OT - Remove humps, cars go faster, crash

Two cars collided outside my house last night, it was an accident
waiting to happen.
My house is opposite a T-junction, the road is long and straight and
made narrow by parked cars which also mean poor visibility for anyone
pulling out of the junction. Collisions used to be a regular
occurrence, usually boy racers at night pulling too fast out of the
junction, sometimes even colliding with parked cars when they failed
to make the turn.
A few years ago they put speed humps down the road, suddenly the
crashes stopped. More recently they made the whole area a 20MPH zone
too.
Last week they resurfaced the road. This also meant the humps were
removed and the 20MPH markings on the road have gone.
Guess what? Loads of cars are driving far too fast again and the
collisions have returned.
Just thought I'd make the point to anyone who thinks speed humps are a
bad idea.

"POHB" wrote in message
oups.com...
Two cars collided outside my house last night, it was an accident
waiting to happen.
My house is opposite a T-junction, the road is long and straight and
made narrow by parked cars which also mean poor visibility for anyone
pulling out of the junction. Collisions used to be a regular
occurrence, usually boy racers at night pulling too fast out of the
junction, sometimes even colliding with parked cars when they failed
to make the turn.
A few years ago they put speed humps down the road, suddenly the
crashes stopped. More recently they made the whole area a 20MPH zone
too.
Last week they resurfaced the road. This also meant the humps were
removed and the 20MPH markings on the road have gone.
Guess what? Loads of cars are driving far too fast again and the
collisions have returned.
Just thought I'd make the point to anyone who thinks speed humps are a
bad idea.

Perhaps the idiots on your street shouldn't park on junctions as per the
highway code? Where I live this is a very common occurence and it makes
pulling out of junctions safely very difficult.

POHB wrote:
Two cars collided outside my house last night, it was an accident
waiting to happen.
My house is opposite a T-junction, the road is long and straight and
made narrow by parked cars which also mean poor visibility for anyone
pulling out of the junction. Collisions used to be a regular
occurrence, usually boy racers at night pulling too fast out of the
junction, sometimes even colliding with parked cars when they failed
to make the turn.
A few years ago they put speed humps down the road, suddenly the
crashes stopped. More recently they made the whole area a 20MPH zone
too.
Last week they resurfaced the road. This also meant the humps were
removed and the 20MPH markings on the road have gone.
Guess what? Loads of cars are driving far too fast again and the
collisions have returned.
Just thought I'd make the point to anyone who thinks speed humps are a
bad idea.

They are as good an idea as, say, paracetamol is as a defence against
toothache. They may suppress the symptoms of the real problem - but
they will not cure the real problem, and they may even create other
problems.

--
Matt B

POHB wrote:

Two cars collided outside my house last night, it was an accident
waiting to happen.
My house is opposite a T-junction, the road is long and straight and
made narrow by parked cars which also mean poor visibility for anyone
pulling out of the junction. Collisions used to be a regular
occurrence, usually boy racers at night pulling too fast out of the
junction, sometimes even colliding with parked cars when they failed
to make the turn.
A few years ago they put speed humps down the road, suddenly the
crashes stopped. More recently they made the whole area a 20MPH zone
too.
Last week they resurfaced the road. This also meant the humps were
removed and the 20MPH markings on the road have gone.
Guess what? Loads of cars are driving far too fast again and the
collisions have returned.
Just thought I'd make the point to anyone who thinks speed humps are a
bad idea.

they certinaly work in places, have seen areas where they haven't but in
terms of slowing cars down seem to work rather well.

they put some on a road with a school on a hill nr my folks place few
years back. this made the road harder to cross as it wasn't bunched like
before, and the road fumes went sky high, as the lorries etc reved
starting off over the humps etc.

so they aren't a catch all but they can work very well.

roger

"POHB" wrote in message
oups.com...

Two cars collided outside my house last night, it was an accident
waiting to happen.
My house is opposite a T-junction, the road is long and straight and
made narrow by parked cars which also mean poor visibility for anyone
pulling out of the junction. Collisions used to be a regular
occurrence, usually boy racers at night pulling too fast out of the
junction, sometimes even colliding with parked cars when they failed
to make the turn.
A few years ago they put speed humps down the road, suddenly the
crashes stopped. More recently they made the whole area a 20MPH zone
too.
Last week they resurfaced the road. This also meant the humps were
removed and the 20MPH markings on the road have gone.
Guess what? Loads of cars are driving far too fast again and the
collisions have returned.
Just thought I'd make the point to anyone who thinks speed humps are a
bad idea.

Generally cyclists hate humps far more than motorists hate humps as they
affect cylists a lot more so I doubt you will get much sympathy here.

On Mar 28, 8:29 am, "POHB" wrote:

Last week they resurfaced the road. This also meant the humps
were removed and the 20MPH markings on the road have gone.
Guess what? Loads of cars are driving far too fast again and the
collisions have returned.

It illustrates exactly why speed restrictions are necessary. Good
drivers are able to assess the conditions for themselves and drive at
an appropriate speed. Unfortunately most drivers are crap.

--
Dave...

On 28 Mar, 09:00, "Doki" wrote:
Perhaps the idiots on your street shouldn't park on junctions as per the
highway code? Where I live this is a very common occurence and it makes
pulling out of junctions safely very difficult.

Well, they've put double-yellows on the corners to stop folks parking
right on them, and they're well enforced by wardens who come around at
6:00 AM and catch the folks who arrived home late and couldn't find
anywhere else to park.
So it's not that bad, providing everyone keeps to the 20MPH limit.
However, in the overheard conversation between the colliding parties
last night the guy who pulled out reckoned the other guy was doing 40,
while he claimed that he was "only" doing 30.

On 28 Mar, 10:14, "Adrian Boliston" wrote:
Generally cyclists hate humps far more than motorists hate humps as they
affect cylists a lot more so I doubt you will get much sympathy here.

The ones they removed were of the cushion variety, so easy to go
around on a bike. Apart from when trail-gating my daughter who
insists on going over them with much whooping.

"POHB" wrote in message
oups.com...

On 28 Mar, 10:14, "Adrian Boliston" wrote:
Generally cyclists hate humps far more than motorists hate humps as they
affect cylists a lot more so I doubt you will get much sympathy here.

The ones they removed were of the cushion variety, so easy to go
around on a bike....

Till a car coming the other way *also* tries to avoid the hump on their side
by swerving into your path!

"POHB" wrote in message
oups.com...
On 28 Mar, 10:14, "Adrian Boliston" wrote:
Generally cyclists hate humps far more than motorists hate humps as they
affect cylists a lot more so I doubt you will get much sympathy here.

The ones they removed were of the cushion variety, so easy to go
around on a bike. Apart from when trail-gating my daughter who
insists on going over them with much whooping.

Some cars (e.g. 4x4s) can easily straddle cushion type bumps so they have
less of an effect although allowing cylcists to go round them.

The full width bumps get everyone but sometimes there's a gap at the edge
which is good for cyclists (as long as someone hasn't parked on the speed
bump!)

--
peter

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