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In areas where
excessive speed is considered a risk to public safety the local
authority may construct speed humps for the purpose of reducing
traffic speeds.
Speed humps are typically constructed in residential roads and in
areas where there may be a large amount of pedestrian traffic (such
as near school entrances).'The local authority makes provision for
speed road humps to reduce speeds and improve safety of residential
roads.
There is usually opposition from the Police, Fire Brigade,
Ambulance Service and Bus Companies to the use of speed control
humps. The Emergency Services object because humps increase their
attendance times for emergency calls, and thus risk the lives and
property of the people. The Ambulance Service and Bus Companies
object because of the discomfort and possible injury that may be
caused to their passengers and the increased wear and tear on
vehicles, particularly buses going over speed tables every
day.
There are regulations
governing the layout of speed control humps. There must be a form
of "slowing feature" - usually formed by a change of priority
(traffic entering the system has to turn sharp left or right into
the road, or has to "give way". Sometimes mini roundabouts are used
at the start of a system of humps.
The shape of speed
control humps are strictly regulated. They must be between 50mm and
100mm high, at least 2.75m long and extend over the full width of
the road, except for a drainage channel at either end. They may
have either flat tops or round tops. Many local authorities have
adopted the 75mm high hump as a standard. This is because it has
been found to reduce traffic to around 22 mph. The 100 mm high
humps reduce speeds to 17 mph on the hump but speeds rise to 35 mph
between the humps, causing excessive acceleration, braking and
increased pollution. Flat topped humps can be of any length and are
often known as "speed tables". They are sometimes used to reduce
the impact on long wheel base vehicles such as buses.
Speed control humps can
lead to complaints about increased noise and sometimes increased
vibration from traffic. They have however been proved to reduce
traffic speed and they have been installed in many locations.
contact the traffic management
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