Transport -
Speed Humps 2
Depending
upon the vehicle and the hump design, going over
a hump at a higher speed may cause less
discomfort than a lower speed and accelerating
after negotiating a hump generates more pollution
than if the hump hadn't been there. The Transport
Research Laboratory in the United Kingdom
conducted emissions tests on roads with a 75
metre hump spacing and found CO emissions
increased by 70-80%, HC by 70-100%, and CO2 by
50-60%.
Contrary to popular belief, speed humps increase
noise levels. Braking may generate noise,
especially with larger vehicles, traversing the
hump may create noise, especially with goods
vehicles and accelerating after the hump
generates more noise than a vehicle travelling at
a constant speed.
Repeatedly traversing humps causes long-term
damage to vehicle components, especially the
suspension; and humps can cause damage to the
bodywork of large vehicles such as buses, and to
the underside of cars with low ground clearance.
The impact of vehicles traversing a speed hump
sends shock waves through the ground. Depending
upon the nature of the soil, the proximity and
construction of buildings, the weight of
vehicles, and the frequency of traffic, these
shock waves may cause structural damage to nearby
properties. If you don't believe that, read the
official UK regulations stating where humps can
be installed - they specifically exclude anywhere
within 25m of bridges, subways, or tunnels.
Drivers watching out for humps are distracted
from watching out for more serious hazards.
Humps may cause traffic to divert from a good
road to one which is far less capable of carrying
the traffic safely, this increases overall
accident risk.
At night, humps cause headlight beams to rise.
This dazzles oncoming traffic, and in residential
areas causes annoyance to occupants of houses
ahead of the vehicle.
Humps cause unnecessary discomfort to passengers.
Taxi
fares were increased by 5% to pay for damage
caused to cabs by speed humps in Hastings, East
Sussex.
Road
humps are to be scrapped and replaced with more
speed cameras whiuch will allow cameras in quiet
streets with 20MPH limits. Ken Livingstone is
expected to include the hump-removal proposals in
his London Mayor re-election campaign despite
withholding £1.5million of funding from
Conservative-controlled Barnet borough for
digging them up.
This is in complete contrast to previous
government policy, which demands cameras are used
in accident blackspots. Edmund King, executive
director of the RAC Foundation, said, “The
hump is an obstacle, the camera a cash register.
We have to question whether the reasons are road
safety or cash generation. They should introduce
flexible limits like America does. You don’t
need a 20mph limit outside a school at two in the
morning.”
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