Posted By Ian Mitchell Good morning One of our company vans is fitted with a limiter to 68mph. It is a normal long wheel base transit 2007 model year, with no remarkable features. I can find no reference to 68mph per se on any of the official websites (or even much on the informal forums). Is there a legal reason (safety or emissions for example) of which I am ignorant? Or, is it a company/ commercial led thing (fuel saving etc). I do not believe we procured the vehicle brand new. PS - if it is a 2007 goods vehicle that (may) be over 3.5tonnes would it not be 56? If there is a significance of 68mph (as opposed to 56, 60 etc) what is it? Many thanks Ian

Posted By John Packer I've known of van hire companies doing this so if its an ex hire van that may be why. As for the van being over the 3.5 tonne limit, I'm told that the easy way to figure that out is to look and see if the wheels on the back axle are doubled. I've no idea why they limited the vans to 68 other than possibly to avoid the new engines being ragged.

Posted By clairel As far as I am aware speedometers err on the side of caution. If your speedo says 68 you're actually doing more like 64 or something. Check your satnav while you're driving and you'll see the huge difference. Personally I can't see the whole speed limiter thing. Speeding on fster roads is not in my opinion the biggest risk. It's speeding through more built up areas and it doesn't limit that. But that's not the subject of the post so I'll shut up.

Posted By Bob Youel C has hit a nail; its speeding, short none thinking journeys and general bad driving in towns that cause more accidents than anything else

Posted By J Knight Sorry Claire and Bob, Not the subject of the post I know, but the most dangerous roads are rural B roads, and the biggest danger on them is excessive speed, though I do agree that speeding in towns is dangerous and highly anti-social, John

Posted By grim72 I see quite a few vehicles with a restricted to 56mph sign on the back. I've often thought this was an odd speed restriction to have - what is the reasoning behind that one?

Posted By Phizzle Grim, The 56mph limit is imposed on use from Europe from Jan 07 onwards for most vehicles over 3.5 tonne. This comes from European Council Directive 2002/85/EC which was adopted into our Construction and Use Regulations under the RTA. Seems like an odd figure but was chosen to sit alongside the rest of Europe as it is equivalent to their 70kph limit. As for the 68mph, there's no law that I'm aware of, it's just perceived (and I agree arguable) 'good practice' to keep vehicles below 70mph. Ian

Posted By Peter Zunda 56mph = 90kph, 70kph is 43.5 mph.