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BEWARE NEW CAMERAS
Page 9
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Barry Proctor warns that speed cameras have evolved to pick off hapless HGV drivers. What's to be done? Our correspondent suggests a spot of direct action...
I received a nasty shock last week. Two more speeding tickets floated through my letterbox; unfortunately both for the same driver. That makes a total of three in a week now, though the third was picked up by someone else.
My driver could now face prosecution for exceeding 40mph on a single-carriageway road —a road with a 60mph speed limit.
I rang the RHA to find out what was going on. I was told by regional director Mike Farmer that speed cameras have evolved —they are now differentiating between HGVs and cars. It's just nobody bothered to inform the haulage industry.
I am absolutely certain my case is not isolated. I already know of another driver who unknowingly clocked up seven speeding tickets on a stretch of road he'd been travelling on for years before the first one came through his door. Where the hell does that leave him'?
"I know of a driver who unknowingly clocked up seven speeding tickets on a stretch of road he'd used for years"
I want this to serve as a warning to everyone in the industry. We must be extra vigilant otherwise we are going to run out of drivers at a time when the Working Time Directive could cripple us. In fact, I propose that everyone in transport drives from next Monday at a maximum of 40mph. Never mind how dangerous these single carriageways will become; if that's what the government wants us to do we should oblige. Can you imagine the outcry?
On a lighter note, I am delighted with the news that MEL intends to reduce the M6 Toll for trucks to £6; that's £5.11 ex-VAT I have never used the toll road before but I have already sent my forms off to register my trucks and I am consulting with my drivers to see which routes will be beneficial.
If, as I suspect, we can save 10 miles on a run, we'll get it back in fuel alone.