tesco delivery vans gvw is i believe less than 3.5 tons so they don’t need a speed limiter by law but seem to have been governed down to 60. If i’m following two hgv’s doing 55 i can’t use lane 3 in my coach which can do 62 but the tesco van can. Is this correct?
In a nutshell yes Daveb, they can.
Daft as it is, I cannot find anything that prevents a vehicle under 3.5 tonnes and fited with a speed limiter (example 56 mph) from using the outer lane of a motorway that has more than 2 lanes !!
IIRC there has been talk of limiting commercial vehicles of 3.5 tonne and under, but as far as I’m aware nothing has been implemented yet, so any limiter fitted to said vehicles will be purely a company policy thing. So as such, the powers to be will still deem these vehicles as being able to keep with the traffic flow and see no reason to ban them from lane 3 (yet).
I would imagine that a case of undue care and attention could be put against the driver if found to be seriously impeeding the traffic flow in certain situations
ROG:
I would imagine that a case of undue care and attention could be put against the driver if found to be seriously impeeding the traffic flow in certain situations
Quite correct in an ideal world Rog. Sadly the reality is there are no traffic cops in cars left (there are a few tooling around in a Scania though) and scameras would be unlikely to recognise or prosecute said driver.
ROG:
I would imagine that a case of undue care and attention could be put against the driver if found to be seriously impeeding the traffic flow in certain situations
Unlikely though ROG, unless there’s a new scamera for that, not many Police patrolling the Motorways anymore 
daveb0789:
tesco delivery vans gvw is i believe less than 3.5 tons so they don’t need a speed limiter by law but seem to have been governed down to 60. If i’m following two hgv’s doing 55 i can’t use lane 3 in my coach which can do 62 but the tesco van can. Is this correct?
asda and sainsburys vans cant though 
- say’s so in the highway code 
tesco trucks hog the slow lane…sorry sorry left hand lane 
, and tesco van’s hog the fast/outside lane, everyone else must use the middle lane(s) simples
newmercman:
ROG:
I would imagine that a case of undue care and attention could be put against the driver if found to be seriously impeeding the traffic flow in certain situationsUnlikely though ROG, unless there’s a new scamera for that, not many Police patrolling the Motorways anymore
Whats that then■■? POLICE■■? 
Seeing a police patrol car on a motorway is a rare sight these days - they all must off filming traffic cops on bbc1 
ROG:
I would imagine that a case of undue care and attention could be put against the driver if found to be seriously impeeding the traffic flow in certain situations
Would that charge apply to LGV drivers on dual carriageways who travel @ 56mph and impede traffic when they take forever to overtake another LGV travelling @ 56mph 
redboxer850:
ROG:
I would imagine that a case of undue care and attention could be put against the driver if found to be seriously impeeding the traffic flow in certain situationsWould that charge apply to LGV drivers on dual carriageways who travel @ 56mph and impede traffic when they take forever to overtake another LGV travelling @ 56mph
2 things here, no1 must trucks these days seem to be doing 50-53 mph , so the tearasses like us whos limiters are set to 56 mph have no trouble overtaking.
but, even us struggle to get into lane 2 as its normally occupied by car drivers whove never heard of lane 1 and would do anything but let us out until we get ■■■■■■ off,bang on indicator and say back off or kiss my trailer doors.
redboxer850:
Would that charge apply to LGV drivers on dual carriageways who travel @ 56mph and impede traffic when they take forever to overtake another LGV travelling @ 56mph
That happened to me a few years ago.
I was travelling south on the A1, and having just passed Washington services, the A1 then goes into 2 lanes. I had momentum on a truck I was passing, and when we got to the uphill section near Lumley Castle, he proceeded to keep me in the outside lane.
Rozzer came down the hard shoulder, and pulled me at Durham, and tried to say I should have backed off. I asked him to tell me in the highway code where it says that I have to back off, (Bearing in mind I was in the outside lane ffs.) when it was easier for the other guy just to knock a couple of mph off, thus letting me in. For me to back off would, even for a few seconds, slowed the traffic down more.
He tried to get me to admit some trumped up charge, and I asked him the same question again, and he said that he would take his chance in court, to which I replied along the lines of “bring it on.”
Never heard anything more.
Ken.
Rozzer made an error - they should have pulled over BOTH trucks and asked BOTH drivers the same question
I thought all new vans were limited now, makes a mockery of the roads when a bus or coach can go faster down the middle than a van in the inside or outer lanes, provided it doesn’t come up behind a lorry
ROG:
Rozzer made an error - they should have pulled over BOTH trucks and asked BOTH drivers the same question
Couldn’t agree more Rog, hence the reason I was shirty with him.
Ken.
daveb0789:
tesco delivery vans gvw is i believe less than 3.5 tons so they don’t need a speed limiter by law but seem to have been governed down to 60. If i’m following two hgv’s doing 55 i can’t use lane 3 in my coach which can do 62 but the tesco van can. Is this correct?
I can’t see these vans making much difference to be honest, there is normally some muppet in lane 3 doing 60 and complaining about the lorry doing 56 overtaking a lorry doing 52, who has driven right up the backside of the truck and then just lurched into lane 3 without signalling or without any attempt at speeding up and is oblivious to the stream of traffic that was doing 90mph 6ft apart that’s now piling up behind him.
NO.
any vehicle over 7.5 tons or fitted with a speed limiter may not use the outside lane of a motorway, unless it is a two lane motorway.
just a useless extra bit of onfo. some years ago the wording was a little different. it was something like 7.5 tons and over. so all 7.5 tonners were actually 7490 kgs gross.
limeyphil:
NO.
any vehicle over 7.5 tons or fitted with a speed limiter may not use the outside lane of a motorway, unless it is a two lane motorway.
EDIT - misread post
NEW ANSWER - Any vehicle over 3.5 tonnes fitted with a limiter on a motorway with more than 2 lanes cannot use the outer lane
merc0447:
Seeing a police patrol car on a motorway is a rare sight these days - they all must off filming traffic cops on bbc1
Bloody government are not giving the police enough money to get more in etc if they did you would see loads of them floating about