Kit Marquand, managing director of Torbay Freight in the West
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Country, thinks the EU proposal to fit speed limiters to all vehicles will cause more bunching in the middle lanes of motorways.
'JP 'If a driver is overtaken
he will roll downhill to try to catch up'
Iam amazed at the latest EU proposal to introduce speed limiters to all goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes. Does anybody stop to think about the implications of such stupid moves? At the moment we have cars doing 70mph, coaches doing 65mph and HGVs over 12 tonnes at 56mph restricted to two lanes of the motorway.
Imagine the scene. A car in the inside lane of the motorway is doing 50mph, which is perfectly legal, and a lorry behind doing 50mph with a bus behind him doing 50mph because it cannot move to the middle lane because it's blocked by vehicles doing the same speed. Suddenly the car driver feels the lorry is too close, not realising the truck, with its ABS braking system, can stop quicker than he can. The car driver nevertheless, touches his brakes, causing the truck driver to do the same. The coach without ABS brakes is too late, hits the truck and all hell breaks loose.
Applying speed limiters to all trucks over 3.5 tonnes will force more vehicles into the middle lanes of motorways and make this situation worse. I have seen this happen. Problems arise because older vehicles and coaches can do 60mph while newer trucks have to stick to 56mph. If a driver is overtaken, he will—if given half a chance— let his lorry roll downhill to try and catch up. He then ends up in the middle lane unable to overtake and unwilling to drop back, and he just becomes a nuisance. Why don't politicians realise that we cannot do without the flexibility of lorries and give them priority? The quest to put freight back on the railways is a joke. The train cannot get to the supermarket when it is suddenly let down by a supplier and calls for an urgent overnight delivery. Don't people remember the rail strikes when we were held to ransom by a few militant unionists?
I suggest we stand every truck still for 24 hours and see what happens.
I should like to meet on MP who has spent his life in transport instead of someone who is given the job because his face fits. Transport should be run as a business not used as a political pawn.
*if you want to sound off about a road transport issue write to features editor Patric Cunnane or fox your views (up to 600 words) on 0181 652 8912 or to Nicicy Clarke on 01342 850215.