To think HGVs and slow moving vehicles should be banned during rush hour

[Rose7476]

I'm talking about busy single carriageway A and B roads.

There's nothing more frustrating than being stuck behind a huge lorry going at 30mph on a 60mph single carriageway road (so now way to safely overtake). I think they should be restricted to travelling outside busy times , though it would obviously be hard to enforce. They end up with about 20 cars behind them and it's also dangerous as they don't fit in the lane, so go over the line and give less room to oncoming traffic, especially on a narrowish rural road.

My heart sinks when I know I'm going to be stuck behind one for 10 miles on my way to work.

There is no reason for slow moving vehicles to be on single carriageway roads at rush hour. The majority of goods supply movement occurs on motorways and dual carriageways so it wouldn't be unworkable to ban ale moving vehicles on A road for two to three hours a day.

What about areas with no dual carriageways or motorways? Our nearest dual carriageway is at LEAST a 40 minute drive away. So how would the school buses get around? Or the lorries supplying the supermarkets and local businesses? Would they just block up all the passing places for four hours a day?

@adenine why would a farmer need to bring a while tractor to help animals give birth?

Well, the last two mornings I've been stuck behind a farmer moving sheep to/from fields, driving at maybe 15mph and on roads where there's no room to overtake.

Farms are businesses like any other, and run nearly 24/7 in summer - how is it going to work if they can't transport things about for 4 hours a day?

I would certainly say at least increase the NSL for HGV's so that they are equal to cars, and then on dual carriageways and motorways BAN them from the outside lane.

The majority of goods supply movement occurs on motorways and dual carriageways so it wouldn't be unworkable to ban ale moving vehicles on A road for two to three hours a day.

And what about the beginning and end of the journey, when they’re moving from depots to the dual carriageways/motorways , or going off the dual carriageways/motorways to reach their destination?

I imagine it could get horribly logistically challenging to plan routes so that your HGVs were moving but didn’t stray from dual carriageways / motorways during designated rush hour times.

I tend to agree. However some self serving politicians and the vandal Dr Beeching ripped up 1,000,s of miles of railways 50 odd years ago. This is where a large proportion of this freight would be if not for these criminally irresponsible morons!

Why is your journey any more important than theirs?

Since when is rush hour on rural areas 4 hours? I have loved rurally, rush hour was fifteen minutes in the morning and fifteen minutes in the evening, at all other times it was easy to over take. As for farmers and supermarkets they could plan ahead so that they are not using the roads at unreasonable times.

Also, a shout out to the wanders who over take you when you leave a reasonable distance between yourself and lorry so that you can actually check whether the road ahead is chat to overtake.

Since when is rush hour on rural areas 4 hours?

Well, for mornings here it's between about 8am-9.30am, and then in the evenings around 3pm (schools) to about 5/6pm (businesses and workers). It's even busier in summer with all the tourists.

As for farmers and supermarkets they could plan ahead so that they are not using the roads at unreasonable times.

I think this is naive at best.

YABU. The world does not revolve around you.

I had this rant on Wednesday morning when it took me 1hr 15 mins to do a 30 min journey. Side roads should have double yellows on one side to widen the carriageway and stop random cars parking and blocking the road. Dual carriageways in residential areas should have double yellows but then put parking areas on the central reservation instead. Sitting in traffic makes me sooooo cross !!

On HGV driver will have multiple drops and/or at different locations during the day. Many of them time limited. Routes will be planned to allow for drivers to do as much as they can within their allocated hours (which lets remember are rightly restricted for safety reasons). It’s a logistical nightmare for planners as it is without then adding periods of time when they aren’t allowed on the road (and where are they meant to go then?)

@adaline that is unfortunate, paradise a traffic decongestion time of about 20 minutes would work better? Not as well as having proper roads though!

Slow moving vehicles are frustrating at any time but they are a fact of life. I don't find them anymore frustrating during rush hour than other times I'm trying to get somewhere on time. Rush hour roads tend to be slower with volume of traffic anyway so just leave more time for the journey.

Tractors are annoying but I tend to find they don't actually go very far before turning off so tend to just wait it out.

How would a long distance HGV driver practically manage not driving during rush hour? Just pull over at half 3 and sit? You'd have lorries scattered everywhere. Nice idea but would never work

Not as well as having proper roads though!

Yep, I think this is the bigger problem. My commute to work is 40 minutes, most of that on windy country roads where overtaking is a death wish - lots of blind bends, high hedges and concealed entrances.

If you get stuck behind someone you have no chance to overtake until you're practically at your destination! Unfortunately the council will never invest in better road structure and so when the summer months and the tourists come, the roads just get even more jammed up!

You do know farmers are governed a lot of the time by the weather ? Which doesn’t run to a timetable , so sorry for that . If you want peas , particularly frozen ones , then what happens where I live , is that our farmers gets a rough idea when the crop is good to go , then a number of samples are taken and tested to work out the optimum time to harvest . The moment the machine indicates it’s good to go , then there’s about just over two hours window to get those peas harvested , hauled to the factory , and actually frozen . If it’s not all done in that 150 minute window, they are useless , and get binned . For which the farmers won’t get paid . It’s a 24 hour a day , shift working task . So if the machine says those peas are ready at 8am , then those tractors are going to be on the road . It’s that , or do without . Same with hay . If there’s a wet weather front coming , and the hay’s been cut , then no one’s going to leave it to get wet and useless on the ground because of a wishful timetable . They’ll bale it and get it under cover and to do that needs roads . Unless you want your food produced overseas and imported , at greater cost in which case it’ll still need to be transported , albeit in lorries , then tough .

Don’t ever come to Norfolk .

Oooooh, where’s Disgrace and his HGV knowledge/experience?

Hi - I'm a class 1 HGV driver. Some of the comments on here seem somewhat unfair. However I don't want to attack anyone. If anyone has any specific questions I'll be happy to answer.

Also... drivers would love to have to not drive in rush hour. But with 15 hour days legal, with 9 hours driving time that isn't really practical. We'd like to not be stuck in traffic as well.

Isn't the whole point of rush hour that the traffic is already slow?

If an HGV going at 50mph is slowing up your rush hour roads, then you clearly don't have a proper rush hour

If you want to increase traffic speeds at rush hour, you need to reduce traffic. So ban anyone not commuting - no leisure drivers, OAPs on their way back from the garden centre. Maybe ban swimming lessons or any other non essential activities that put cars on roads

So essentially you think your right to drive to work at your preferred time is more important than that of HGV drivers and farmers. Instead of expecting them to park up for hours everyday doing nothing which would push costs of just about everything up maybe you could leave home before rush hour.

Not only is your journey more important... But if there was no fuel in the petrol station you'd whinge. If there was no food in the shops you'd whinge. And if there was no supplies at work you'd whinge.

Trucks deliver nearly everything people in this county need. Without them you'd be a mess. The load you are carrying is far more vital than you getting to work.

What truck says ^

I've always found farmers extremely considerate frequently pulling over to let traffic pass. I'd rather be stuck behind a tractor than some eejit who can't drive his penis extension properly.

HGV drivers keep our handy, supermarket convenient lives as they are!
My DH is an HGV driver and he works extremely long hours as it is..often starts at 4am in order to get to all his deliveries and his tacho governs how long he can drive for/rest for etc.

Frankly you'd be stuffed (unless you have a small holding that can provide all your food, can make your own clothes, oh and fuel etc etc) without those annoying lorries on the road.

Maybe try leaving home before rush hour?!

So ban anyone not commuting - no leisure drivers, OAPs on their way back from the garden centre. Why not ban commuters? Everyone to live somewhere where they can reach their place of work on foot or by public transport. It's commuters and the school runs which really clog the roads, just by the sheer numbers.

We're where we are because of a general emphasis on individual liberty and freedom of choice, the right to go everywhere by car despite effects on air quality and environment, resulting in a society which largely excludes people without their own transport. But that's what the majority of people want, so we need to accept the downsides as well.

So YOUR time is so much more important than that of the people who keep you fed and supply the items you want to buy?

You realise you are only able to go to work as someone else is taking the responsibility to grow the food you need, if no one wanted to be a farmer or a delivery driver you’d have to find or grow your own food.

I’m sure you’re job is very important but a farmer is the only person that you need 3 times a day every day of the year.