HGV Speed limits to increase

The UK speed limit for lorries on single carriageway roads will be increased from 40mph to 50mph as of 2015. The government claimed it will stop dangerous overtaking, cause fewer accidents and save road haulage firms £11m a year.

There also could be an increase to the limits on a dual carriageway raising it to 60mph from 50mph. This makes HGVs able to travel at the same speed as caravans and coaches. The current speed limit for HGV’s was introduced around 50 years ago and hasn’t changed since.

AA president Edmund King said: “This seems like a common sense move. Every driver has probably experienced being stuck behind a lorry traveling at their legal 40mph limit on a single carriageway main road with a national default speed limit of 60mph for cars.”

“This 20mph speed differential can lead to bunching and dangerous overtaking manoeuvres. So we welcome the plans to allow trucks to legally travel at 50mph on these roads to end this frustrating, dangerous, historic anomaly.”

“An AA survey showed that 81% of drivers did not know the legal national speed limit for lorries on single carriageway main roads. So it is no wonder other drivers get frustrated, perhaps thinking the lorry driver was just being awkward, lost or was trying to save fuel,” he said.

“Smoother traffic flow also provides some economic benefit by improving journey times. We do appreciate that some have concerns about letting lorries travel faster but a more realistic limit should lead to better compliance by all.”

At Today Team we feel it will be a good idea and one that’s overdue being implemented.