There's a similar 'ban' on the A42 northbound for about 10 miles - max weight 7.5 tonnes in outside lane during certain hours.
I only generally use the section at weekends when it's quieter, but one Sunday we came across Mr and Mrs Mimser in an ancient Metro doing about 35mph. Nice dilemma for the 10 tonne coach who caught them up.
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I have to say that I'm generally in favour of 2nd lane lorry bans at certain times of the day, you see this a lot on the continent and it it seems to me that makes the traffic flow better at rush hours.
But then I'm not a lorry driver.....
I'm sure there are many circumstances when a lorry needs to overtake a slower vehicle - say one doing 45mph ? However if we accept a compromise like a peak period ban then perhaps some of the more frustrating behaviours like a 56.1 mph lorry overtaking one travelling at 55.9mph will be less disruptive to other road users ?
An aside, but you also see cruise control bans on these same stretches of continental road (and I admit to liking cruise control).
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The ban on trucks in the outside lane on the A14 at peak times seems to be completely ignored as far as I can tell.
Unless such a ban is enforced, it's pretty pointless.
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The ban on trucks in the outside lane on the A14 at peak times seems to be completely ignored as far as I can tell. Unless such a ban is enforced it's pretty pointless.
But doesn't the same argument apply to speeding, tailgating, undertaking, bus lanes, parking etc which are only enforced when police or cameras are present ? Doesn't mean that the associated regulations are pointless, just that people transgress and get away with it ?
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It'd be a piece of cake to police. All you need is a bloke sitting at a screen in the camera control room, recording the number plate of every lorry he spots in the wrong lane. He's sat there as we speak. Presuming there are traffic cameras on the A12, but if not I'm sure they'd be hoist up their poles sharpish at the prospect of a few juicy fines.
Just as happened when I chanced in to a bus lane in Reading, there was a good ol' boy sat at his screen just a-waiting to catch his bunny rabbit. I duly coughed up £several.
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If it was enforced by a camera system and fixed penalty it would work.
Its not, it hasnt, and it doesent.
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Living alongside the camera-bedecked M4, it is hard to imagine a major artery not having thousands of cameras these days. The A12 must be such a place. I shall have to pay my first visit to my newly Colchester-residing sister in order to enjoy this oddity.
We even have access to view the M4 traffic cameras through the local council's website. So far, I've found it of absolutely zero use in avoiding a traffic jam.
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I know the A12 quite well as I was in an approved school in Dovercourt + my wife hails from Brentwood but - any such dual carriageway carrying a high number of HGV's would benefit from overtaking restrictions - the benefit being to *all* other road users.
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