New HGV speed limits in force from 6 April

The Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has issued a reminder to operators regarding the speed limit increases for HGVs over 7.5 tonnes travelling on single and dual carriageways in England and Wales.

Advice issued in the agency’s ‘Moving On’ blog reiterated that the national speed limit on single carriageways for such vehicles will increase from 40mph to 50mph – and for dual carriageways, from 50mph to 60mph.

Effects of the latter change will be limited in practice, however, by the fact that European requirements remain unchanged for speed limiters, which must still be set at 56mph or lower.

Vehicle-specific speed limits in Scotland and Northern Ireland are set by the devolved administrations, and are not affected by the Department for Transport’s changes.

Meanwhile, speed limits for farm tractors have also increased as of 9 March to 40 km/h, which equates to about 25mph – while those farm tractors towing an agricultural trailer now enjoy a higher maximum combination weight of 31 tonnes, up from 24.39 tonnes.