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Width Restrictions


niktam

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Talking to some lads on site recently they had got fined (council making money again)driving through a 6' 6" restricted road in a double cab and a "normal" type vans(which they thought would be OK) This is because a number of standard vans and a few 4 wheel drive cars do in fact just exceed the 2000mm for the width excluding the mirrors and indicator lights. So I was wondering if anyone here had been fined as well in a PVC?

Also if you look at all motorway contraflows they nearly always have a similar width restriction on lane 3 when the lanes are narrowed so again you could get fined here as well plus if there was an accident you shouldn't have been in lane 3? It cost them £100 a time.

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It's important the know your actual width - looking at motor caravan measurements in some adverts, they exclude the wing mirrors. A regular Ford Transit van is 1974mm wide, 2474 with mirrors; my Transit-based motor caravan has extra long mirrors and is 2830.
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I notice that “The Sun” reported on this issue in mid-2018 regarding large SUV vehicles

 

https://www.thesun.co.uk/motors/6446764/you-could-be-fined-for-breaking-uk-width-restrictions-if-you-drive-one-of-these-popular-suvs/

 

with the caveat "Police can issue drivers who breach width restrictions with a Fixed Penalty Notice for failing to comply with a traffic sign”.

 

This link repeats the advice that - when a road-width restriction is put in place - the police must support this as it’s the police that will be responsible for the enforcement.

 

https://www.barnsley.gov.uk/services/roads-travel-and-parking/road-safety/vehicle-weight-and-width-limits/

 

(Presumably it’s the width of a vehicle’s bodywork that ‘counts’ and its external mirrors/indicators are ignored. For example. even when the mirrors of my Skoda car are folded back, the width of the vehicle across the folded mirrors still exceeds the width of the car’s body.)

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niktam - 2021-04-23 9:18 AM

 

Talking to some lads on site recently they had got fined (council making money again)driving through a 6' 6" restricted road in a double cab and a "normal" type vans(which they thought would be OK) This is because a number of standard vans and a few 4 wheel drive cars do in fact just exceed the 2000mm for the width excluding the mirrors and indicator lights. So I was wondering if anyone here had been fined as well in a PVC?

Also if you look at all motorway contraflows they nearly always have a similar width restriction on lane 3 when the lanes are narrowed so again you could get fined here as well plus if there was an accident you shouldn't have been in lane 3? It cost them £100 a time.

I'm not sure why you make the comment "council making money again".

 

If there is a restricted width sign and someone chooses to ignore it and is fined it is their fault.

We are all responsible for knowing the width (height and length) of our vehicles as well as keeping to the traffic regulations.

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  • 3 weeks later...

The signs say 6'6" and 2.0m.

Which units take precedence?

What about those in between?

Also, mathematically, 2.0m (ie to 1 decimal place) implies less than 2.05m.

Is this also the case legally?

I've passed this problem to my son, a driving instructor, and am awaiting a response.

My van is quoted as 205cm ±3% How does this stack up?

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you'll find out when you drive down a posted width restriction and get stuck, then have to pay the costs of extraction plus any roadside damage caused.

If it says 2m or 6'6" then that is what it means. If a bridge had a height restriction of 2.8m and your MH was 2.75m high, would you risk driving under it?

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Perhaps it's 6'6 for UK built vans and 2m for continental built.

 

Logically, they would have to go with the more generous dimension though I doubt anyone would really argue about three quarters of an inch. The width stated by the manufacturer (and, therefore, their stated tolerance) is irrelevant as the prosecuting authority would take their own measurement and that is the one they would rely on as evidence of an offence.

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My first response was a theoretical/legal point.

I've now just come back from my son's and realised that I can't take the campervan that way. There is a bridge about 3.5m wide but with a 2m width restriction. It's not a matter of if it's possible but if it's legal.

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Without knowing the details of the bridge, I guess a bridge with a 3.5m width, but limited to 2m must have some sort of arch, so the 2 m width is the max width at some point above the ground near the end bottom of the parapet. Is the road marked to centralise traffic under the highest part of the bridge to avoid strikes?
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