Speed of trucks on the motorway these days

Why thank you Conor. Since I appear to have actually thought about this, unlike you who posted two replies to my message rather than bother to gather your thoughts into a coherent whole and actually consider my point, I feel you've demonstrated once again that it is you, not I, who is guilty of that particular failing.

Nice snip. I did mention that you should do the sums - does your extra mileage counteract the lower frequency with which you'll meet other lorries?

Obviously you think so, but which way does it work out?

Let's fill L1 up with lorries - 25m separation, travelling 55mph? You're in L2 travelling 2mph faster than L1, car is in L3 travelling 15mph faster than L1.

In one mile, you'll travel past two lorries in L1. In one mile the car will travel past 13 lorries.

Ie the car driver only needs 1/6 the mileage to see as many vehicles as you. Ie my guess was probably right.

I think I've biassed this towards the lorry - a car driver doing 80, which is not at all uncommon, will see 9 times as many lorries per mile as you.

A car driver doing a 50 mile each way daily commute on the motor way could quite feasibly see twice as many lorries per year as you.

Now I know the sums above are gross simplifications, but they make my point : that the different relative speeds make a significant difference to the number of interactions the different drivers have with lorries.

Whether or not you or the others are correct about the actual frequency of the incidents you're discussing I neither know nor care about. I'm just pointing out that your stellar mileage is potentially more than compensated for by your different speed.

clive

Err... and me too. I drove for a living for 30 years and can count the number of artics in the 3rd lane on one hand. Not a common sight at all, and as Conor says, they are mainly Eastern Block. I do agree that artics can travel too close though.

-- r

The message from "R" contains these words:

Indeed, very rare. I can't remember the last time I saw one.

Pedantry alert.

it's *fewer* lorries. Less traffic, fewer lorries. :-))

I have one of these devices in my car occasionally. Does all that you say:

Limits the speed, Stops me accelerating harsh, Encourages me to brake gently,

Its called the WIFE!!

And if I get more than X amount of black marks I get the marital rights removed, LOL

Steve

Conor ( snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Wrong. It does. I've seen it. Others have seen it.

The message from "Steve" contains these words:

I have a similar system - it's called my wallet.

The message from Adrian contains these words:

Sometimes trucks are so close I wouldn't be able to see whether they're flashing their lights or not!

In message , Guy King writes

That heavy is it?

Of course it doesn't. Only a blithering idiot would say it did, especially as I can see over the crash barrier to the other side..

Except it isn't. I can see over the crash barrier, ergo the car driver needs to do 1/3. How many car drivers do in excess of 100 miles per day MOTORWAY mileage? Very few. You?

Except cars don't do 80. Their speedo says they do 80 but in reality it's more like the low to mid 70's but most don't. Govt say the average speed for cars on motorways is 65.

WRONG.

Yet I've not seen it where the car hasn't had any other choice than to travel at ~55 because of the traffic ahead.

Why, are you blind?

The message from Conor contains these words:

No, they're /so/ close that their lights are out of the angle of view of my mirrors.

Conor ( snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

I have.

Last time wasn't that long ago, and I'm sure I posted here about it. M25, J18, start of evening rush. All three lanes nose-to-tail, doing about 40. Pissing wet, getting dark.

The one exception to nose-to-tail was a woman in (IIRC) a Micra in L2. She was doing similar speed to the lanes either side, but had about 2-300yds of clear road in front of her. She wasn't gaining, she wasn't dropping back.

But that didn't stop the artic about a foot off her bumper giving it large with main beam.

She shouldn't have been in L2 if she wasn't overtaking, should she? Or do the rules differ for cars? After all, you've commented enough about L2 being for overtaking when lorries are side by side for a few miles...

ROFL...best one I've heard yet.

Conor ( snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Which part of "all three lanes were nose-to-tail, doing 40" did you miss?

Yes, she was driving like a numpty, and should have moved forward. But it's hardly the end of the world that she didn't.

IF she'd have moved over, he'd have been back to the same speed in a couple of hundred yards. Would he have then started flashing the queue in front of him?

Anyway, since when did two wrongs make a right? Her stupidity wasn't dangerous. His was.

In message , Conor writes

Presumably all three lanes nose-to-tail means it looked a bit like this:

Steve Walker ( snipped-for-privacy@otolith.demon.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Exactly like that.

Except for only one car in front of the wagon, and the wagon driver going mental.