increasing the motorway speed limit to 80mph

[vintagemotor]

I don't see the point in raising the limit by 10mph. I used to work on a rapid response ambulance car and would head off to jobs before the crew only to find that despite doing well over the speed limit, I arrived just a few short minutes before they did. Do we really need to rush around like we do? Why do people live their lives at 100mph these days?

[rich.]

When did i say stopping lorries at peek times?!?!
i said stopping lorries OVERTAKING at peek times. They do it in Germany and it had an amazing effect on traffic flow!

my bad!! still think its a daft idea.. i drive hgvs.. we are already restricted on the hours etc.. get the school run & commuters taking the bus/ train & the roads will be empty apart from white van man

[kevanf1]

I don't know why they don't just up the limit by a proper amount to around 100mph. But.... at set times. Say between the hours of midnight and 5:00am. Allow lorries to go faster during this time too. For some reason I always find that lorry drivers are more human and have more common sense at night. It's as if there are two different species of lorry driver, the day ones and the night breed.

[Mitsuru]

I don't know why they don't just up the limit by a proper amount to around 100mph. But.... at set times. Say between the hours of midnight and 5:00am. Allow lorries to go faster during this time too. For some reason I always find that lorry drivers are more human and have more common sense at night. It's as if there are two different species of lorry driver, the day ones and the night breed.

Make that more than 2, There is the foreign element.

[mach1rob]

When did i say stopping lorries at peek times?!?!
i said stopping lorries OVERTAKING at peek times. They do it in Germany and it had an amazing effect on traffic flow!

my bad!! still think its a daft idea.. i drive hgvs.. we are already restricted on the hours etc.. get the school run & commuters taking the bus/ train & the roads will be empty apart from white van man

Rich, I've given up these days, car drivers just don't seem to understand it all, I so wish I could throw the keys to everyone who blames trucks for being held up for a few minutes and say go on then YOU do it AND get the deliveries done on time and within the driving hours. Most of the whingers have never driven anything bigger than a normal car, and assume driving a truck is exactly the same.

[TerryG]

Both my brother in laws are HGV drivers, I can move an artic around the yard (it's fun when you don't have to do it for a living) I understand the frustrations of daily checks, 56mph limiters when the limit is 60, it taking 100 years to build up speed (but without a load on OMG do those things go!), it is frustrating when car drivers cut you up and you have to build speed again where as a car driver squeezes the peddle and goes. You have blind spots you can lose a house in, restricted hours, etc. but overtaking when the speed difference is 0.1mph so it takes over a mile to overtake is just inconsiderate. It makes a 14mph difference to the 100 commuters that have been held up and created a ripple on motorways that can cause problems for hours. If it was one lorry driver creating a bottle neck it wouldn't be a problem. The issue is that it is 10 drivers in 40 miles every morning and evening. It doesn't add 5 minutes to a journey it adds 20 to every motorway and duel carriageway in the country.
Sorry if that sounds harsh but I get held up for hours every week because of lorry drivers blocking both lanes.

[Mitsuru]

There are good drivers of cars and hgv's but we always hear about the bad ones of both.
When I was fit and my body wasn't a prime candidate for the crusher.

I did drive a few of those very long and very high roofed transit vans.
When they are empty and there is cross winds, they are a handful, not to mention the
dimension with blind spots so I can only imagine what hgv drivers have to put up with!

[JPB]

....I get held up for hours every week because of lorry drivers blocking both lanes.

Quick everyone, put those wagons away right now. Terry left late for work again.

You have it easy in the South where motorways are a) available and b) have three lanes in many places, the third of which is out of bounds to wagons.

[TerryG]

I live in the East Midlands, i really should update my location!
i'm not often late for work but i would like an extra 20 minutes in bed. getting up at 6:30 is unnatural

[JPB]

Surely you're not trying to tell us that there's a 6:30 in the morning too? That's just plain wrong!

*Withholds comment about the fact that the Midlands still has motorways and lots of them and I'm still more than 200 miles North of any of that fun & games....*