ok, smudge has dealt with most issues here already,I know tha most modern lorries are capable of stopping very quickly, and yes out accelerating a car while in an artic can cause some amusement,speed limits are in place, for good, if old reasons. My company does not want to loose its operators licence by asking drivers to break the law , by speeding , so we generally travel at just on , or very slightly over the 40 limit. We can run fixed cameras at 43/44 and not trip them.BUT, if you encounter a mobile van camera , there is no such margin .Imagine the senario,you come barreling over the drumochter summit, into the single lane section, (40 mph in an artic ) your doing 50,there is a an accident ahead, you spot it at the last minute, stand on the anchors and still run over the top of mrs whatsit in her fiesta.Would a ten mph lower speed have saved all ?I dont know, but i sure dont want to spend the rest of my life wondering ! I always just pull into the many laybys on the A9,some of which are almost run through , additional lanes .ABS brakes, i am convinced its a major......... you can steer while standing on the brakes but they actually take longer to stop.Most lorries also have a thing known generally as active suspension programmes which take over the control of brakes distribution while the vehicle is steering, all linked to suspension loading , which can also lenghthen stopping distances.The whole, we want to make the A9 a safer place for car drivers is frankly rubbish , the independant truckers are cutting one anothers throats for rates, if they can travel the A9, from central to inverness, legally , on the limit, then they can cover more distance, with less cost.Its all about profit. I doubt that any drivers will sit on the A9 at 40 as a protest ! Ive seen only one protest where lots of small and independant firms were protesting at the cost of fuel, they held up the M9 etc for a few hours, they travelled in convoy to somewhere for a mass meeting ! all very socialist worker and lets give the small business people a chance !But they all had loads on,they were still making money, they wernt quite in thesamer league as the Jarrow marchers !I know many owner drivers and its not something I fancy, £100 000 for a unit and trailer, £1000 to fill up on fuell, £350 a tyre,up to 20 of them ,£1200 road tax, insurance, wages, maintenance costs, (recent £5000 for a clutch in France !) bonds for overseas, living like a gypsy in a metal box, never seeing your family,eating rubbish constantly,speed cameras on every street and now people want to make them go faster ! Give me the supermarket job any day, very little hassle, just dont bend it, dont break it and dont bring the company into disrepute , oh and home every night, good reliable wages and conditions. Yep, give me 40mph and plenty of laybys and youll get to inverness , no problem. Oh and the single carraigway sections are actually brocken by duall carraigeway sections where the cars can pass at speeds that the artics cant actually acheive !
Yes ive seen many incredible overtakes by the ever important car drivers out there, but not just the A9, they are evreywhere !
If my ankle ever gets better , i might even get back to driving soon !
Take care yall !
Scott
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