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traffic calming rant
markyb - 11/6/09 at 03:23 PM

have just got a letter through my door to tell me that they are planning on putting ramps near to my house - basically when I leave my street and turn left I will have to go over 4 of ther sods and if I turn right there will be 5 of the (not so) little buggers - as I live in a cul de sac I will have no option but to go one of these 2 routes

looking at the plans they will be 3 different heights of 30mm, 50mm and 75mm - with a tolerance of +-6mm and my car only being 100mm approx at the front I am starting to panic

got a feeling that I will be putting in an objection or 2

rant over


jacko - 11/6/09 at 03:28 PM

Time to buy a 4x4


bilbo - 11/6/09 at 03:36 PM

Ramps really get on my nerves
I thought they were going out of fashion though?

I used to live on a cul-de-sac where the only way in was down a one-way street full of ramps. We had no end of suspension problems on both mine and my wife's cars

[Edited on 11/6/09 by bilbo]


markyb - 11/6/09 at 03:37 PM

quote:
Originally posted by jacko
Time to buy a 4x4


I could just buy a bulldozer and forget to lift the scoop one day


BenB - 11/6/09 at 03:38 PM

You should try driving round my neck of the woods. Can't avoid the little buggers. One of these days I'm going to take a tape measure with me on a blat and check their heights. Some of them are like "speed mountains"!!! There's one at the end of my road near a T-junction so you're breaking (ie nose dipping down) and it's at the bottom of a hill just as it flattens off so you're bound to scrape the nose of the car because the back's about 10cm higher than the front.... Grrrrrrrrr.


bilbo - 11/6/09 at 03:40 PM

quote:
Originally posted by markyb
quote:
Originally posted by jacko
Time to buy a 4x4


I could just buy a bulldozer and forget to lift the scoop one day


Didn't someone get done once for digging up speed ramps on their road?

Here we are: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/3157822.stm

[Edited on 11/6/09 by bilbo]


Fozzie - 11/6/09 at 03:42 PM

I have that same problem....

The Fozzmobile can only be used in one direction....and that is NOT the way I want to go..and takes me miles out of my way, on the busiest snarled up road thinkable..

I asked the local council for the accident stats on the traffic controlled routes, the put me on to Surrey County Council....who put me on to the local council, who put me on to Surrey county Council, who put me on to the local council.......yep you got it, I didn't get the info, and no one was saying whose idea it was.......

Most of our 'humps/speed cushions are not uniform, and much higher than the regs state.....

Good luck, at least they let you know!

Fozzie


phoenix70 - 11/6/09 at 03:46 PM

They have changed the village I live in to a 20 zone and put dozen of speed bumps all over the place. I like watching my rear view mirror at the drivers behind me fuming when I slow to a near stop to get over them without grounding the car. I also love flooring it at the edge of the village and leaving them in my dust... I'm sure that really annoys them too.

L8R

Scott


whitestu - 11/6/09 at 03:50 PM

There are loads of fairly big ones where I live and they don't seem to be a problem for the Indy, although I'm not sure I'd like to see how much clearance there is when I'm going over them!

Stu


ReMan - 11/6/09 at 03:52 PM

I hade exactly the same issue on my roiad.
I was written to and asked for my opinion with the usual spin that it will prevent speeding.
I gave them my opinion and then some. I also made them aware that (god forbid that someone is injured by a speeding car now) in my opinion that the road suffered no more than anywhere else from speeding.

I may have well as saved the ink as they wrote back to tell me that for the better good it was being done anyway.

We now have pairs of "cushions down the road, which a car fits nicely between them in the middle of he (bendy ) road.

I'm waiting for someone to have a head on collision as two cars both use the centre of the road now and the speed is not reduced
W*nkers the lot of them


clairetoo - 11/6/09 at 04:25 PM

Damn things are springing up all over the place - never mind the so-called safety rubbish , what the about the environmental damage they cause with all the traffic slowing down and accelerating every few hundred yards
Then theres the cost to all of us in damaged suspension (last three cars I've owned have all needed broken springs replacing)
And one thing I have to know - they are supposed to slow you down - which you have to do to get over them - but why does the `down` side have to be such a massive step (since you have allready slowed down....)
There are a bunch of these `table` type ones around here , and the up is managable at 20 mph , but I have to nearly stop to avoid the huge drop at the other end


gottabedone - 11/6/09 at 04:45 PM

When I had the GTM the council in Bristol put speed bumps in and I had to drive out of my way to avoid them as I couldn't get over them without grounding.
The small ones were fine but it was the full width ones that caused the problems - thanksfully the engine was behind the seats so I didn't have to worry about exhaust.

Steve


clairetoo - 11/6/09 at 05:25 PM

quote:
Originally posted by ReMan

I was written to and asked for my opinion with the usual spin that it will prevent speeding.


Did you point out that it will allso prevent ambulance's , police and fire engines from getting to emergencies in a reasonable time ?
Thet put one in the entrance to our new factory in Bude - first time a fire engine was needed , it smashed a tap off the back going over and arrived at the building with no water in !
The firemen werent happy and I believe a bill for the damage had to be payed........the `hump` mysteriously shrank not long after


cadebytiger - 11/6/09 at 05:27 PM

75mm!!!!!!


Humbug - 11/6/09 at 05:29 PM

Take a pair of ramps with you and a long telescopic arm. Then when you are approaching the speed bump you can put the ramps in place to make a gentler gradient. When you're off the other side, lean backwards and pick them up again.

(sounds like a Viz Top Tip!)


balidey - 11/6/09 at 05:49 PM

lots of residents have complained about the noise, and some people have succesfully had them removed, so its worth doing some research and submitting that as evidence to not put them down.


r1_pete - 11/6/09 at 05:56 PM

Anyone know what the regulation is for max height? I'm sure many round here are too high....


David Jenkins - 11/6/09 at 06:51 PM

They were installed on the A137 nr Manningtree in Suffolk, together with some other speed-reducing novelties - and one month later they were all removed due to complaints from the poor people who had to live alongside them. Cars screeching to a halt, revving up then accelerating, engine fumes and traffic queues, and so on.

Being 'featured' on BBC's Look East local news helped a bit too!


nitram38 - 11/6/09 at 08:00 PM

I believe the max height is 100mm.
There are loads in London over that size.


markyb - 11/6/09 at 08:07 PM

quote:
Originally posted by nitram38
I believe the max height is 100mm.
There are loads in London over that size.


my car is only 100mm at the front !!!!!!!!


Mark Allanson - 11/6/09 at 08:09 PM

quote:
Originally posted by nitram38
I believe the max height is 100mm.
There are loads in London over that size.


I had heard that too, and a minimum length of 900mm.

If anyone has a link to a govt site which confirms this, we can print it up and shove it up the local councilors coal scuttle!


Fozzie - 11/6/09 at 08:20 PM

LinkySpeed hump linky

Fozzie


carpmart - 12/6/09 at 09:24 AM

I had an idea of a protest drivers should make to these mountains in the roads. Just hoot your horn as you go over one. After all, aren't our horns there to indicate hazards!

I am pretty certain ever motorist hooting as they go over speed bumps would make them a less attractive proposition.


Ninehigh - 13/6/09 at 07:24 PM

As would the bill for your knackered suspension every few weeks

I sent the council an invoice for the monthly wheel alignment I had to get done "because of their speed bumps, as the guys at Kwik Fit keep telling me" never got one paid but it must wind them up when I'm sending a new one every month!

I've noticed some deep scrapes on a few of them too, like it's been done by a low exhaust or an angry grinder...