Overtaking lane speed limits

The Safety Camera Unit would like to remind drivers of the presence of overtaking lanes and the speed limits that apply to them.  Overtaking lanes exist to allow unrestricted vehicles, such as cars and motorcycles, to safely overtake speed restricted vehicles including good vehicles, cars that are towing caravans or trailers and also buses and coaches.

A overtaking/crawler lane is defined by the Highway Code at Rule 139 as ‘Climbing and crawler lanes’. These are provided on some hills and should be used if you are driving a slow moving vehicle or if there are vehicles behind you wishing to overtake.

Many drivers in across Scotland mistakenly believe that the presence of a second lane means that the speed limit has been raised to 70mph, the same as that of a dual carriageway.   These sections of road have the same speed limit as the road where they are positioned, if it is a single carriageway road it is the national speed limit of 60mph for a standard car/motorbike unless otherwise indicated.  Drivers are advised that the definition for a dual carriageway is “a road which has a central reservation to separate the carriageways” therefore no central reservation equals no increase in speed limit.