Police warn van drivers over speed

1:39am Tuesday 13th November 2007

North Yorkshire Police are warning van drivers to keep to the lawful speed limits for their vehicles - or be prepared to face the consequences.

The message comes from Road Policing Group officers who are alarmed by the number of van drivers who claim they did not realise they were speeding when pulled over by the police.

Road Policing Sergeant Daniel Spence said: "While carrying out speed enforcement, many drivers of vans claim they are totally unaware of the speeds that they are allowed to travel at on certain categories of roads.

"For example, a goods vehicle not exceeding 7.5 tonnes such as a Ford Transit or a Mercedes Sprinter, cannot by law exceed 50mph on a single carriageway, 60mph on a dual carriageway and 70mph on a motorway.

"However, we have found that a great many van drivers wrongly presume the speed limits for a van are the same as for a car.

"This simply is not a plausible excuse."

Sgt Spence stressed that it was each driver's responsibility to familiarise themselves with the appropriate speed limits for the vehicle they were driving.

"Failure to do this can result in a fine and driving licence being endorsed with penalty points, he said.

"More importantly, failure to comply with speed limits can and does cause serious injury road collisions, not to mention the increased risk of fatal consequences," he added.

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