50mph on the motorway.

[Paul and Val]

I am happy at 50 MPH on single carriageway roads. However on motorways I like to keep up to a speed where the trucks are not forced to overtake me. I do not consider a motorway to be part of the holiday, it is an artery to get vehicles around the country as quickly and safely as possible. I believe that it is not only considerate but safer to cause as little inconvenience as possible to other road users, especially the HGVs that are generally doing about 56 MPH.

A perfect answer, thank you very much.

Will awful, selfish drivers such as JJ take that on board and drive at a reasonable speed? I very much doubt it. They are the same people who claim to move over and let other drivers who are traveling at more reasonable speed past but actually never do!

Only this morning I was behind a terrible driver in an Autosleeper, probably four or six years old and of modern design with a queue of seven or eight cars behind and a rubbish wagon. We were only all held up for ten minutes as there is a short stretch of dual road where everybody including the lorry and a little FIAT 500 all overtook. The selfish driver had numerous chances to pull over briefly but could not be bothered to.

Safe driving (which is very different to very slow driving. There is no connection between the two).

 

[ceejayt]

And that JJ, is exactly why we motorhome/camping car drivers....

.... You should not be on the road and you need to hand your licence back and stop blocking other road users as you are a danger, no, an absolute menace to normal drivers. ....

Pardon my French but that is just b*****ks. If you have ever been on a speed awareness course (perhaps you have and have forgotten) then you would know that on a normal journey a few extra miles per hour will at best save you a few minutes on a journey because there will always be other traffic to contend with.

Telling someone they should lose their licence and are a danger to other road users is completely OTT. It is the people who cannot wait a few minutes and then make a dangerous overtaking manouveur who should be losing their licence.

 

[bobnick]

Slow drivers can be as much a danger to others as fast ones. In a lot of circumstances more so.
Drive with the flow of traffic or a bit quicker is what i do.

 

[busby]

A perfect answer, thank you very much.

Will awful, selfish drivers such as JJ take that on board and drive at a reasonable speed? I very much doubt it. They are the same people who claim to move over and let other drivers who are traveling at more reasonable speed past but actually never do!

Only this morning I was behind a terrible driver in an Autosleeper, probably four or six years old and of modern design with a queue of seven or eight cars behind and a rubbish wagon. We were only all held up for ten minutes as there is a short stretch of dual road where everybody including the lorry and a little FIAT 500 all overtook. The selfish driver had numerous chances to pull over briefly but could not be bothered to.

Safe driving (which is very different to very slow driving. There is no connection between the two).

Ten minutes eh,better to be ten mins late in this life than twenty years early in the next one.BUSBY.

 

[kevenh]

Ooo! One of those cyclic Motorhome Fun threads we love.

Do we not agree that: -
1. on multi lane highways we (Motorhome drivers) are safer and better cruising at a speed a little above of the vehicles limited to ~50-55mph?
And
2. not rushing around on single carriage roads is OK?

They’re not mutually exclusive choices.

On single carriageways we’re worried about tossing our cats around in their carriers so will take less direct motorway routes. On the latter we prefer 60mph or less on motorways (well >56mph, max. 60mph)

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[Ivory55]

Ten minutes eh,better to be ten mins late in this life than twenty years early in the next one.BUSBY.

Ten minutes extra can be run out of time on the taco

 

[busby]

Ten minutes extra can be run out of time on the taco

Taco? Thought you were all on smart cards now..Bring back the old log book...BUSBY.

 

[Pausim]

The last place I want to be is between 2 HGVs whilst one of them anxiously waits to overtake me. A lapse of concentration by one HGV driver killed my wife’s brother and sister in law when they became the middle of an HGV sandwich. It wasn’t even at motorway speeds but in queuing traffic, however the momentum of the following HGV was more than enough to completely crush their car. Forcing HGVs to group up waiting to overtake someone dawdling along in the slow lane is in my opinion not acceptable. If you are not in a hurry and want to stick to 50 or less the responsible thing to do is use the slower roads.

 

[Ivory55]

Taco? Thought you were all on smart cards now..Bring back the old log book...BUSBY.

There is a few tacos still in use , even erf motors. The card gets on my nerves telling me how many minutes left when trying to get back home.

 

[busby]

There is a few tacos still in use , even erf motors. The card gets on my nerves telling me how many minutes left when trying to get back home.

Some days we ripped two or three sheets out of the book and started again.. Not clever but necessary with slow old trucks and no sleeper cabs.BUSBY.

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[busby]

The last place I want to be is between 2 HGVs whilst one of them anxiously waits to overtake me. A lapse of concentration by one HGV driver killed my wife’s brother and sister in law when they became the middle of an HGV sandwich. It wasn’t even at motorway speeds but in queuing traffic, however the momentum of the following HGV was more than enough to completely crush their car. Forcing HGVs to group up waiting to overtake someone dawdling along in the slow lane is in my opinion not acceptable. If you are not in a hurry and want to stick to 50 or less the responsible thing to do is use the slower roads.

I only use motorways if no alternative..BUSBY.

 

[St3v3]

Are you aware that the speed limit for trucks is 50 mph on single carraigeway roads?
50 mph is a perfectly acceptable speed, if someone driving at that speed is causing a danger to you or anyone else then they are driving too fast!!

Weren't we talking about motorways?

Pardon my French but that is just b*****ks. If you have ever been on a speed awareness course (perhaps you have and have forgotten) then you would know that on a normal journey a few extra miles per hour will at best save you a few minutes on a journey because there will always be other traffic to contend with.

Telling someone they should lose their licence and are a danger to other road users is completely OTT. It is the people who cannot wait a few minutes and then make a dangerous overtaking manouveur who should be losing their licence.

It's not about the time saved. It's about reducing a 3 lane motorway to 1 lane by forcing trucks into lane 2. Then that forces the 60mph lane 2 hogs into lane 3. Usually without thought of what's coming up behind them. That guy brakes. The guy behind panic brakes. The next one in lane 2 jams on the anchors because he can't possibly undertake the guy in lane 3 who just sh1t himself.

At best you now have miles and miles of surging traffic. Stopped to 50, stopped, repeat.

What normally happens though is a rear end shunt or 7.

Just because you (and I'm not singling you out btw) won't go 6 miles an hour faster.

Would it really hurt to keep up with the flow of traffic?

 

[Lenny HB]

And that JJ, is exactly why we motorhome/camping car drivers have such a terrible reputation with other road users. Totally selfish with no awareness of, and no care towards other drivers.

JJ lives in the middle of Portugal and if you have ever driven on the roads around there you would know why he never goes anywhere near 50.

 

[gus-lopez]

Taco? Thought you were all on smart cards now..Bring back the old log book...BUSBY.

Still se all of it here. card & old type disc

 

[Nanniemate]

I understood that gently warming up a diesel engine was not being kind to it. In my boating days I was told to warm up petrol engines but to put a diesel engine under load as soon as possible after starting it. Apparently running cold can cause cylinder glazing.

I suffer with vehicle sympathy as well only thing is people look and think poor thing I sympathise with her driving THAT !!!!!!!!!!!

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[glenn2926]

There is a few tacos still in use , even erf motors. The card gets on my nerves telling me how many minutes left when trying to get back home.

I don’t understand what you’re doing with your digi card but mine slots into the tacho.

 

[WESTY66]

Why do people drive quite new motorhomes at 50 mph on busy motorways? I've travelled 50 miles or so on the M4 the last couple of Friday afternoons and have been surprised how many newish motorhomes I've passed going along at about 50 mph. Slow enough that there is a line of lorries overtaking them. My van is 25 years old but is still happy at 60, I generally trundle along at about 56 so as not to have to overtake too many artics, I would hate to be continually overtaken by them. My works transit will happily do 80mph fully loaded so why so slow? It's hardly because the driver is enjoying the scenery!

Some of the M4 IS a 50mph limit as I’ve found out this week, round Cardiff and Port Talbot!! Apparently the Welsh are taking money in from the cameras
But not from this tight Yorkshireman who was pre warned

 

[Ivory55]

I don’t understand what you’re doing with your digi card but mine slots into the tacho.

Not with you?

 

[Itsmcb]

Some of the M4 IS a 50mph limit as I’ve found out this week, round Cardiff and Port Talbot!! Apparently the Welsh are taking money in from the cameras
But not from this tight Yorkshireman who was pre warned

Ha, but the beauty of those average speed camera controlled 50mph limit areas is that the trucks do 50mph too

 

[glenn2926]

Taco? Thought you were all on smart cards now..Bring back the old log book...BUSBY.

There is a few tacos still in use , even erf motors. The card gets on my nerves telling me how many minutes left when trying to get back home.

I’ve not seen a truck without a tacho for many year apart from the fire trucks I drove. The digi card is just in place of paper discs.

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[Ivory55]

I’ve not seen a truck without a tacho for many year apart from the fire trucks I drove. The digi card is just in place of paper discs.

Yes the paper one doesn’t flash up over speed or how many minutes left

 

[James-Alex]

I generally set the cruise for 60MPH and knock it up to 65 to overtake dawdlers.

Do you have a ducato? I’ve noticed ours has cruise control but haven’t looked really at how it works? Any info would be great

 

[2657]

I am happy at 50 MPH on single carriageway roads. However on motorways I like to keep up to a speed where the trucks are not forced to overtake me. I do not consider a motorway to be part of the holiday, it is an artery to get vehicles around the country as quickly and safely as possible. I believe that it is not only considerate but safer to cause as little inconvenience as possible to other road users, especially the HGVs that are generally doing about 56 MPH.

Weren't we talking about motorways?


It's not about the time saved. It's about reducing a 3 lane motorway to 1 lane by forcing trucks into lane 2. Then that forces the 60mph lane 2 hogs into lane 3. Usually without thought of what's coming up behind them. That guy brakes. The guy behind panic brakes. The next one in lane 2 jams on the anchors because he can't possibly undertake the guy in lane 3 who just sh1t himself.

At best you now have miles and miles of surging traffic. Stopped to 50, stopped, repeat.

What normally happens though is a rear end shunt or 7.

Just because you (and I'm not singling you out btw) won't go 6 miles an hour faster.

Would it really hurt to keep up with the flow of traffic?

Having driven trucks for a fair chunk of the 50 years since I passed my Class 1 I feel reasonably qualified to comment on this thread.

Basically I drive according to the conditions on the congested UK motorways I normally drove at around 58 to avoid causing problems for HGV's but as many supermarket and other trucks are now limited to 50/51 I will tuck in at a safe distance behind one of those if possible, to drive at my preferred speed.

Most of my motorway driving is now done in France, Spain or Portugal where I adopt a different strategy.

Because most of the time the roads are far less congested I set the cruise control at 51/52, this enables trucks to pass relatively quickly, if the road becomes too busy for this then I drive at the speed that I would in the UK. This leads to a stress free comfortable journey.

There is no one speed fits all, drive to the conditions and be aware of other road users......even the speed freaks.

 

[bobnick]

The brilliant Lenard Cohen

 

[Reusables]

60mph is the magic number for our mpg.
Although 65 is what I usually cruise at..

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[Jonno1103]

60mph is the magic number for our mpg.
Although 65 is what I usually cruise at..

Not interested in mpg, fuel just like everything else costs what it costs simple as that. If I can 70 on a motorway or duel carriageway I will, if I can 130k/ph on a toll road I will.

 

[Podney]

Some days we ripped two or three sheets out of the book and started again.. Not clever but necessary with slow old trucks and no sleeper cabs.BUSBY.

Naughty boy!

 

[Wikky]

Do you have a ducato? I’ve noticed ours has cruise control but haven’t looked really at how it works? Any info would be great

Yes I have a Ducato.
There are 2 levers/stalks on the left of the steering wheel. The lower one is the cruise control. When you're travelling along the road turn the knurled ring near the end of this stalk to ON. You will see a green light illuminate in the instrument panel. This shows the cruise is activated. Take your foot off the throttle and keep nudging the stalk upwards until you get to your desired speed. It is now set.
If you press the brake pedal the cruise will automatically disengage. If you want to re-engage it, depress the reset button on the very end of the stalk and nudge the stalk upwards to the speed you require.
With the cruise engaged you can depress the throttle to overtake then remove your foot once you have overtaken and your van will slow to the speed you set for the cruise and it will re-engage automatically at the speed you had set before the overtake.
Increasing or decreasing the cruise setting, once engaged, is achieved by nudging the stalk up or down respectively until you get to your desired speed.
If you want to turn it off, turn the knurled ring to OFF.
Try it out on a long straight road if you are unfamiliar with using it.
I hope this helps

 

[James-Alex]

Legend cheers Wikky will have a play tomorrow on way to new forest

 

[Jamesh]

I think dawdling at 50moh us almost as criminal as smart motorways, almost but not quite.


Driving at 50 means greatly increased lane changes between lanes 1-2 and 2-3. This then causes cars to slam their brakes on and cause tailgating and at worst accidents.

Cars are more than able to do 70 even our kids 20yo 1.2 polo can cruise at 70. Modern motorhomes can do 60 and if they cannot I wonder if they are safe to be on the motorway ....?!

Cheers James

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