I've become a danger on the road

No it's not a funny story, it's a fact.
As most of you must know by now, I'm an HGV driver.
I have just received my second speeding ticket for exceeding
40 MPH on a single carriage road.
This is a ridiculous speed on an open road, but it is the law.

Ray.Milne...

snipped but read.

I now stick to the speed limit at all times (can't afford not to)

The problem is, I now drive along with dozens of frustrated car
drivers behind me with some of them doing silly things to try to
get in front of me.

Yesterday I caused an accident, a car overtaking me hit an oncoming
car, luckily it was just a glancing hit but could have been much worse.

My message is : if you are stuck in a Q of traffic doing 40 MPH, please
be patient, your life (or mine) could depend on it.
At the front of that Q it might be me, or another trucker obeying the law
and trying to keep his licence.

The police are now targeting HGV drivers, I suppose we are easy targets
and more easy revenue.
This law dates back to when lorries didn't have air brakes or power steering
and it took a long distance for us to stop, but now with modern vehicles a
lorry
can stop in a shorter distance than a car.

It's time the law was updated, but I don't think that will happen, as I said

Wally...

There will always be cowboys on the road that have no regard for the law.
I'm with you all the way with that one, I'd like to see them all off the
road because
they get us all tared with the same brush.
I have been on the road for nearly 50 years, believe it or not there are
still a
few of us "knights of the road" left

If you are sure they are exeeding 56 mph they must have there speed limiters
dissabled, report them to the Ministry of Transport as this is a serious
offence
and the firm could have there opperaters licence taken away so putting them
out of bussiness.

(56 mph is the maximum speed any hgv over 7.5 ton is allowed)

Wally

Graham...

I think a lot of folks who complain of seeing "lorries" exceeding the
56mph limit are mislead by the size of some of the 7.5 wagons and
think they are HGV's.

I drive a minimum of 150 miles a day, mostly a lot more (in a car).
The standard of HGV drivers is generally very high. One of the things
I am most wary of is left hand drive trucks and their off side blind
spot. My watchwords are: Never get on the offside of a Continental
truck on a roundabout and exercise extreme caution when overtaking
LHD wagons on a motorway, if it's three lanes give them a lanes
clearence if possible.

BTW: Being a Knight of the road you don't drive for "Knights of Old"
do you Wally? :-)

before
easy targets, easy revenue .

Ray.Milne...

Been there Wally. Only a few Police areas enforce this rule, and
Lincolshire is the main one.

I was done for similar back in 2002 on the A16.