Lorries side by side on a dual carriageway......AAAArrrrgggghhhhhh

[TAZZMAXX]

Okay, so not all lorry drivers are the same but why do some try and overtake a vehicle the same size as theirs when both are limited to 56mph? I'm not talking about "7.5T ****** man" (as my HGV instructor called them), but artic drivers.

You're driving along, approaching two trucks in the distance and then the one at the back pulls out, manages to get alongside the other and battle commences. sometimes I've been sat behind goons like this for up to five, maybe ten minutes until theres a slight hill and the one with the power advantage pulls away. It seems to happen more often now than it used to.

I know it's not their fault that the vehicle has a speed limiter but FFS why do they even try?

[markpriorgts-t]

get your own back overtake then brake

[MIKEGTR]

It should be banned - most congestion on M-ways and A roads is because of this, it really gets my goat.

Also who is the prick at the place who makes the limiters that sets some to 52, some to 53, some to 57 etc, 56 bellend!! its not flamming hard

[TJB]

....ban the speed limiters i say........

[tonigmr2]

They are all set at 56mph, but some engines have more grunt than others, so that's why the overtake.

I blame 'just in time', the truck drivers are under a lot of pressure to get to their destination in their 'time slot'. If they miss it, they get grief from their firm and have to wait until another free slot is there for them.

That said there are some complete c*cks out there, like the one who nearly sideswiped me recently by pulling out even though I was level with his rear wheels....mirrors much?

[briancgtr33]

Originally Posted by markpriorgts-t

get your own back overtake then brake

hopefully they will see you, if not game over..

[abdngtr]

aye, this happens:

YouTube - Truck pushes car down A1.flv

[Karls]

Having driven in Germany a fair bit, I seem to remember that lorries were restricted to the inside lane only. Why the F doesn't that happen in this country?

[mambastu]

I've noticed this a lot to recently and it really affects traffic flow on motorways. I wish they were restricted to the inside lane....or maybe given a special temporary overboost/limiter removal facility

[tonigmr2]

They tried that in Holland though and what they found is nobody could get on the motorways and it caused queing on the sliproads! It works where there isn't a horrendous traffic density - but in the SE we'd all be waiting for a gap to get on the sodding motorway in the day!

[Min-e]

Originally Posted by tonigmr2

They are all set at 56mph, but some engines have more grunt than others, so that's why the overtake.

This is true however a few companies have now limited their tractor units to 52mph to allegedly "save fuel" and "help the environment".

I don't know if any of you have travelled along the M6 near Birmingham lately, but in the mornings there is what seems an endless line of lorries in both the inside and middle lanes making it virtually impossible to merge over to the inside line to take any junction exit without cutting a lorry up, and when merging onto the motorway you have the same issue, they're virtually nose to tail "drafting" each other meaning that you have to force your way in because they don't want to brake or let you in because they have to build their momentum up again. Also, there's a lot more cars than lorries on the road and because lorries occupy the inside and middle lane trying to overtake each other in a lot of peak time traffic, you have the peak time commuters in cars all basically having to go in one lane, the outside lane to overtake resulting in a mass of congestion due to having to use one lane.

Isn't it in the United Arab Emirates that lorries can only travel on their road network at night unless they have special circumstances?

[MIKEGTR]

Originally Posted by tonigmr2

They are all set at 56mph, but some engines have more grunt than others, so that's why the overtake.

Trust me, although by law they should all be at 56 in reality they are not, my old company had 4 lorries all of the same make all the same year (infact their reg numbers were in number order) and everyone knew which was the slowest, which was the fastest and used to make a beeline for it each morning.

FYI the limiters were all fitted by the same company at the same time

[tonigmr2]

Originally Posted by MIKEGTR

Trust me, although by law they should all be at 56 in reality they are not, my old company had 4 lorries all of the same make all the same year (infact their reg numbers were in number order) and everyone knew which was the slowest, which was the fastest and used to make a beeline for it each morning.

FYI the limiters were all fitted by the same company at the same time

Might still be an issue with 'grunt' rather than top mph - if it was set any higher it would have shown on the tacho which would have created a lot of other problems! All engines are not the same.

[MIKEGTR]

And most speedos are not calibrated correctly - even if the Tacho is

[tonigmr2]

Originally Posted by MIKEGTR

And most speedos are not calibrated correctly - even if the Tacho is

Well now we're going into illegal territory, don't tell me I want to remain in good standing with my CPC /lalala fingers in ears!!