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PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 18:20 
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Often submerged by floods, deeply scored by exhausts, and regularly glistening with sump oil, the hump on the village's Tower View Road has been voted top in a nationwide poll to find the worst example of traffic calming.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/transport/Sto ... 26,00.html

I wish we didn't need speed humps, but I fully concede that if they removed them from my road some people would just go as fast as they possibly could down it.


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PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 20:27 
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Are you sure?
We have humps, and some motorists go hell for leather between them to "make up for lost time"!

Owners of company cars, or youths in Nova's and Saxo's dont care about possible suspension damage, and see the obstacles as a challenge!

The people who WOULD go fast if they were removed are the same ones who already go fast - it's just the rest of us, and the elderly and infirm who have to suffer because of councillors who dont research the subject thoroughly!

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PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 20:53 
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Funnily enough, or not - as the case may be - Mrs M & I have talked many times about the speed problem on the residential road we live adjacent to (30 limit, btw).

Now, most drivers (Mrs M & I included) consider 30 as the absolute maximum given potential hazards and available forward vision. There are one or two "barryboys" who drive along it at tw@ttish speeds, but the main culprits for wholly inappropriate speed? Buses.

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PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 02:57 
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weepej wrote:
Often submerged by floods, deeply scored by exhausts, and regularly glistening with sump oil, the hump on the village's Tower View Road has been voted top in a nationwide poll to find the worst example of traffic calming.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/transport/Sto ... 26,00.html

I wish we didn't need speed humps, but I fully concede that if they removed them from my road some people would just go as fast as they possibly could down it.


In our area, they still do. The only people who slow down are ambulance drivers, as they can't risk shaking up their patients.

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PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 10:36 
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What is the point in a 'traffic calming' device that cannot be safely traversed at the speed limit for the load?


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PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 16:49 
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RobinXe wrote:
What is the point in a 'traffic calming' device that cannot be safely traversed at the speed limit for the load?

Come to Windermere, and I'll show you a set of humps which are a lot more comfortable to drive over at 30mph than 10mph

The limit IS 30mph - they never bothered to reduce it!
All the Citroens I have driven LOVE bumps at high speed - other than the square edged ones which chop your tyre against the rim - not very safe eh?

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PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 20:09 
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If humps really worked as advertised, and people really would go as fast as they could without them, then on roads with cushions you'd see white vans (which aren't affected by cushions) regularly going far faster than cars. Doesn't happen IME.

They're just another anti-car measure, with the added bonus that they damage vehicles.

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PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 23:37 
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weepej said

[/quote]I wish we didn't need speed humps, but I fully concede that if they removed them from my road some people would just go as fast as they possibly could down it.
Quote:


and some would still go slow down it with or without humps, driving safely for the road and environment.


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PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 23:40 
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weepej said

Quote:
I wish we didn't need speed humps, but I fully concede that if they removed them from my road some people would just go as fast as they possibly could down it.


and some would still go slow down it with or without humps, driving safely for the road and environment.


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 19:03 
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Ernest Marsh wrote:
All the Citroens I have driven LOVE bumps at high speed

I concur completely, you don't even know they exist round here in the wifes Xantia if you are moving at 40mph or more.

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PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 19:36 
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Thatsnews wrote:
In our area, they still do. The only people who slow down are ambulance drivers, as they can't risk shaking up their patients.


What about bollards? Near my place, they have some stout concrete bollards with steel reinforcement rods embedded deep in the earth. They set them so close that careful driving is almost guaranteed, yet they are so sturdy that they remain virtually maintenance free.

They've also got some stout wooden ones too, but they keep getting snapped off at the base, which costs a lot to mend. You do see bits of plastic around them, proving that they do get "used", so to speak. There's also a monstrously high kerb there, about 20 inches. The idea is to deflect "pavement surfers" away from the shops. The thing is all black and scuffed from "use". All that's in addition to several chicanes and road humps, of course.


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 21:32 
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Valle Crucis wrote:
Thatsnews wrote:
In our area, they still do. The only people who slow down are ambulance drivers, as they can't risk shaking up their patients.


What about bollards? Near my place, they have some stout concrete bollards with steel reinforcement rods embedded deep in the earth. They set them so close that careful driving is almost guaranteed, yet they are so sturdy that they remain virtually maintenance free.

They've also got some stout wooden ones too, but they keep getting snapped off at the base, which costs a lot to mend. You do see bits of plastic around them, proving that they do get "used", so to speak. There's also a monstrously high kerb there, about 20 inches. The idea is to deflect "pavement surfers" away from the shops. The thing is all black and scuffed from "use". All that's in addition to several chicanes and road humps, of course.


All this damage does that not mean they are not doing the job they where put there for?

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PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 23:49 
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eyeopener wrote:
and some would still go slow down it with or without humps, driving safely for the road and environment.


Some, yes (including me), I'm not concerned about them though.


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 23:51 
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RobinXe wrote:
What is the point in a 'traffic calming' device that cannot be safely traversed at the speed limit for the load?


If you hit any of the humps on my road at 30 you'll lose the bottom of your engine.

But then if you're going 30 down my road you deserve to.


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 00:19 
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weepej wrote:
But then if you're going 30 down my road you deserve to.


Hmm, is this not quite close to the rusty spike on the steering wheel concept: If you get something wrong you deserve anything you get? Reminds me somewhat of the debate over the Manchester rising tank-traps.

I'm sure your road is the exception, but I see many, many humps in 30s where it is often safe to do that speed or even greater, but yet the humps cannot be safely and comfortably negotiated much above a walking pace!

While we're on the topic, a pet hate of mine are those 'speed cushions'. They discriminate against those with low or narrow cars (eco-friendly Smart cars included, not just sports cars) whilst most vehicles can pass astride them with no indication they are even there! All too often they are also ill-placed, and can force opposing lanes of traffic closer to one another, hardly a safety measure!


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 02:12 
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weepej wrote:
RobinXe wrote:
What is the point in a 'traffic calming' device that cannot be safely traversed at the speed limit for the load?


If you hit any of the humps on my road at 30 you'll lose the bottom of your engine.

But then if you're going 30 down my road you deserve to.

What's the speed limit on this road? I'd be interested to find out out if a driver would have a claim against the LA if they were to damage their engine on an obstacle deliberately placed in a road, but within the speed limit...

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 07:16 
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BottyBurp wrote:
weepej wrote:
RobinXe wrote:
What is the point in a 'traffic calming' device that cannot be safely traversed at the speed limit for the load?


If you hit any of the humps on my road at 30 you'll lose the bottom of your engine.

But then if you're going 30 down my road you deserve to.

What's the speed limit on this road? I'd be interested to find out out if a driver would have a claim against the LA if they were to damage their engine on an obstacle deliberately placed in a road, but within the speed limit...


Its 30, but if you did 30 down it you would be way above the appropriate speed what with the two lines of cars down it and that there's just enough room for one car to go down the middle.


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 08:16 
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weepej wrote:
BottyBurp wrote:
weepej wrote:
RobinXe wrote:
What is the point in a 'traffic calming' device that cannot be safely traversed at the speed limit for the load?


If you hit any of the humps on my road at 30 you'll lose the bottom of your engine.

But then if you're going 30 down my road you deserve to.

What's the speed limit on this road? I'd be interested to find out out if a driver would have a claim against the LA if they were to damage their engine on an obstacle deliberately placed in a road, but within the speed limit...


Its 30, but if you did 30 down it you would be way above the appropriate speed what with the two lines of cars down it and that there's just enough room for one car to go down the middle.

So, according to weepej, the maximum appropriate speed can vary between the speed limit and way below the speed limit, but it never goes even fractionally above the speed limit. What an incredible coincidence that the number on the sign can be so prophetic.

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 14:19 
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I believe they reduce the quality of life for those they are supposed to protect. The noise of cars with Barry exhausts darting between them, the buses who have to slow down to a walking pace to avoiding boucing old ladies out of the seat, the swerving to position vehicles in the middle etc etc.

If an area truely deserves traffic to be calmed I would much prefer the blending of streets to create shared space.

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PostPosted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 10:40 
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ree.t wrote:
Valle Crucis wrote:
Thatsnews wrote:
In our area, they still do. The only people who slow down are ambulance drivers, as they can't risk shaking up their patients.


What about bollards? Near my place, they have some stout concrete bollards with steel reinforcement rods embedded deep in the earth. They set them so close that careful driving is almost guaranteed, yet they are so sturdy that they remain virtually maintenance free.

They've also got some stout wooden ones too, but they keep getting snapped off at the base, which costs a lot to mend. You do see bits of plastic around them, proving that they do get "used", so to speak. There's also a monstrously high kerb there, about 20 inches. The idea is to deflect "pavement surfers" away from the shops. The thing is all black and scuffed from "use". All that's in addition to several chicanes and road humps, of course.


All this damage does that not mean they are not doing the job they where put there for?


The sturdy iron bollards have calmed everyone down. And even the wooden ones are are a strong deterrent. Even so, you get the odd one or two who smashes his car into one, and damages the bollard. But yes, they work like a treat, apart from that.


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