newswww.bbc.net.uk/1/hi/england/humber/4161226.stm
Last Updated: Wednesday, 17 August 2005, 19:52 GMT 20:52 UK
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Speed bumps forced off the road
Road speed bumps are to be removed from a village in East Yorkshire after a three-year campaign by residents.
Villagers in Cottingham, near Hull, repeatedly asked the council to remove the bumps because of the noise heavy vehicles made driving over them.
East Riding of Yorkshire Council has agreed to replace the bumps with new road markings. Work starts on Thursday.
Other safety measures in the village, including a 20mph zone in the village centre, will be retained.
Cottingham North councillor Peter Faulkner said the bumps had done nothing but frustrate motorists and cause noise distress to residents.
"We support measures which improve road safety and protect pedestrians, but the humps do neither," he said.
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The other week I struck the bottom of my car on one of those pillow-style bumps (presumably the gearbox). I was going over it very slowly. My car is a Mitsubishi Galant, so not a sports car and it's not lowered. There were 3 of us in the car and no luggage, so it wasn't exactly weighed down.
I should be able to drive down a street at walking pace without destroying my car. I'll sign up to CASH in an instant.
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Life is complex; it has real and imaginary parts.
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IMHO one big problem with speed bumps is that you can damage your car by driving over them at the posted limit. This is clearly wrong. I raised the matter with my local council and there was a major lack of interest. There are the equivalent of "Construction and Use" regulations for these things but I haven't been able to find them, yet. If the limit is 30 it should be possible to drive down such a road at that speed, subject to other considerations like schools, parked cars etc. If a lower limit is needed it should be imposed by law and by signs, not by car damaging obstructions in the road!
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There are some streets around here where I'm pretty sure you could get a car to leave the road if you drove down it at 30. If I bought an old banger and gave it a go would I be breaking any laws? Are there "due care and attention" laws that say you can't do 30 in a 30 zone if some idiotic council has put small mountains in the road?
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Life is complex; it has real and imaginary parts.
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IMHO one big problem with speed bumps is that you can damage your car by driving over them at the posted limit. This is clearly wrong.
Apply a bit of common sense! The posted limit is a maximum, not a target. I don't like humps or other so-called calming measures, but I drive at a speed governed by the prevailing conditions, which may be faster or slower than the posted limit.
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But the prevailing conditions here are created by the same people who set the limit. On one hand they say the limit is 30 and then they create road conditions that make it impossible to do that speed without breaking your car. Where's the common sense there?
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Life is complex; it has real and imaginary parts.
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But the prevailing conditions here are created by the same people who set the limit. On one hand they say the limit is 30 and then they create road conditions that make it impossible to do that speed without breaking your car. Where's the common sense there?
I don't think that argument will run - there are plenty of occasions when the posted speed limit is too fast - would you expect to be able to take every bend on a NSL road at 60?
A worthwhile point to me is that if the right answer is to keep traffic to 20mph, then set the limit accordingly and enforce it - don't introduce obstructions that can't be negotiated without accumulating tyre and suspension damage, create noise and delays, and distract drivers from what they should be looking at - i.e. other traffic, pedestrians, and hazards ahead.
Being driven by my son, who has just passed, reminded me that the biggest problem with inexperienced drivers (and some others sad to say) is that they don't look far enough ahead - the last thing any driver needs is to be concentrating on the speed cushion 10 feet ahead.
I have no argument with sticking to 30 or even 20 limits, but I truly hate and detest these things, whether outside my house or somebody else's.
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On one hand they say the limit is 30 and then they create road conditions that make it impossible to do that speed without breaking your car.
So what you're suggesting is that councils across the country each spend tens of thousands of council tax payers money lowing the speed limits in "bumped" areas and installing repeater signs where appropriate?
I'll iterate Adam's comments: it's a maximum speed limit. Go over bumps at 30mph if you want to. But in the same veinyou can't swoop around every tight country bend at 60 (and live yo tell the tail) just because the limit tells you you can.
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Mike Farrow
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Yeah, but there's a difference here. Make a road NSL and tell me to decide when it's safe to do that speed - fine. Make a road a 30 limit and then put (spend tens of thousands of council tax payers money on, if we're going to get into that argument) obstacles in my way to make it impossible for me to do the speed that you've set - not fine.
It's not the fact that I expect to be able to do 30 over the humps that's the problem here. I won't do 30 over the humps because it'll break my car.
The point is this: what is the purpose of humps? It's either (a) to make me stick to the 30 limit, or (b) to make me go slower than the 30 limit.
If the reason is (a) then the humps are too harsh because driving at 30 will destroy my car. The humps are overkill for their purpose... in fact they break my car at 5mph let alone 30.
If the reason is (b) then the humps are needless. The limit should be set to 20 and the humps removed. 20mph over a hump will destroy my car too. What are councils trying to achieve by putting humps in place? Cars going really slowly at very specific parts of a street before screeching away? Extra revenue for mechanics? I can't work it out. If you want me to go slower than 30, set a lower limit, don't break my car.
It's the same as saying "we're going to stop people stealing by chopping everyone's hands off". It will achieve it's aim, yes, but that the same time it becomes a huge inconvenience to everyone.
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Life is complex; it has real and imaginary parts.
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On one hand they say the limit is 30 and then they create road conditions that make it impossible to do that speed without breaking your car.
Sadly I had to call the council to repair one of the humps in my area. A pot hole appeared in the road at the base of one corner which unless you were aware of it made it feel as if something had broken.
I need the formal spec for humps.
There is a evil one on the B306 Queens Ride between the South Circular en route to Putney Bridge.
I want to talk to the council about it.
Exiting a mini roundabout and hitting it at 10mph is quite a jolt and I consider this to be an unacceptable installation of said hump.
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