Speed cushions causing problems, watch out around them.

[Linford]

We have a rash of these where I live, and are now becoming a real hazard.
The road is breaking up around many of them, and in a few instances where the vehicles have straddled them, there are now large deep potholes in the tyre tracks...usually just before one where they have jumped on the brakes.
the big ones have only popped up in the last few weeks, but will have anyone on 2 wheels off in the blink of an eye. They aren't that easy to spot in the dark either...

 

[albion]

Exact same up north. Swinging round them you have to look very careful.
The holes are all in the logical path most cyclists would take.

 

[Doc333]

In cases like this I think it would be wise for this site to use its clout. By this I mean that the site owner/administrator should appeal to any of its membership who are lawyers or specialists and ask them to compose a template letter that any member could use. We could then add/amend the template by filling in the details about the potential hazard etc, and any photographic evidence and put in the post by registered delivery.

Just a thought?

 

[Linford]

I will try and get some pics of the ones around my area later.

 

[DCLane]

In cases like this I think it would be wise for this site to use its clout. By this I mean that the site owner/administrator should appeal to any of its membership who are lawyers or specialists and ask them to compose a template letter that any member could use. We could then add/amend the template by filling in the details about the potential hazard etc, and any photographic evidence and put in the post by registered delivery.

Just a thought?

http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/ - it already exists and communicates directly to councils.

 

[Doc333]

http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/ - it already exists and communicates directly to councils.

Nice one DC, good old Yorkshiremen

 

[cd365]

I always think that fillthathole.org.UK sounds like a porn website!

 

[ufkacbln]

... just think if the morons had actually driven at a sensible speed in the first place, there wouldn't have been any humps and there wouldn't be a problem

 

[Linford]

... just think if the morons had actually driven at a sensible speed in the first place, there wouldn't have been any humps and there wouldn't be a problem

They were put there for a school which stopped being a school about 4 years ago, and was knocked down shortly afterwards. Now the school has gone, these cushions damage vehicles at speeds well below the posted limit, have been a danger to motorcyclists since they went in, and are now a significant risk to cyclists in the dark. Before they went in, there was a chicane in the road, with raised a kerb...it was poorly lit, and someone hit it in the dark on a motorbike and lost their life.
So that is 1 death caused by 'traffic calming', and 0 deaths caused by the traffic itself.....They ought to come and scrape the things off the road now the school has gone!

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

... just think if the morons had actually driven at a sensible speed in the first place, there wouldn't have been any humps and there wouldn't be a problem

True, and it's true for all those pinch points that are supposed to calm traffic. And the overkill with traffic lights. When the lights go out of action, many of those junctions work very effectively and jams disappear (not all, but many). Drivers are jolted out of the curious queue-dash way of getting from A to B and, jolted out of their habitual ways, even have to look around. Heck, they even have to slow down!

 

[oldfatfool]

[QUOTE 2864757, member: 45"]Anyone who can't manage speed humps without damaging their car/the road surface is an idiot. An idiot. It results in us having to sort out the problem.
![/quote]

Really?? even when the height of the hump is greater than the clearance from the sump? Or indeed the sills?

 

[User33236]

http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/ - it already exists and communicates directly to councils.

Cheers for that. Used to report the new pothole I hit hard on my way home tonight.

 

[oldfatfool]

[QUOTE 2864806, member: 45"]I wouldn't know. I've never been daft enough to buy a car which I know I'm going to use in urban areas which is too low to clear speed humps. There aren't many.[/quote]
Yes there are, I have caught the sump crawling over one in a bleeding Fabia ffs, not to mention scraping the chin spoiler on the Octy! The MX-5 was a mare as well. Speed humps do not only appear in urban areas, they are in just about every city, town, village and rural track. Not to mention my bloody local golf club

 

[Linford]

[QUOTE 2864757, member: 45"]Anyone who can't manage speed humps without damaging their car/the road surface is an idiot. An idiot. It results in us having to sort out the problem.

And the way to sort out the problem is very easy indeed. Your local authority will have a reporting form on their website, or there is fillthathole. Report it to them. If give the depth of the hole and state that it's a danger to life (which it will be if you're not just exaggerating and the depth is sufficient) they have a duty to inspect in a very short timescale. I've noticed road faults on the ride into work, reported them and found them repaired on the ride home.

Next![/quote]

So what happens when someone on 2 wheels comes a cropper because of the way they are designed, or that the vehicles passing over them put a huge amount of wear and tear on both them, and the roads directly around them (as well as the vehicle itself unless done at walking pace). That is the cars fault as well ?

The reason why they put speed cushions in is because these roads are used as bus routes and it is apparently less stressful for bus drivers to go over these than full width humps. The down side is that these heavy vehicles do a lot more damage to the road surface due to the high loading from the axle weights in comparison to cars.

I am noticing the damage around them as a cyclist as a significant risk, but they have been a site of increased risk for years for bikers as the sloping sides deflect the wider motorbike tyres and want to send the bike in to the kerb, or the oncoming traffic. The choice for bikers now is to risk the deflection of the sloping sides, or the potholes on either side of the cushion....Hobsons Choice!

 

[classic33]

Nice one DC, good old Yorkshiremen

Whats thee after?