Speed Humps "Save Lives". Allegedly. 5231

Adrian pretended :

IMHO they serve no real useful pupose as their effect (the cushion type) on different vehicle types varies so much. I can drive my car over them squarely wheels either side of them, such that they have no impact and I can pbutt over them without need to reduce my speed. Vehicles with a smaller track sometimes have to slow down to 10mph to pbutt over them.

One such traffic calming measure appeared at an under rail bridge only wide enough for one vehicle to pbutt at a time. My memory suggests there has only ever been one injurous accident at this location prior to their appearance, yet shortly after they were installed a cyclist was end when he hit the bumbs and was thrown off his bike and head first into the brick arch of the bridge.

They take the form of a 12" wide full width strip of extreme severity just a few feet before the entrance to the bridge at either side. 5mph is excessive over these and they cause absolute chaos.

Much more sensible (if they must have them), would have been to set them a few yards back from the bridge, so that vehicles forced to crawl over them are not at the same time blocking the entire road use. This would have slowed the vehicles down sufficently, yet the slowed down vehicles would have still been able to quickly pbutt on through the restricted width of the bridge. As they are placed, they are also difficult to see due to the unlit interior of the bridge.

Something which does seem to cause much chaos, is where parking is allowed and humps are installed. Parked vehicles close to a hump, forces any vehicles using the road to either run their wheel directly over the centre of a hump, or straddle its twin on the wrong side of the road. They should either have humps, or ban parking along roads fitted with them, but not both.

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Regards, Harry (M1BYT) (L)