On the 6th April, two speed limit changes come into force across England and Wales for all heavy good vehicles over 7.5 tonnes. The change was first announced last summer and related to single carriageway roads, with the change on dual carriage way roads also later announced, to come into force at the same time.
Following a period of government consultation, the changes will see the limit for HGVs increase to 50mph on single carriage way roads and 60mph on dual carriage way roads, bringing the limits more into line with other road users. The changes also reflect the needs of the modern transport operator, reviewing speed limits set many years ago when HGVs were not at today’s standard of safety.
These changes were lobbied for by industry bodies such as the Road Haulage Association (RHA), which has lodged an advisory document accessible to its members on its website.
The new speed limits of course don’t apply where a local restriction is in force, for example where a local 40mph limit applies. The speed limit changes also don’t apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland, creating a situation where different speed limits apply in different parts of the UK.
Does this affect the Microlise solution?
The Microlise solution is already prepared to take account of the changes to speed limits, however some configuration changes may need to applied. For example, speed limits are set up within the system based on vehicle weight (with users able to set up different vehicle profiles). Each truck connected to the Microlise solution is applied a profile entry, ensuring the appropriate set of speed limits is applied.
This method will mean that some speeding infringements will not be captured in Scotland and Northern Ireland, where a local speed limit is not in force which the solution takes account of. However users can override the speed limits set up for each vehicle profile by setting speeds on a road-by-road basis.
A one page information sheet is available to customers wishing to learn more. To receive this, please email salesoffice@microlise.com.
For those customers operating in Europe, speed limiter requirements remain unchanged and must be set at 56mph or lower.
