Speed cameras and caravans

[RogerL]

The A75 may have a poor safety record, but that it due in a substantial measure to foreign HGV drivers who not only ignore the 40mph limit applicable to them but also ignore the 60mph limit applicable to solo cars - these foreign HGVs seem to have no operative 56mph limiter and are happy to cruise at 65/70 in complete defiance of UK regulations.
The whole point about raising the National Speed Limit (NSL) for HGVs is that it ONLY applies when no lower limit is in force - so the NSL level has absolutely no impact on speed limits or speeds in towns and villages as they have their own limits.
By definition, the NSL only applies to the "open road"

 

[TheTravellingRooster]

Hi Roger. When in the eyes of some of these 44 Tonne HGV Jockies does the "Open Road" cease and the 40mph limits really do apply?
If by "Foreign" in the case of the A75 you are referring to the Irish owned/owner driver vehicles, then that is only a small proportion of those that pound the hell out of that particular stretch of road,especially on the run for the ferry.
Not so long back I was going up into Scotland and over onto the West Coast near Girvan when In my Volvo T5 I was overtaken by a truck just before the A75 turn-off on the M6 Northbound. I was in the NS lane and cruising at 60mph in Cruise Control.
I could not believe what was approaching me from behind and just carried on driving in total disbelief. After it passed me and nearly modified my front OS corner I followed him for a short distance. He/it was reaching speeds of 65 & 70 mph on the flat and appeared to be hell bent on getting to the destination which was probably Stranraer.
I shudder to think what speeds he went through the the very restricted sections of the A75 at. I pulled over into Annan for a Pit Stop and never saw that truck again.
I have also been passed by caravanner's and not the Traveller kind at speeds clearly in excess of 75mph and on more than one occasion by them going into the third lane of a 3 lane motorway. They were more often than not the "Absolutely,Totally Bullet Proof" Range Rovers.

 

[RogerL]

We also holiday in Dumfries & Galloway and know first-hand the problems with speeding HGVs along the A75 corridor.
I don't recall ever seeing a UK-registered HGV with an obviously inactive 56mph limiter but they're certainly not saints at lower speeds. On the A75, it seems to be predominantly Irish, Belgian and Polish HGVs that clearly don't have limiters, I imagine on their way to/from the ferry at Cairnryan (they don't use Stranraer itself any more). I'm sure there are many other HGVs from those 3 nations with fully operational limiters.
The requirement to have 56mph limiters fitted and operational for all new HGVs in the EU has been in place long enough that there will be virtually no genuinely unlimited HGVs around now and they'll be so old and clapped out that they couldn't exceed 56mph if they tried - so it's a matter of enforcing existing vehicle regulations through the whole of the EU.
The issue of speeding inside towns/villages is an issue, I agree, but needs enforcing in it's own right - the levels of the NSL have no bearing on towns/villages.

 

[JonnyG]

Interesting take on HGVs! the impression it would give somebody with no knowledge of present day HGVs,is foriegn registered hgvs do not have rstrictors and all drive at 65/70mph! And of course this is total poppycop,most are restricted to 53 54 55 56 and very very few can or do travel above 60mph. but then regardless of where the lorries come from most can break by the speed limiters and exceed 60mph on good downhill routes which incedentally the M74 has plenty of.and err please do remember that 60mph is not illegal for older hgv's on the motorway anyway and on you car speedo that could be 65mph!

 

[RogerL]

No suggestion of "all" foreign HGVs has been made or implied.
Try driving in a solo car along the single carriageway A75 between Dumfries and Stranraer/Cairnryan and you'd understand why it's a very real issue and threat to road safety - this is currently 40mph NSL for HGVs over 7.5 tonnes - the issue isn't about motorway speeds where limits are significantly higher.
I don't ever quote speeds based on my speedometer, I know it's inaccurate like all speedos which are required by law never to under-read - my speed assessment is based on GPS readout from the sat-nav.
When you're travelling in a solo car, on a NSL single-carriageway, with the cruise set to 60mph (GPS) you do notice the number of foreign-registered HGVs thundering past, overtaking on level sections with significant speed differential when their legal limit is 20mph slower than your cruising speed.

 

[JonnyG]

hi roger, i specifically did not quote anyone but answered a few things all in one. and as i have used the A75 on numerous occassions in my 55mph limited 16 tonner and previously in no limited and also limited to 57mph 7.5 tonner i have indeed plenty of knowledge of that road and indeed some of the narrow places this road has.....no doubt SOME hgv;s do travel as you say,yet from my experience of said road MOST do not.... and as we handle freight bound for ireland in otherwords a irish company rents office space and when the irish trailers arrive we load them, then all i can say is the hgv;s in your area seem to be different to the hgvs here in the midlands who make for the ports of holyhead liverpool and heysham as all are on irish plates and none seem particular quick when we encounter them on m/ways..certainly not so quick as to overtake a vehicle doing a real 60mph unless as stated before using gravity.
infact as an afterthought what you are suggesting is they can easily exceed 70 mph!!!!!! given the speed needed to overtake a car doing 60 and have sportcar like exceleration too, please!!this cannot be such a regular occurence these days...if it is, why are we not reading more post of hgvs speeding at 65 or 70mph on m/ways straights? i can assure you i do enought m/way miles to spot hgv;s flying that fast by me and would be posting of it too.............

 

[RogerL]

I am aware that the speeds I've noted on the A75 aren't replicated on the M74 or M6, although at these speeds they would be noticed, and the HGVs on the A75 presumably join the motorway network to continue their journeys.
I have to assume that Dumfries & Galloway Constabulary allocate fewer resources to speeding than Lothian & Borders Police or Cumbrian Police.

 

[JonnyG]

there is a regular speed trap set on one of the long downhill straight near dumfries,where an hgv could travel at a dangerous speed as you qoute,another on a straight a few miles outside strangrar,near to a petrol station on the left towards strangrar.i have passed 3 in the same day 2 toward strangrar and 1 near dumfries.
I have been pulled 7 times by Vosa in god knows how many years 5 times in scotland 4 times in the past 3 years i dont go into scotland on a daily or weekly basis but for whatever reason i tend to think rightly or wrongly i see more police activity [mobile cameras] there than in England.
have herd the same thing concerning hgv's speeding out of pembroke [wales] nolan haulage being mentioned and no doubt it happens,its just,can it really happen on the sort of scale i read about? my personal experience says no, but then that doesnt mean much realy..

oh and i dont have any convictions or speeding tickets,and i am not the lucky sort either...