anything electronic bolted to his bike but the "idiot filter" built into his brain by years of experience and training.
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a "good" 60mph
Shouldn't it be limited to 56MPH anyway?
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humph,
sadly the reality is that when the weathers bad the boys in blue are so busy running round from one crash to another that they have little time for enforcement against the flowing traffic
only time they do get heavy handed with minor enforcement is in good weather when there is little else to concern them
hence folk who take great care in bad weather but push it a bit in good conditions tend to suffer badly on the points front, while the more dangerious nutters who do the opposite are generally free to carry on
not fair but thats the way it is
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Shouldn't it be limited to 56MPH anyway?
Add in the difference between a calibrated tacho and a car's wildly inaccurate speedo and he[?] probably was.
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I doubt there is a target been set for speeding HGVs or if there has, its not one that would get much publicity if its not met, so I doubt they would bother, far more public targets to be met.
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In good conditions and where it helps the flow of traffic, I sincerely hope they do. Rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men.
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Humph
You have the logic of an old experienced traffic man.
Retgwte
You have grains of truth.
dvd
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Do the speed cameras take into account the lower speed restrictions for HGVs? I realise that would mean having to connect to the DVLA database to see which classification a vehicle falls into, but surely it's possible to do this.
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Do the speed cameras take into account the lower speed restrictions for HGVs?
There are often comments about the cameras on the A556 in Cheshire which is a 4 lane road but not a dual carriageway, so it catches truckers out.
No idea how the system works, but the standard looking Gatso's seem to be able to catch trucks exceeding their 40MPH limit, even though the road is signed as 60MPH (now 50MPH on some stretches).
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>> Do the speed cameras take into account the lower speed restrictions for HGVs? >>
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Some cameras have a Piezo (sp?) sensor embedded into the tarmac just in front of them.You can't miss them,as they look like black stripes in the tarmac.
Where a camera has these,they will monitor a vehicle in an instant,and where necessary,trigger the camera,if it has a box and lens in it.
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>>Rules are for the obedience of fools
Should that be 'obeyance'? I think so.
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He says that the most useful aid to his job was not anything electronic bolted to his bike but the "idiot filter" built into his brain by years of experience and training.
Good for him. It's much more pleasant to live in a world where rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools. The only problem is that we all think we belong with the wise not the fools. Your relative's idiot filter is the essential and vital tool of the intelligent police force that can differentiate the two and allow us to live in this pleasant world. Long may it continue. I wonder how long it will...
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To answer the OP, generally speaking yes they do. Lincolnshire plod had a purge on HGV's a few years ago, but rumour has it that they got serious grief from the local MP's who had received an ear-bashing from the hauliers in the fresh veg industry (big in that area of course) and have quietly backed off.
If you go north of the border on the A74, you'll see signs reminding HGV drivers of the limit, something rare in England and Wales. A wise trucker obeys these when there's a "jam sandwich" about! ;-)
The blind eye's not for the benefit of truck drivers getting there quicker though; experience has proved that other vehicles are less likely to overtake in a dangerous manner when behind an HGV doing 50 than they are when it's doing 40. Been there, tried it, trust me it's scary; watching them trying to commit suicide that is!
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Personally, I dont know why they have lower limits if they are not to be enforced - clearly they are irrelevant.
Some years ago I followed a foreign lorry at over 70 mph ( nearly 80 indicated ) and it seemed fine. Sure it would take a while to stop but as long as stopping distances are adhered to, doesnt seem like a problem, they just wanna get where they are going faster like most other people.
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behind an HGV doing 50 than they are when it's doing 40. Been there tried it trust me it's scary; watching them trying to commit suicide that is!
Agree 100% with that sentence, so long as the driver is clearly in control of the vehicle, and lets be honest it only takes a minute behind one to know when someone isn't, and whilst maintaining normal progress most officers don't make a fuss.
Until of course they have given the driver sufficient time to see them and to show that he has by slowing down a bit to a more legal pace, if the driver takes the mick by blatantly speeding whilst fully aware of their presence then in my experience he can expect a tug, same as with most road users IMO.
I don't really think they turn a blind eye, maybe use their discretion.
Disrespect for the law and it may bite.
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When I drive HGV's now(today for instance) I always stick to 40 in NSL's single carriageways, and 50 on dual carriageways. Too much of a risk of a mobile camera staffed by plastic plods who do not understand traffic flow!
But I agree it is really very scary watching some of the overtaking that goes on when you do stick to 40!!! Still, thats progress for you, safety first eh, and we all know speed kills!!!!!!
Edited by R75 on 31/10/2008 at 22:19
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Tesco lorries seem the most likley to be observing the 40 limit - enforcement by the operator rather than the law?
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When I was an HGV driver years and years ago, the unwritten rule, according to the other drivers and the BOSS, who was a driver himself too, was that although the law said 40 mph on single carriageways, the unwriiten limit was 50 mph but it was always wise to slow to 40 if you saw a the police! I tended to observe the 40 limit most of the time.
The current situation is a mockery. Should the linit be raised to 50 mph and enforced, which would mean that the de-facto situation would remain the same as it is now? Or should the 40 limit be strictly enforced, which might reduce the number and severity of accidents in which lorries are in collisions, BUT would probably increase the number of head-on collisions caused by cars and vans overtaking the lorries?
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Tesco lorries seem the most likley to be observing the 40 limit - enforcement by the operator rather than the law?
Yes, very much so.
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Enforcement by a very, very good hourly rate of pay!
Speed, in a 40mph limit for HGV's, is one of the few areas we do seem to find that Plod will use his discretion and it's very much appreciated too.
Pat
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