Does anyone else find these 'speed limited to help the environment' lorries immensely frustrating when you're towing a caravan?

I've just returned from a few days away, travelling a couple of hundred miles on motorway and spending most of that stuck at 50mph behind slow lorries. Not only that, I was frequently being overtaken by 'normal' 60mph-limited lorries who have no qualms about aggressively pulling out to overtake regardless of whether there is a space for them or not! I, of course, being too courteous to overtake like that, and also not wanting to give us caravanners a bad name, simply wait ages for a gap. And there's not many gaps on the M25 I can tell you!

Even without a caravan, these slow lorries are a problem, particularly on 2-lane motorways, because of the continuous stream of faster lorries overtaking and holding up everyone else.

I feel like starting a government petition - anyone else?

Their speed is limited to help the fleet manager meet his Key Performance Indicators on fuel costs, nothing more, nothing less  2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

roads are for lorries, cars can use them if there is space available,

without trucks there is nothing, stop wingeing At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

We are all just getting on with our working day. Some drives have time and some are being pushed to get on with the job by managers. As a rule we all want to drive to the limiter but some companies choose to set the limiter below 56mph, why you have to ask them. From my experience a HGV not doing 56 on a motorway is trying to get to that speed. It’s the knackered wagon that cant or the load it has on that will limit it. And I cant see a lot being done about that

Trucks are limited to a maximum 56mph, (by construction and use regs,) but some trucks are limited between 50/53mph for economy/other reasons.

My old ERF is limited to 56mph, and feels like a sports car overtaking the slower trucks on dual carriage ways/motorways.

Just be thankful on single roads the speed limit has been raised on single carriageways from 40 to 50mph (excluding Scotland....wtf)

If you need more grunt, but a Range Rover supercharged........... I can recommend it



I see many caravaners pulling caravan at 70mph + as and when it goes wrong, it happens very quickly........

Not making accusations

Just be thankful I'm not out in my old tractor

speed limit for an lgv on a motorway is 60mpg, same as a car and caravan, has been for years, it's the government/eu who wanted 56mph limiters fitted not the driver, the limiters run off the speedo which are always set to read fast so 56 is really about 53. some firms such as Tesco limit there's to 50 which means they really do 48.
so if you want to start a petition make sure you aim it at the right people. Common sense isn't very common.
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2007 Land Rover Freelander2 I6 hse Auto

Rimini HSE wrote:

Just be thankful on single roads the speed limit has been raised on single carriageways from 40 to 50mph

Rimini HSE wrote:

Just be thankful I'm not out in my old tractor

There's a certain irony when a caravan user complains that hat he's held up and inconvenienced by another group of road users!

Mmmm roads are for lorries 😉If the rest of us can't get to work the lorries will have nothing to shift let's just agree that the roads are equally for all vehicle users.

Just ban bikes - who hold up traffic worse than a fleet of caravans Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

touche, but too many people think trucks just rumble around carrying nothing so are just an avoidable nuisance At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

At least with a tractor one can usually see (or smell) what is is carrying on the road. Everyone can spread it - Anyone can catch it. Stay home - the life you save can be your own!

A lot of times when behind a tractor it can be difficult to see, as its load from the trailer and wheels overcomes the washers and wipers on the car

And don't forget the lumps mud they throw all over the road,
also why do tractor boys insist on driving on full beam! what's that all about? CG  DAVE.

Last edited by Dave47 on 26th Sep 2016 8:37 pm. Edited 1 time in total

Andy131 wrote:

Just ban bikes - who hold up traffic worse than a fleet of caravans

Just when I thought you were talking some sense!

No problem with slow lorries here. On my recent NSW holiday in the outback I was overtaken by a triple trailer road train. The sign on the back warning of Explosives! Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

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