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If you drive over speed bumps on a 30 mph limit road at 30 mph, are they meant to slow you down and why? If they damage your car while you traverse them at the posted speed limit do you have a claim against anybody? Are there any construction regulations re dimensions and gradient which are legally applicable to road humps? Thanks in advance!
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Have a look at:
www.roads.dft.gov.uk/roadsafety/goodpractice/22.htm
Personally, I have trouble exeeding 10mph over the bumps in my area.
It does seem nonsense to have a 30mph limit, which the local authority deem safe, but cannot possibly be achieved.
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Personally, I have trouble exeeding 10mph over the bumps in my area.
Quite. And how about the idiot who tail-gates you and then overtakes you in a reckless manner as you negotiate the speed bump. Or the ambulance or fire engine or police car on a shout slowed by the speed bump. Or the low slung car damaged by the speed hump. Or the increased pollution, noise and vibration caused by the speed bump. Or the damage to the suspension, to people with bad backs, to delicate objects being transported.
Or the road constriction that encourages drivers to race to beat the oncoming driver who has priority. Or the road constrictions that form an enjoyable slalom for speed merchants.
Could someone please post some solid info in support of these roads decorations? I know they mean well but I am not convinced they have the intended effect.
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From the doc. posted by Doc:
Humps need marking, signing and lighting except in 20mph zones (TAL 7/96, TAL 9/99).
That is part of my problem with them. More than once I have been doing a safe speed down a residential street, and then suddenly seen an unmarked speed hump, and suffered considerable discomfort. It usually happens at night. And a safe speed is often ~20 mph. Hardly speeding is it?
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Leif
Something postive?
I lived in China for a while, there they are still at the stage on making the roads smoother...
So I guess the fact we have sooooooooo much money in this country we are trying to make our smooth roads rough shows how lucky we are to be living in our small perfectly formed island.
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Gen: LOL. So that is why it sometimes seems that things are getting worse! And I thought it was the effects of middle age.
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I read somewhere that speed humps cause considerable damage to the suspension and underbody of hearses, probably because of the long wheelbase. They don't do much for the dignity of a funeral procession either.
On my route home from Central London they removed the humps, resurfaced the road, and then the council dug up the new road and put the humps back - the same humps that had been removed! And our council tax has risen by 20%. I wonder why.
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DougB: Council tax has risen because the government have reduced the amount of money they give the councils. Yet another indirect tax from GB. I do wish they would be honest in their taxation.
The argument for speed humps seems to be a safety one. And yet I wonder how many lives are lost due to ambulances not arriving in time, and pulmonary disease due to increased pollution. An increase of 1-60% quoted in the earlier link.
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Agree Leif - however IMO there is a need for physical traffic calming measures in certain places and what other options are there ? It's a real problem - chicanes, road humps, speed tables, speed cushions, rumble strips all cause problems whether it be delays to emergency vehicles, damage to cars, increased noise/pollution or, in the case of chicanes, the problem of drivers 'racing' eachother to get to the chicane first.
I really don't know what the answer is but would be interested to hear about any other measures people have seen which appear to be effective without so many of the associated problems.
Mind you, if certain people didn't drive so stupidly we wouldn't need traffic calming in the first place would we.
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Volvoman: Too true.
Mind you, if certain people didn't drive so stupidly we wouldn't need traffic calming in the first place would we.
Quite!
But it would be interesting to see many before and after studies of speed humped areas to see the actual effect on traffic.
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Yep Leif - not sure the engineers like doing that though 'cos it might prove that these things have adverse knock on effects that they like to deny exist. Calming traffic in one street by diverting a proportion of it to other streets is not an acceptable solution as far as I'm concerned. In fact, as i've said before, in my opinion many of these schemes have far more to do with diverting traffic away from favoured areas than traffic calming and reducing accidents.
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In fact, as i've said before, in my opinion many of these schemes have far more to do with diverting traffic away from favoured areas than traffic calming and reducing accidents.
LOL. And I thought I was cynical! Wouldn't be away from areas where councillors live by any chance?
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Just co-incidence I'm sure that certain roads in affluent areas which didn't feature on the accident blackspot list were getting humps and massively expensive red brick speed tables when roads in less affluent (former council house) areas where people were getting killed on a regular basis were being overlooked.
There was one particular councillor who lived in the area in question but it was deemed that he didn't have a pecuinary interest and was therefore allowed to campaign and vote for the scheme. In fact that same Cllr. - so upset when we finally stopped many of the humps in his area going ahead decided to retaliate by trying to prevent the few measures (pedestrian refuges only) which had belatedly and begrudgingly been suggested for the road onto which the local primary school fronted. Not a sad, selfish SOAB then eh !
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The speed bump situation in Sheffield is so bad that the bus drivers on a certain route are threatening to strike and some of the drivers are taking legal action for damage to their backs!
In fact the government has intervened in a dispute with the council over plans for a road narrowing scheme. Basically the council has ignored local residents assertions that they don't want a scheme where at the point where the road narrows to 1 lane they will place a bus stop there, which would stop All traffic whilst the bus picks up and drops off passengers. Sounds lunacy until you find out this is major road near a hospital that has an A&E dept. The council has since said it will review it's plans. And still the council can't workout why the town centre's dying.
Personally I'm speechless.
Steve.
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I'm sure others have pointed this out before but what we need in Britain is -
Investment, common sense, foresight and public transport that is what it says it is.
South Yorkshire had one of the finest public transport systems in the UK before de-regulation. We had a City Clipper bus that was free, the idea was drive close to the centre, park up and get the clipper. Still this was back 70s before the council built on all the car parks!
We currently have a 'supertram', sounds good until you find out that it serves the areas of highest unemployment rather than going to all the residential areas where the traffic is bad and the buses packed with people travelling to work in the city centre. Obviously a political decision.
Steve.
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glowplug/steve
bang on! and even I, a dedicated motorist used to use the bus to and from work saving up my hard earned for proper motoring.
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Sadly, a combination public apathy and ignorance often allows councils to do what they like. To be fair, even when councils consult residents, many can't be bothered to respond or respond in a manner which is ill-considered and less than helpful. These factors create a system where empire builders can embark on grand schemes knowing that if things go wrong they'll be able to blame someone else and be given the job of putting everything right hence justifying their own existence. Also the public apathy/ignorance creates just the right conditions for those in positions of power to secure favourable treatment for their local areas, friends and allies. It's really all very cosy when the tax payer doesn't know or care what his/her money's being spent on.
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I don't want to turn this into a rant or a crusade and it's definately non political! But I don't know anybody, motorist or not, that doesn't think the whole situation in Sheffield is potty.
The council now has the gall to moan on about Meadowhall Centre stealing all trade from the town centre. I don't understand how this can be the case. If I go to Meadowhall, I go via the ring road, about 10 miles, get there in 15 minutes or so, loads of parking and it's free. However it takes 15 minutes to find a parking space in the town centre (if you can navigate it!) then it costs about 2p/minute.
Can't work it out can you?
You've got to laugh haven't you....
or go elsewhere!
Steve.
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Glowplug: Maybe, just maybe, councillors don't realise how free enterprise works. Just a thought.
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How the town planners can turn down the chance of a IKEA store amazes me (whether you like their style or not), the amount trade it would have brought to the area would be well worth having. And still they moan the city is in a decline. If John Lewis ups sticks they'll be nothing worth going into town for!
You could be right, your comment raised a hearty laugh! Thanks I'll try to remember that next time in marooned in the town centre. Funnily enough the various councils we've had have done more to damage the city than the blitz!
Steve.
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Funnily enough the various councils we've had have done more to damage the city than the blitz!
LOL!
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How the town planners can turn down the chance of a IKEA store amazes me
Do town planners have any say in these matters anyway? IKEA wanted to build a store in Stockport. They were prepared to pump millions in to improving the road network around the store, not to mention the fact it would be nicely spaced between Leeds and Warrington, thus reducing journeys to those stores.
Stockport council were in favour, but John Smith decided to stick his neb in and refuse permission, telling them they could only move to Stockport if they split up their store and opened a number of smaller outlets all around Stockport. Obviously he has never been to an IKEA, otherwise he's realise that humping a flat-pack wardrobe across a town centre to a Pay&Display carpark isn't really a viable option....
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I thought so.
Basically Sheffield had a large Yorkshire Electricity depot on the main carridgeway into the town centre from the M1, IKEA wanted to knock down the multistorey car park and buildings and start again. But I believe the town centre businesses complained and permission was blocked. So instead all that business goes to Bradford or Nottingham. A well planned way to re-generate the city.
Oh and another thing, because the town centre isn't quite dead yet, a dual carridgeway (last one in the centre) that carries traffic to what car parks are available is now being turned into a single carridgeway. Ideal to have lots of queuing traffic, good for the environment I suppose.
Steve.
Steve.
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