Stop HGV's overtaking!

[Paul F]

Im sure we have all seen it at some point.

You are crawling along the motorway at 50mph in a sea of slow moving traffic. You assume there is an accident or something worrying causing this problem.
You get to the front and you see 2 HGV's next to each other going exactly the same speed forcing all the cars into the fast lane
:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

As far as I know (i could well be wrong) HGV's have limiters that prevent them all from going above some imposed speed.
So why do they have to overtake
Whats worse is when they go uphill. They simply have not got the torque to get them past the overtakee(new word) - hold up ensues.

This subject was touched on in parliament recently but I have not heard anything since.

Should we stop them from overtaking on Motorways?

Can this be enforced? ie. they may HAVE to overtake some vehicles.

I would love to know if I am the only one affected by this :blush:

[El Salsero Gringo]

Every time the driver of a 44 tonne LGV so much as touches his brakes, that's about £1 of diesel wasted. Every mph lost behind another truck that doesn't have the same torque is another minute or two at full throttle wasting diesel trying to recover that lost speed. Long distance drivers are ranked by their firms according to their fuel consumption per mile, and get bonuses when they do well in that regard.

It's not that they're trying to overtake - it's just that they're trying not to slow down unnecessarily. 44 tonnes loses a huge amount of energy when it brakes.

I think you should just be patient and realise that people whose entire working lives are spent on the road deserve a little understanding.

[El Salsero Gringo]

While we're on the subject, I think that lots of traffic jams in town are caused by buses trying to overtake each other at bus stops. Now that I would like to do something about!

[killingtime]

Im sure we have all seen it at some point.

You are crawling along the motorway at 50mph in a sea of slow moving traffic. You assume there is an accident or something worrying causing this problem.
You get to the front and you see 2 HGV's next to each other going exactly the same speed forcing all the cars into the fast lane
:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:



You are quite right; they have speed regulators in them. The problem that arises is that it's not an accurate representation as to the actual speed they are going (they are generally controlled by the speedometer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speedometer)) it might be a few mile an hour slower than it reads. That means that lazy truck driver A who is going slightly faster than truck driver B will move to overtake them. Of course the fact that they are only going slightly faster means they spend quite a while in the overtaking lane.

I doubt you could make it illegal as they do need to shift lanes if there is someone doing minimum on the inside lane or for purposes of moving out of a lane that is being delayed at a junction. At that stage I wouldn't want to argue that it was ok for them to overtake a slow moving vehicle but not the slightly faster moving vehicle in front.

[Little Em]

I dont think we should stop them overtaking.

Imagine how frustrating it is for a lorry driver to have people pulling out on them all the time and pulling in... it takes a lorry a hell of a lot longer to get going than cars (obviously!)
you have your regular drivers that want to sit at 60mph an thats that, but then you will have a driver that wants to go to his full capacity, so if we say that lorry drivers are not to overtake..... if the slow driver is on the motorway first are we saying that the others cannot over take therefore creating a line of lorries? that just seems silly to me? :rolleyes:

It is frustrating waiting for a lorry to over take another, but then again how many people do you get sitting in the middle lanes in their cars? :angry: we should stop that too.... but some people haven got a clue on how to use the motorway to its full advantage! :D
Same as some lorry drivers just dont know when to pick their moments to overtake! :wink:

(rant over)

from a lorry drivers daughter.
Em x x :flower:

[El Salsero Gringo]

You are quite right; they have speed regulators in them. The problem that arises is that it's not an accurate representation as to the actual speed they are going (they are generally controlled by the speedometer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speedometer)) it might be a few mile an hour slower than it reads.Goods vehicles over 7.5 tonnes MGW have to be fitted with an approved tachograph and speed limiter that is inspected every two years and calibrated every six. The variations should be much less than a few mph, and they should be more accurate than the lousy speedos in cars that are designed to over-read your speed.

Incidentally, why should truck driver 'A' be the lazy one?

[Paul F]

Wow. Some really informative posts there. I understand a little more now.

My issue, along with people who hog middle lanes :angry: :angry: , is with the maximum speed of these HGVs.
Sadly enough I actually sat behind them the other night on the way home. About 3 times I noticed the trucks overtaking other trucks ..... and not going any faster!!!

All they did was to switch positions. This happened a good few times. I was happy enough at the time as it was at night and there wasn't 50 cars behind them waiting to get past.
I must confess I was not aware that limiters differ in the speed at which they ACTUALLY cut in. Thats interesting. In a way I can sort of empathise with the driver in that respect but with the difference being ever so slight would it be that much of a loss to just sit behind them?

I recall a trip to Sweden (i think it was sweden - or maybe toronto :confused: ) where they ban HGVs from the roads in rush hour. Would that work? I doubt it but its an interesting idea.

Living where I do near the penines and crossing them regularly it is so frustrating :tears:

[killingtime]

Goods vehicles over 7.5 tonnes MGW have to be fitted with an approved tachograph and speed limiter that is inspected every two years and calibrated every six. The variations should be much less than a few mph, and they should be more accurate than the lousy speedos in cars that are designed to over-read your speed.

Incidentally, why should truck driver 'A' be the lazy one?

Because driver B (who is being overtaken) can't go any faster and A is the one preparing to overtake rather than slow down. Of course it isn't really lazy at all as they have to overtake which involves merging with traffic and is certainly a more complex operation than slowing down. So I retract my lazy title.

As you mentioned before. The shift in velocity for a truck driver along with the slow acceleration at those speeds means that there is a cost associated with changing speeds as well.

[Dance Demon]

Goods vehicles over 7.5 tonnes MGW have to be fitted with an approved tachograph and speed limiter that is inspected every two years and calibrated every six. The variations should be much less than a few mph, and they should be more accurate than the lousy speedos in cars that are designed to over-read your speed.

Incidentally, why should truck driver 'A' be the lazy one?

Yep...and lots of companies now fit limiters to 7.5t lorries now too. I drive an LGV vehichle, and it's not just slower lorries that cause the problem. some car drivers think it's ok to toddle along the motorway at 50mph, but they cause problems because they are notkeeping up with the flow of traffic, which is generally 70mph or above. The M8 between Edinburgh & glasgow was seriously congested a couple of weeks ago by an elderly lady doing 30mph in the outside lane ( M8 is only 2 lanes :mad: ).....most car drivers are unaware of the additional time it takes for a lorry to nanoevre or stop, or as ESG says to pick up speed again once they have had to slow down

[Paul F]

.........an elderly lady doing 30mph in the outside lane .........

:what: :what:

there's someone who should not be on the road.

As you can probably tell I am not at my best in traffic :nice:

[Lynn]

OK, I'll join in and have a rant too!

What annoys me is cars driving too close to the one in front. This can cause awful tailbacks as if everyone is doing this, and someone has to brake, then everyone has to brake as they are too close and it tails right back along the lane. :mad: It really messes up the flow of traffic.

[under par]

OK, I'll join in and have a rant too!



Why don't you all get off of my roads NOW.....You know you only go out on MY roads to really really P**s me right off :devil:

[Lucy Locket]

why can't they drive in the evenings as in France. ie 8pm - 6pm would be ok

[Little Em]

why can't they drive in the evenings as in France. ie 8pm - 6pm would be ok


because the shops that the goods are delivered too aren always open in the night!!! :D

[Minnie M]

OK, I'll join in and have a rant too!
:yeah:
My turn
{rant} vehicles that race up the hard shoulder, then try to muscle into the queue {rant}

[Gojive]

On some parts of the autobahn network in Germany, lorries are not allowed to overtake on hills. Seems to be a good compromise to me? :)

[Paul F]

On some parts of the autobahn network in Germany, lorries are not allowed to overtake on hills. Seems to be a good compromise to me? :)

That does sound like a good idea.
Although I have experienced the problem quite a few times on normal stretches of motorway the issue is definately escalated on hills.

Germany seems to have a few really good ideas when it comes to traffic.

[Simon r]

my turn police cars speeding along over speed limit just on there way back to the station for there tea break ..

followed one last week, he was well over a tonne with sirens on kept my distance at ninety or so.
Followed him in to Reading were he slowed to about 60 -70( no sirens) through town then watched him pull in to the local police station...
on his own, so what else could have been his reason...
my feeling jammy bugger wish i could get away with it..

[Gojive]

the issue is definately escalated on hills.

No pun intended of course :rofl: :rofl:

IMO, there are many simple rules and regs that various European countries have on their roads, that would be feasible, and relatively cheap to introduce here. For example:

1) Again in Germany, some lanes have minimum speed restrictions, as well as maximums.

2) In France, a dual speed limit is in force, depending on weather - something like 100KPH in wet conditions, and 130KPH in dry

3) Many European motorways, have a) concrete central reservations in place of a flimsy bit of wire, and b) hedges/bushes also in the CR. The latter serves two purposes: You don't get blinded by some dickhead who thinks his mainbeam is not visible on multi-lane carriageways, and rubber-neckers have nothing to see at accident scenes.

4) Scandinavian drivers have to have dipped headlamps on at all times of the day, in all weathers - not expensive to do, and saves the "Duh, I forgot to put them on in the fog/rain/snoe/drizzle/night" type pillocks

Oops! I appear to have gone off on one! :blush: . Sorry, as you were... :flower:

[Lynn]

My turn
{rant} vehicles that race up the hard shoulder, then try to muscle into the queue {rant}Haven't seen that, it would be annoying!

They spent about a year adding a third lane to part of the main motorway near my house - it hasn't made any noticeable difference :tears:

[MartinHarper]

he was well over a tonne with sirens on kept my distance at ninety or so.

The policeman may or may not have had a valid reason to be breaking the speed limit. I can't tell.
Did you?

[Simon r]

The policeman may or may not have had a valid reason to be breaking the speed limit. I can't tell.
Did you?
nope but i have never needed a reason .....i just love to drive on the empty roads....

[clevedonboy]

Much of the HGV / caravan induced backlogging is due to hills. The M5 at Avonmouth is the scene of just about the longest tailbacks on a Holiday Friday / Saturday. The cause is widely attributed to the steep hill that follows the Avonmouth road bridge. Last August BH the highways agency tried a voluntary "No towing vehicles in lane 2/3" policy. predictably enough it was an abject failure & there were still huge queues. But I think that it's a policy with merit, you just have to get the vehicles into the correct lanes early, rather than at the bottom of the hill. Enforcing the banning of towing vehicles & goods vehicles over 7.5 tonnes from lane 3(4 where applicable) would also help

[El Salsero Gringo]

I've got a much better idea. Let's just ban hills.

[LMC]

Let's just ban hills.
Just the "up" hills surely?

[stewart38]

Wow. Some really informative posts there. I understand a little more now.

My issue, along with people who hog middle lanes :angry: :angry: ,


Any t*** i see driving in the middle lane late at night on the M25 with no other traffic in sight i shall flash 8 times and if he doesnt move over cut inside and over take him/her.

why should i be forced to go on outside line . Banned them :grin: Its illegal anyway .