Go Faster Stripes

 Lots of sports cars have livery with longitudinal stripes, which we jokingly call "go faster stripes". If I'd been richer and more vain I could have specified a wide white stripe up the middle of the nosecone, bonnet and scuttle of my kit car. On a camper van however similar stripes can make a significant difference to top speed. Commercial vans are limited to 60mph on motorways, camper vans 70mph. If you buy a van and fit it out as a camper you can take it to the vehicles inspectorate and have it re-registered as a camper van rather than a commercial van. One of the criteria that the inspector will assess is whether it looks like a camper van. People have taken to sticking on long stickers with silhouettes of mountains and words like "adventure" as part of getting their van re-registered as a camper. In this case it gives a 10mph increase in top (legal) speed.

Think about how ridiculous the situation is. We can have two (say) Mercedes Sprinters with the same chassis, body, tyres, brakes and suspension. One has some appliances and soft furnishings fitted in the back. The other is delivering some appliances and soft furnishings which are in boxes in the back. One is safe to drive at 70mph, the other only 60mph. Maybe I'm too cynical, but I believe it's to make sure that delivery drivers know their place in society. Tarquin and Jocasta on their way to five nights in St. Ives are allowed to drive faster than the guys bringing groceries in the same van on the same roads in the same direction.

Richard "compulsory high viz" B