I knew about this, when the law was introduced the police targeted unknowing van drivers and made a killing.
It's the sort of law change that should have been publicised more at the time it happened - not yet another thing to use as a cash cow. I drove a 2.9 tonne Trafic around for a year before I stumbled across the speed limits on the web while looking for something else.
I wasn't nicked in that year but only by luck.
Many years ago, I drove a 7.5 tonne (7.49 to be strictly accurate) lorry around. You were allowed to drive them on a car licence then (think you still are if you passed your test pre 1991). It wasn't until a vehicle was 7.5 tonnes or more that speed limits started to reduce. So it was a big leap to drop it to 2 tonnes (unless it went down part way in the meantime). It was perfectly reasonable for me to not check this as it's a long way from 7.5 tonnes to 2 tonnes.
Apart from that, with a tank of water behind me, I tend to take it steady anyway.
They seem to go back to at least 1984 and possibly beyond that. It's one of those things that I'd heard about but didn't know the specific details until I saw the site. Weirdly it seems there are other exceptions.
A Regular Cab (two door) Ford Ranger is subject to the commercial speed limit but a Super Cab Ford Ranger( MK2 onward) isn't. This is because although they are commercials and they have a gross vehicle weight of more than two tonnes and aren't car derived they have four doors and are therefore classified as Multi Role Vehicles and therefore exempt. Same goes for all Double Cabs etc.
Where can I find the rules regarding double cabs, I use a Navara double cab and have always thought the van rules applied. Have googled and seard the DOT site but can't find any reference.
Many thanks
Neil
I found the double cab info on a Land Rover site. I'll see if I can find it again and post a link.
Here's one.
https://www.askthe.police.uk/content/q529.htmSeems that dual purpose vehicles are rated on UNLADEN WEIGHT and not GROSS VEHICLE WEIGHT but must be 4 wheel drive and therefore have the same speed limit as private cars.
Or this definition: (Print it out and carry it with you)
Road Vehicles Constr. and Use Regs 1986 said:
Dual purpose vehicles
A `Dual purpose vehicle' is one that is constructed or adapted for the carriage of both passengers and goods or burden of any description, being a vehicle of which the unladen weight does not exceed 2,040 kg; and which either-
(i) is so constructed or adapted so that the driving power of the engine, is, or by the use of the appropriate controls can be, transmitted to all the wheels of the vehicle; or-
(ii) satisfies the following conditions as to construction, namely-
(A) the vehicle must be permanently fitted with a rigid roof, with or without a sliding panel;
(B) the area to the rear of the driver's seat must-
(i) be permanently fitted with at least one row of transverse seats (fixed or folding) for two or more passengers, and those seats must be properly sprung or cushioned and provided with upholstered backrests, attached either to the seats or to a side or the floor of the vehicle;and
(ii) be lit on each side and at the rear by a window or windows of glass or other transparent material having an aggregate area of not less than 1,850cm2 on each side and not less than 770cm2 at the rear; and-
(C ) the distance between the rearmost part of the steering wheel and the backrests of the row of transverse seats satisfying the requirements specified in the first paragraph of item (B) (or, if there is more than one such row of seats, the distance between the rearmost part of the steering wheel and the backrests of the rearmost such row) must, when the seats are ready for use, be not less than one third of the distance between the rearmost part of the steering wheel and the rearmost part of the floor of the vehicle.