Disrespect Intended

Some time ago I wrote to the UK Highways Agency commending to them an idea I had seen on French motorways in Alsace, whereby vehicles over 7.5t are prohibited from overtaking on certain stretches of road. This avoids the frustrating problem we've all encountered, I'm sure, when a queue of traffic gets stuck behind one lorry overtaking another, when one is doing 58 mph and the other is doing... 58mph.

This situation then goes on for miles. I've read anecdotes reporting 15 miles of this kind of thing. The problem is caused because all HGVs are - or should be - speed limited, so that if one gets too close to another and gets a tow in the slipstream, the moron behind the wheel feels he's got enough momentum to overtake, but then when he pulls out he hits a wall of what is called air and slows down to 58 mph again.

Meanwhile, other motorists are beating their heads against their steering wheels in frustration. But you don't need me to tell you that.

Anyway, my letter to the Highways Agency suggested that - in certain crucial areas at least - they should be prevented from doing this. Lots of accidents are caused, for example, on hilly sections around Junctions 28/29 of the M1, and between 23 and 21, as lorries do their classic manoeuvre-signal-mirror tricks and suddenly pull out into the path of faster vehicles, oblivious to the consequences and Newtonian Physics.

Anyway, some time later I got a reply from the Road Safety Strategy Division of the Department for Transport.

We note your concern regarding congestion caused by Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGV) overtaking one another on motorways and major trunk roads. Restricting HGVs to one lane would effectively restrict their speed to the slowest moving vehicle. As delivery times are often a significant factor for hauliers, any increase in times would cause many to switch their vehicles to less suitable roads through towns where accident rates are higher. This would have clear safety implications, bringing these vehicles into conflict with other vehicles as well as vulnerable road users. This is an important consideration bearing in mind that accidents involving heavy vehicles tend to be serious due to their size and weight. The quality of life of people living along these roads is also an important factor.

I can understand your frustration about the times when you are held up behind overtaking wagons, but it remains the case that the motorway and trunk road network is the best place for lorry traffic and we need to keep as much of it there as possible. The outside lane is always available for faster moving vehicles to overtake slower moving heavy vehicles and, on parts of the network with substantial gradients, crawler lanes are sometimes used to ensure that HGVs do not unduly obstruct other traffic.

The Department feels the current lane usage arrangement is the best for all vehicles and does not consider that it would be appropriate to implement the restrictions you propose. We appreciate that those who exercise poor lane discipline and slow overtaking cause annoyance, however we do not have any evidence that it is the cause of a specific road safety problem.

Which was the bum's rush, in other words. I didn't let it rest there, and replied in the following manner:

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply.

I don't think, however, that you have really addressed my suggestion, which was to copy the French system of restricting HGV overtaking only on certain sections of road. I have good reason to suggest this, and not merely my own inconvenience.

I appreciate that truckers need to truck, and that time is money. But I too do a lot of driving (40,000 miles this last year) and, every day, I see truckers taking ridiculous risks with their own lives and those of other motorists.

Three examples:

1. Do they have to follow each other at a distance of a few feet (less than a car's length, in some cases)?

2. Shouldn't they give adequate notice of their intention to pull out into an overtaking lane, when they do so? Rather than remembering to signal when they are already halfway through the manoeuvre?

3. Shouldn't vehicles larger than, say, a Transit or Sprinter van, drive within the speed limit?

I see examples of all three behaviours many times a day, every single time I drive; and I think it would be disingenuous of you to claim ignorance of this kind of thing. 16-ton lorries swaying along in the middle lane, with no intention of pulling into the vacant inside lane. 40-ton lorries getting a "tow" in the slipstream of other 40-ton lorries, then suddenly swerving out to overtake. No matter what the weather.

The important point is that these vehicles would not be in a position to overtake each other if they maintained a safe driving distance (and they should slow down to maintain that distance, no matter how tight their bottom line). Only because they have been driving in the slipstream of the vehicle in front do they have the illusion that they are "faster." As soon as they do pull out (frequently giving other road users no notice at all), they hit a wall of air and slow down, so that it takes them around a mile to inch in front.

I have had no further correspondence since then.

Now a friend of the blog, Darrel, has informed me that there is a stretch of the M42 where vehicles over 7.5t are prohibited from overtaking betweem 7 am and 7 pm. Yes! Here's the press release (which was devilishly hard to track down):

Our active traffic management pilot on the M42 near Birmingham will test out a package of measures to ease congestion, including using variable speed limits to smooth out traffic flows and use of the hard shoulders during peak period, with emergency refuge areas for broken down vehicles.
A new daytime ban on lorries overtaking on a three-mile stretch of the northbound M42 in Warwickshire was introduced last Monday (October 10).

But here's my point. Obviously they're not doing this in response to my email, and they've been considering it for as long as it takes bureaucrats to consider things. So why, when they replied to me, did they dismiss the idea out of hand, instead of saying, "Thanks for your suggestion. Actually, we're going to be piloting this very idea on the M42 from October."

Because they're bollock-faced weasel shitbirds, is the answer I think you're looking for. Still, from small acorns and all that.