Speed Humps regs

barbiedoll

I don't disagree with the idea of speed bumps as such, they are useful in areas surrounding schools, for example. But I do object to poorly installed bumps, or ones where the heights differ considerably for no apparent reason. We have recently had speed bumps placed along our "main" road, one of them seems to be slightly bigger than the rest, even the buses can't clear it properly. It's already full of scrapes on the top and those of us who have a small car don't stand a chance of clearing it unscathed if we drive above 5mph.

I don't know why they bother with speed bumps along some of the roads in London, the proliferation of huge potholes is enough to make everyone slow down. I do wish they'd paint a ring around some of them though, I have spend more time looking down at the road than I do looking up at the traffic :mad:

Strider590

GAZ237 wrote: »

I hardly think the council create a dip in the road.

Do you think they dig the road up, create a dip, then resurface the road before putting a speed hump in?:eek:

Yes, I know of a fair few around here, where that's exactly what they've done. They only do it on the ones that span the whole road though.....With the Westfield, one hump in particular is exactly the length of it's wheelbase so I have to find another way around or mount the pavement, otherwise it'd end up beached with the wheels off the ground.

almillar

Oh how I hate speed bumps!
Cars make MORE noise slowing down and speeding up in between the humps than they would at a constant speed. And not all cars can just float over speed bumps so a steady speed would be an absolute crawl.
They slow everyone down, that includes emergency vehicles.
Why not enforce speed limits better where people ask for speed bumps? Even a speeding, sorry, safety camera would be preferable for me. If the bumps are meant to stop speeding (that usually means 30mph+) drivers, they shouldn't be on the road anyway.

Strider590

Usually when there are complaints of speeding, it's actually just a few OAPs who think noise = speed. Also when the Police or local council organise a speed survey on the road, it's usually the local residents that get caught.

mattyprice4004

alastairq wrote: »

Are you suggesting that anybody who happens to live right alongside any sort of public highway should be prepared to tolerate whatever intrusions on their quality of life you, or any other person driving a motor vehicle, cares to inflict on them?


The appearance of traffic-calming measures on any urban road is as a direct result of the unwillingness of drivers as a whole to exercise self-discipline, and consideration for others.

Those drivers may be a minority...or they may not, I don't know or care.

What I do know is that as a career driver, and as someone who takes the greatest pleasure in the art of driving, I myself am seriously considering an active campaign to get the local council to install not only speed humps, but other measures that will seriously impact on the smooth passage of a huge number and variety of vehicles, where I live.

And that will be on a main road!

I have reached the stage where the quantity of inconsiderate drivers passing through has reached a level where I myself am considering taking 'inconsiderate' action.

So for those who have sustained damage or inconvenience I say, blame the driver in front, or the one behind? Not the Local Authority....who are publicly accountable to those who live there!

If a driver finds speed humps a nuisance, then either change the style of driving, or drive a vehicle more suitably adapted to less-than-snooker-table-smooth road surfaces. [why should my taxes have to pay to make roads suitable for cars of minimal ground clearance and silly, low-profile wheel tyre combinations, anyway?]

You are the one who chose to live next to a main road, if the noise is intolerable then that's your problem. A road will be noisy, you'll have emergency vehicles, cars with loud exhausts and lorries. And guess what? They're all legal and have just as much of a right to be there as you do to be in your own home.

I used to have a loud exhaust on my old ZT V6. If I came to an area with speed humps, I'd have to slow right down to a crawl but after the hump was over I'd take great pleasure in accelerating to 7,000rpm before slowing for the next bump. It was a road legal exhaust, just a bit throaty, and well below any 'illegal' noise levels.

Would you really want that outside your house instead of a gentle, continuous warble at 1,700rpm?

Oh, and before the 'children killer' whingers start, 7,000rpm was 30MPH in first, and this was a 30 limit.

I'd love to see what inconsiderate action you could take against people driving past your house in a perfectly legal manner? Perhaps a scary billboard with a warning on, which will only succeed in confirming to your neighbours that you're a NIMBY nutter?

Lum

My biggest problem with speed bumps is that when improperly installed (i.e. many of them) they basically exclude people like me and my partner from being able to enter certain areas on certain random days due to us both having chronic pain conditions that fluctuate randomly.

Ironically the "normal" car in our collection, the Mondeo is the worst for it due to the cheapo suspension it comes with. The Cefiro with it's double wishbones is the safest option, but twice as expensive to drive anywhere.

Also, did anyone ever consider the environmental cost of having people slow down and speed up all the time?


As for the people who brake at the last minute and then boot it. I always assumed this was done deliberately to annoy residents to encourage them to ask for the humps to be removed.

jaydeeuk1

There are 4 or 5 speed bumps on a road I sometimes use as a shortcut, its a 30 joining a 60. The houses there moan about drivers using it as a short cut rather than taking a longer route along the a6. Nowt to do with speed, just road noise... Pretty sure the road was there before they moved in.

So rather than me tootling past at 30mph at 1500RPM, I blast up to 7000RPM in 1st, slam on and blast along again, solely to annoy them. Yes, I am childish before anyone points this out, but I believe it has worked, as council now considering removing as a result of feedback from residents.

Richard53

Lum wrote: »

Also, did anyone ever consider the environmental cost of having people slow down and speed up all the time?

Every survey I have read showed that emission levels actually increase on roads with 'traffic calming' measures. Cars slowing down and speeding up use more energy and create more emissions than cars moving at a steady speed. If you or your children get asthma, campaign to have the humps removed!

I ride a motorbike. I can dodge those awful speed 'cushions' and the usual speed humps, and if there's one the full width of the road I just stand on the pegs and give it the beans, Dakar-style. I don't speed in 30 limits, by the way.

(Side note: I am not a big fan of speed cameras, but I think that if speeds absolutely have to be limited for a certain stretch of road, such as outside a school, then put a camera there with appropriate signage, keep it full of film, and prosecute absolutely everyone who transgresses. That would work. You can restore karma by removing a pointless camera from a clear, wide A-road nearby with an inexplicably low 40 limit. )

CKhalvashi

Strider590 wrote: »

Speed humps are usually in response to residents whining about speeding or (most of the time) loud cars. Once they're in, it means the council can tell them to get lost and stop complaining, because the next thing they complain about is how noisey they are, with trucks crashing over them and cars accelerating after each one.

As for the maximum height, there's a trick my local council use.... They create a dip in the road before they put the speed hump in, so it's height is correct by the book, but actually in practice MUCH higher.

Statistically, when my car is loaded with work gear, it's louder than before they put the bumps in (because the car scrapes)

And I think I've got quite a noisy car (V6 diesel)

CK

ILW

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

You are the one who chose to live next to a main road, if the noise is intolerable then that's your problem. A road will be noisy, you'll have emergency vehicles, cars with loud exhausts and lorries. And guess what? They're all legal and have just as much of a right to be there as you do to be in your own home.

I used to have a loud exhaust on my old ZT V6. If I came to an area with speed humps, I'd have to slow right down to a crawl but after the hump was over I'd take great pleasure in accelerating to 7,000rpm before slowing for the next bump. It was a road legal exhaust, just a bit throaty, and well below any 'illegal' noise levels.

That does sound a little sad.