Do you drive commercial vans? Be smart - know the limits

As a driver of commercial vans, you'll be aware of the different speed limits for each van class. Now, a van driver who ignores speed limits pertaining to the van that they are driving has a higher risk of being caught.

This is due to the new hi-tech cameras decorating our highways. These cameras are able to recognise the vehicle using ANPR systems which hold a vehicle's information on a central database. So where traditional cameras are set to clock speeds over a certain limit, these new cameras have different speed limits for different vehicles.

Commercial vans have different speed limits

No more relying on speed cameras capturing vehicles exceeding the standard car limit on a given road - for example, a dual carriageway with a limit of 70mph would have a 60mph limit for commercial vans. In the same way, on single carriage roads with a 60mph limit, 50mph is the limit for commercial vans.

The penalties for speeding can be harsh. If you're caught travelling at 75 on a country road you run the risk of a ban and six penalty points - not forgetting the likely fine - for exceeding the commercial vans speed limit by 50%.

Over 250 miles of British roads are now monitored by average speed cameras as well as the more traditional methods of fixed cameras and mobile vans. Safety campaigners are warning drivers of commercial vans to take heed of the different limits for specific vehicles.

Kevin Clinton, head of road safety at RoSPA, said: "Speed limits are lower for larger vehicles because their extra size and mass means they take longer to stop and any impact is more severe, therefore drivers should be aware of the speed limit that applies to the vehicle they are driving and always stay within that limit."

Recent news revealed that there are over 50 stretches of road covering 256 miles under hi-tech camera observation in the UK, ranging in length from a quarter of a mile to 99 miles on the A9 between Dunblane and Inverness.

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: "Average speed cameras are becoming a more common fixture on Britain's roads. Unsurprisingly, the indications are that compliance with the speed limit through stretches of road managed by average speed cameras is high, but the acid test is whether accident and casualty rates have also fallen. That is what the next part of this research project should tell us."