After these signs, the maximum speed for a truck driver with a maximum weight not exceeding 3.5 tons is set.

Explanation

80 km/h.

The law's criterion is the registered permissible maximum mass of the vehicle, not whether it looks like a "goods vehicle" at first glance. A lorry or van whose permissible maximum mass does not exceed 3.5 tonnes is grouped with the passenger car in the speed table; so after these signs it receives the same ceiling as is set for a car, namely 80 km/h. Memorise both the 3.5-tonne boundary and the figure 80, because many exam questions are built precisely on that boundary. The technical logic is the same: kinetic energy is directly related to mass, and a heavier vehicle has a longer braking distance, more heat in the brakes and less stability in bends; that is why the legislator sets a lower ceiling for the heavier weight groups and keeps vehicles under 3.5 tonnes in the car group.

If you work with a van or a light goods vehicle, read the permissible mass figure from the vehicle documents; that figure determines your speed group, not the outward size of the vehicle.

• 60 is an option for those who confuse the ceiling in built-up areas with this situation; it has nothing to do with this vehicle's weight group. • 70 is the answer of someone who places every goods vehicle in the heavy group, whereas this vehicle is under the 3.5-tonne boundary and in the car group.

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