II COMMENT FULL SPEED AHEAD
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Mi We hate to say we told you so ... but it's six months since Commercial Motor warned hauliers that the advent of mandatory speed limiters in the UK would set a dangerous precedent if limiter legislation were to come along from the European Commission.
Well it has. The EC's latest draft directive on truck speed limits proposes an 80km/h maximum for trucks. For those of us still dealing in old money that's 50mph.
So having opted for a 60mph limit, soon to be enforced by mandatory limiters, what's to stop the Department of Transport adopting a 50mph Euro motorway limit for LGVs? Nothing, apart from the road haulage industry. And we can't expect any outside help on this one. Given the current hostility towards heavy goods vehicles it would probably be one piece of Euro legislation that the great British public, and vote conscious politicians, would welcome with open arms.
That's why the two major trade associations are already sounding the alarm bells. According to the RHA's director-general an 80km/h limit "would have far-reaching and serious commercial implications for UK hauliers". The FTA's director of road transport and parliamentary affairs says the EC limit would have "the most enormous consequences for the UK".
They're both right. A tremendous battle is looming if the industry is to avoid an 80km/h limit — a battle made harder by the advent of the UK limiter legislation that only shows drivers weren't sticking to 60mph in the first place.
The message is clear: if you want to run faster than fifty you'll have to fight for it — and fight like you've never fought before.