Dip rethinks
Page 6
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• British hauliers are expected to be fitting 60mph speed limiters to new trucks next summer, despite last month's decision by the Council of Ministers calling for limiters to be set at a lower speed.
The Department of Transport says it is pressing ahead with plans to bring in limiters for all new HGVs from 1 August. The Council of Ministers wants 56mph (90km/h) limiters fitted to all new trucks over 12 tonnes from 1 January 1994, and to most on-the-road trucks by 1996.
But the Dip says that the issue of retrofitting is being reconsidered. Latest proposals suggested that HGVs up to four years old would have to have 60mph limiters from next year (CM 16-23 May 1991).
Also still to be settled is whether HGVs weighing less than 12 tonnes will be able to keep their 60mph limiters after 1994, while their heavier counterparts are restricted to 56mph.
Roads and Traffic Minister Christopher Chope has told CM that last month's decision in Europe was "the best deal that could have been done in the circumstances".
He says: "When you're subject to majority voting and you're in a minority of one you have to try to get the best deal you can. The worst result would have been 50mph." Chope has paid tribute to the fight against 80km/h (50mph) limiters that was led by CM's Say No to 50 campaign: "If you don't make some kind of protest, they'll walk all over you," he says.
But in an interview with CM Chope has also ruled out an early move to allow 40 or 44-tonne trucks into the UK if the Conservatives win the election.
The decision to opt for 56mph limiters on trucks with 62.5mph (100km/h) on coaches was the