Used selectively it has IMO some merit.
I am sure Pat will give us some interesting aspects on the subject.
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Our resident elephant driver?
The A14 limit was widely ignored as there was no enforcement.
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Unfortunatley it doesn't apply to the car driver with his (or her) cruise control set to 58mph. I certainly wouldn't drive alongside an "Elephant".
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I'm speechless at some of the totally uninformed comments by people who think they have a right to judge, yet show on the other hand that the have no idea of the law etc.
Personally, I'm sick of having to 'justify' or 'explain' this and the comments show that whatever logical explanation you give, it will never be accepted.
I was asked to do a live radio phone in some years ago which entailed spending all day in a studio in London and answering live questions from listeners phone ins as the show went around the country and this question was asked so, so many times.
Try explaining the difference between an empty lorry with a big engine and a small one fully loaded, it didn't register at all to them!
I tried explaining that the speed limit was actually 60MPH for us but we are limited to 56MPH.
I tried explaining that journey times and booking times have financial penalties for us.
I even tried explaining that some lorry drivers were just ignorant and the same applies for some car drivers, but that didn't go down well either.
Since I did that phone in we are expected to reduce our carbon footprint, drive fuel efficiently and most lorry drivers are on a much needed fuel bonus payment.....................so I'd love to tell you it will change, but I can't!
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Morning Pat,
I've just voted for you, I think, despite completely disagreeing with your post. I can understand that different vehicles will cope with hills in different ways, but if an overtake can't be achieved in less than 30 seconds, then it should not be happening as it is not making any real difference to anyone than those stuck behind the rolling roadblock. 1 mph difference is nothing, 15-20 (sorry, I of course meant to type 14) mounts up on a long journey.
Gord
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Is this a joke?
So the scared driver at 45-50mph in the inside lane or the clueless dolt at 60mph in the middle lane with an empty left lane -- these persistant dangers & annoyances are lower value targets than lorries overtaking?
Come on!
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Hgv time weren't really affected significantly so say the gov, and non hgv travel times were cut by 17%. Might it work?
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I'm appalled that the Highways Agency can just wave it's magic wand and there we have another regulation. Not a law presumably, though no doubt it has the force of law with all of the incumbent penalties.
JH
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Sooty, I would love to find those figures printed somewhere and the source of the trials.
We have searched high and low to find the results of the time trials on the A14 to no avail, yet they have no qualms in qouting such statistics.
The time it takes a loaded lorry will not be different, but it certainly will be for an empty one and unless they differentiate that in the statistics they are meaningless.
Pat
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They need to take away the 56mph limiter and replace it with a 63mph one. Then the empty lorries will be noticeably quicker than the full ones. On fast roads, no one will be able to go faster than 63mph, which although 3 mph over an HGV limit, will not be in any kind of enforcement zone i.e. a couple of mile an hour over the limit would be disregarded...simples.
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There's a sensible option WP, and one we've wanted for ages, but sadly it's going the other way.
So many firms are cutting the limiter down to 50 or 52MPH to save fuel.
They still expect us to get up to Scotland in a straight 10 hour drive though.
Pat
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In Germany there is a time limit in law for HGV overtaking manouevres of 45 seconds on crowded autobahns after which they either have to have completed the overtake or get back into the nearside lane anyway. This only applies when the outside lane is crowded. Despite being a typically complex German law, it is apparently policed, using patrol planes.
Now if only they could do something about the mimsing dutch drivers with their caravans pulling into the outside lane without warning at 80km/h...
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>> Now if only they could do something about the mimsing dutch drivers with their caravans pulling into the outside lane without warning at 80km/h...
Bagpuss + dutch driving == Kyle "the land rover enthusiast" from the west end of Glasgow?
Or am i miles off? lol
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>> Sooty I would love to find those figures printed somewhere and the source of the
>> trials.
>> We have searched high and low to find the results of the time trials on
>> the A14 to no avail yet they have no qualms in qouting such statistics.
If you use the "filetype" parameter in Google you can uncover all sorts of odd documents, spreadsheets, pdfs etc that might otherwise get lost in a normal search. This seems to be especially true on Government sites, where they often seem to forget to exclude areas from search and so this can yield "interesting" information.
I didn't find the results themselves, but I did find a 2007 pdf about the trials which said that results would be available by emailing
A14journeytimetrial@highways.gsi.gov.uk
I don't know if you've done that or if it's any help, or even if it works!
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Sorry to reply to my own message but, I did then find this:
www.highways.gov.uk/aboutus/.../Area_8_Report_Feb_Jul_09_v2-rev.pdf
Page 35.
I'm not hot on stats, so I'll leave it others to say whether the number of respondents is significant.
Sorry, can't make it linkable, so you need to enter this into Google to get it:
a14 time trial results site:www.highways.gov.uk filetype:pdf
It's the one that says Area 11 Road Users Satisfaction Survey
Last edited by: Crankcase on Wed 7 Apr 10 at 19:08
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Thanks very much Crankcase, I'll go and study those just as soon as I've sorted out new posts from old on here this morning.
I only have one red notification at the top of each forum and after that nothing, so it's a long job.
I see I have been 'marked down' twice though for my original reply despite no negative comments???
I really cannot condone a system that allows someone to vote their disapproval anonymously, without explanation or debate and will encourage even more cowards to hide behind a keyboard.
I really don't think this is for me after all.
Pat
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I can't vote ... seems to have been turned off, maybe because I tried it out and someone didn't like the way I was voting?
Such a pity, but I'm in agreement with Pat, all of a sudden the forum isn't the place we all hoped it would be.
Edit, strange.... all of a sudden I can vote again??
Last edited by: swiss tony on Thu 8 Apr 10 at 08:03
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dont take it so personaly Pat, the ticks have no meaning. You know that on here the regulars will not be afraid to confront you if they disagree.
(As I do - Frequently)
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 8 Apr 10 at 09:19
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I remember a trial of this around where I live (Durham)
To be honest, I never noticed a difference when the scheme ran or when it ended. Traffic always slowed down at the same 'pinch points' and some trucks still used the outside lane. After all - who was there to stop them?
Overall it does seem rather pointless, and as other posters have noted there might be better ways of helping traffic flow (changing limits etc)
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'Elephant racing' banned - henry k
