Motorhome Speed Limit

A friend of mine was done for speeding on the A30 in Cornwall the other day for doing 69mph on the A30, which is a 70mph dual carriageway, in his campervan. He was told this was because his class of vehicle had a separate speed limit, which is 60mph.

While this is true of of motorhomes over 3 tonnes, it's not true of campervans of under 3 tonnes, which his vehicle is. I believe it's possible he was the victim of an overzealous mobile camera operative.

The rules are as follows. Motorhomes, campervans and caravans with an unladen weight of greater than 3050kg or more than 8 passenger seats: Single Carriageways: 50mph. Dual Carriageways: 60mph. Motorways: 70mph.

However, if your vehicle is less than 3050kg, it's 70mph on a dual carriageway, and I believed he could appeal, as his vehicle is a campervan.

That being said, there's an anomaly, as shown in the image above for goods vehicles not exceeding 7.5 tonnes. Is it debatable whether a converted van is a goods vehicle or a motorhome? It depends on how your vehicle is described on the V5. My motorhome is nevertheless described as a PLG on the V5, which is a vehicle under 3.5 tonnes and it's described in the user manual as 3.4 tonnes, maximum permissible laden weight - not unladen. Looking further into the user manual, it lists the mass in running order (unladen weight) as 2.649 tonnes, which enables me to do 70 on a dual carriageway.

Stop Press: After talking further to my friend, it transpires his campervan was initially registered as LGV, so he's liable for the speeding fine. I believe it's possible to have the taxation class for a conversion changed, but it takes a lot of time and form filling. Those who specialise in making motorhomes from commercial vehicle chassis, such as Swift, do this before selling them.

Beware if you're doing your own conversion.