MSP welcomes 50 mph pilot speed limit for lorries
HIGHLANDS and Islands Labour MSP David Stewart has welcomed the decision of the infrastructure and capital investment committee in parliament to approve a 50 mph speed limit for HGVs on the A9 as a pilot.
He said: "Conor McKenna, a HGV driver, approached me in December 2012 and asked me to do all I could to help hauliers get the speed limit for HGVs on the A9 increased from 40 mph to 50 mph. I was only too happy to come on board as I am aware that a lot of road collisions on the route are caused by frustration.
"When you have one set of vehicles able to travel at 60 mph and others at 40 mph you are going to get long tailbacks, queues and then frustration kicks in.
"It is my hope that if HGVs can travel at 50 mph and other vehicles at 60 mph then there will hopefully be less frustration caused as most drivers will happily travel at a constant, appropriate speed.
"I lobbied hard with the A9 HGV speed campaign group, lodged parliamentary questions, wrote to the Government and met with the police and Transport Minister Keith Brown for informal discussions and I was glad that last year the Government announced they would be introducing this pilot this year."
