Gobsmacked !

[Donk's Dad]

I know i will possibly sound ignorant, but i found out something today and i am gobsmacked

I have used a van for my work now for over 20 years and according to the motoring governing body, for that 20 years there has been a lower speed limit on UK roads for ALL vans.

This is for all VAN derived vehicles and only a very few car derived vehicles such as the Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall Nova are outside of these restrictions.

On single carriageways its 50 MPH, 10 MPH below the usual limit of 60.
and on dual carriageways & Motorway's is 60MPH and not 70 as it is for cars.

Even my little Suzuki1.3 carry Pick up is restricted. and it dosent matter if the van is empty or fully laden. !

[Mr T]

I know i will possibly sound ignorant, but i found out something today and i am gobsmacked

I have used a van for my work now for over 20 years and according to the motoring governing body, for that 20 years there has been a lower speed limit on UK roads for ALL vans.

This is for all VAN derived vehicles and only a very few car derived vehicles such as the Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall Nova are outside of these restrictions.

On single carriageways its 50 MPH, 10 MPH below the usual limit of 60.
and on dual carriageways & Motorway's is 60MPH and not 70 as it is for cars.

Even my little Suzuki1.3 carry Pick up is restricted. and it dosent matter if the van is empty or fully laden. !

This does not include motor vans. See motor vans .net BRIAN http://www.ukmotorhomes.net/motorhome-faqs.shtml

[NomadSue]

This does not include motor vans. See motor vans .net BRIAN http://www.ukmotorhomes.net/motorhome-faqs.shtml

Whew! So this only applies to the 'big boys' then.

[steamydave]

Lots of talk about this. Lots of people don't know it. Just about all white van delivery drivers I would say!

This is one reason I wanted to register my converted carry van as a motor home. Following the DVLA instructions I did the conversion, but come time to re-register the van, DVLA refused to class it as a motor home as there was no real external changes compared to a standard carry. It's now registered as van with side windows (or similar) but is still basically a van!

So I'm still restricted! Doesn't worry me much as I'm not a speedy driver, but it's annoying as I followed their specifications in the conversion. Ho hum!

Dave

[Donk's Dad]

Thats where i "picked it up from" reading about someone asking about re-registering their vehicle as a motorhome ibsted of a van.

Seems that possibly even the smaller Romahomes (or any make) based on a van chassis will come under that ruling if the registration says VAN !

[glenw]

On a similar theme, although since buying a caravan I have always done the driving whilst towing, we planned on Claire getting a feel for it, should for some reason I not be able to drive. We found out yesterday, purely by chance, that due to her being a whippersnapper she doesn't have the entitlement on her driving licence. She already had to pay for extra lessons and a test to add categories c1 and d1 to her licence for work so won't be paying the £100+ for the extra entitlement.

[NomadSue]

Thats where i "picked it up from" reading about someone asking about re-registering their vehicle as a motorhome ibsted of a van.

Seems that possibly even the smaller Romahomes (or any make) based on a van chassis will come under that ruling if the registration says VAN !

-------------------------------
As I have commented before, why on earth isn't the paperwork adjusted at the time of conversion, so that the buyer is given the correct douments? It is only by reading comments on this forum that I became aware that our R20 still has the wrong paperwork (was converted in July 2011). I really must deal with it asap!

[steamydave]

As I recall, the exceptions to the rule are that if the fully loaded weight is under 2 tonnes and the van is a car-derived vehicle the rules don't apply. So any van that is also built as a car there wouldn't be a problem. Not sure if the romahome base vehicles are available as cars as well as vans.

Quote from the government website… http://www2.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafet...eedlimits.html

“Q. Are there any exemptions from these lower speed limits for vans?

A. There is one (small) group of vans which have the same speed limits are cars by virtue of the definitions in Schedule 6 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act of 1984. These are vans that are both derived from a car chassis and also have a maximum laden weight of no more than 2 tonnes. This means that the weight of the vehicle and the payload it is designed to be able to carry when added together do not exceed 2 tonnes. The van design must be a derivative of a car body, it is not sufficient that it looks similar to a particular car. “

I think this only is a problem if the vehicle is not new at the time of conversion. I would imagine that a new van that is converted by the builders would be first registered correctly. I think the problem is only if you try and change it after that.

Dave

[Donk's Dad]

This is part of the information i read, but it goes on to say there are only a very few CAR derived vehicles such as the Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall Nova which are outside of these restrictions.

The Berlingo as used by Romahome is not available as a car, so will also come into these restrictions if the V5 states its a Van, as do ALL the demountables when used on a pick up. As does Donk!

[steamydave]

Poor Donk!