Legality of Speed Bumps

[potatoboy666]

What are the legal requirements of speed bumps?

Am I right in thinking they can be no taller than 10cm (~4 inches)? What about the angle of the bump?

What can I do if I find one to be in breach of this law? What would be the likely outcome?

Could I claim any damages to a car if it was seen to be cause by an oversized speedbump? (Just out of interest, nothings broken yet)

Where I live there is no way out without speedbumps. Bloody bums.

[TheCarpetCleaner]

I think I read somewhere that if you cannot go over the speed bumps at the speed limit set for the road and it damaged your car, then you may have a claim.

Probably wrong though - will wait for DVD or someone to correct me

[andy_quantum]

TheCarpetCleaner said:

I think I read somewhere that if you cannot go over the speed bumps at the speed limit set for the road and it damaged your car, then you may have a claim.

Probably wrong though - will wait for DVD or someone to correct me

I'd say thats madness, why have them if they're not going to slow you down?

The local ones here were just ripped up and replaced with a more gradual raise, at the request of the bus company mainly

[TheCarpetCleaner]

andy_quantum said:

TheCarpetCleaner said:

I think I read somewhere that if you cannot go over the speed bumps at the speed limit set for the road and it damaged your car, then you may have a claim.

Probably wrong though - will wait for DVD or someone to correct me

I'd say thats madness, why have them if they're not going to slow you down?

The local ones here were just ripped up and replaced with a more gradual raise, at the request of the bus company mainly

You are probably right

Where I grew up, a small village near Wokingham, the council spent thousands putting in loads of speed humps down loads of the local roads. They were really leathal things that were then deemed to be too steep, so the council spent another several thousand getting them all rectified

So glad to be paying council tax to these fkwits

There were complaints from the ambulance services as you could not get to several of the housing estates without going over the humps, and if they had to get someone with a serious back injury then it would cause major problems...

[Brother Mycroft]

100mm max height.

Ramps have to be 10x as long as the height so 1 metre long.

Almost none are up to this standard, let alone the recommendations that now state 75mm as the max height.

If you want to be bloody minded [as I have been] you can get them removed, you can [as I have] had a contribution for damage caused by incorrect design.

This is really down to how fed up you are.

I surveyed [Dumpy level] my local bumps and to stay on my side of the road [brow of a hill, so 'recommended'] I had to 'go over a bump that on the gutter side was 120mm. in one direction or if I took a 1 mile detour I had to go over one that 115mm if any cars were parked on the side of the road, there would be all the time.

Result, new humps to 75mm, a cheque that covered the cost of my new valance, radiator and intercoolers. [£2860, in return I could not disclose details... so no council names but the instance and details are correct]

[Zeeky]

Regs are here

Not sure what the ramp angles need to be. If they don't comply with the regs then you can ask for them to be moved or put right. If the damage caused is down to the non-compliance with the regs then you can most likely claim compensation. Otherwise probably not.

[mark69sheer]

There are some speed bumps in Harrogate that give my Leon Cupra a hard time. I'm sure at least one is over 100mm

However here is the irony.

In my car I had to slow down for them . .
In a rented Transit van I could just drive over them unabated.

So presumably cars are dangerous at 15mph (The speed you have to slow to go over the bumps) . . but Transit vans , 4 x 4's , buses , wagons etc are fine to carry on at 30mph?

Really silly

I have a bad back and I have heard of many people in Harrogate visiting their doctors and the doctors are pointing their fingers at the speed bumps.

[tvrgit]

andy_quantum said:

TheCarpetCleaner said:

I think I read somewhere that if you cannot go over the speed bumps at the speed limit set for the road and it damaged your car, then you may have a claim.

Probably wrong though - will wait for DVD or someone to correct me

I'd say thats madness, why have them if they're not going to slow you down?

The local ones here were just ripped up and replaced with a more gradual raise, at the request of the bus company mainly

The point of speed bumps was supposed to be that you had to slow TO the speed limit, no faster.

If you are driving at the max permitted speed then you should be able to negotiate the bump at that speed without damage, in a normal road vehicle.

(Not many comply with that requirement - I would say claim for any damage if you were below the posted limit.)

Obviously, low sports cars etc might not be able to cross them as fast.

Also - if, as another poster says, every route to your home has bumps and you cannot get your car in and out without damage, write to the Council - they cannot deny you access to your home, and should replace the "obstruction".

[Silent1]

What if the speed bumps are on private property? At work they've just rebuilt some speedbumps that are about 2 bricks high, by 2 brick widths long with a 75 degrees incline.

It's stupid, no car can get over it without serious risk to the underside

[bigdods]

Speed bumps round here work, I travel an extra 2 miles to avoid them every day by driving right around town to get to my house. Since having bush problems on 2 of my 3 cars (MOT centre tell me they've had lots of bush failures since the bumps appeared) I make a point of coming to a halt before any speed bump (well mostly anyway) then going over at around 5mph. Mostly pillows around here not full width humps so have to move to the centre of the road so one wheel goes between the humps and one wheel over the centre of the pillow. This as recommended by my mechanic as going over with the pillow between the wheels pushes them out at an odd angle and (so he tells me) most likely contributes to the failure of bushes and suspension parts.

Main reason I now avoid them is I've had some very close calls when slowing to go over them most people dont slow down and then panic brake when I do.

[Roy the Boy]

Silent1 said:

What if the speed bumps are on private property? At work they've just rebuilt some speedbumps that are about 2 bricks high, by 2 brick widths long with a 75 degrees incline.

It's stupid, no car can get over it without serious risk to the underside

I'd be interested on an answer to that one as one of the schools I regularly visit has just installed similarly dimensioned humps. It's not the height that is the problem. but the width (about 30cm) and the inlcine (they are basically almost semi circular). No matter how slow I go over them my exhaust/chassis always hits.

[streaky]

potatoboy666 said:

Where I live there is no way out without speedbumps. Bloody bums.

You should take them at a slower pace if they're having that effect - Streaky

[potatoboy666]

streaky said:

potatoboy666 said:

Where I live there is no way out without speedbumps. Bloody bums.

You should take them at a slower pace if they're having that effect - Streaky

Well I'm sometimes forced to go over them at around 5mph, but my arse still hurts!

The problem is my suspension is pretty knackered (soon to be replaced) and if I opted for a better type of suspension, my insurance premium would suffer. Would it be possible to claim some of the expenses from the council, or is that extremely hopeful?

Even when new, the minis suspension wasn't design to cope with these things.

Not really fair that smaller cars should have the worse deal on the road.

[JP_Midget]

Roy the Boy said:

Silent1 said:

What if the speed bumps are on private property? At work they've just rebuilt some speedbumps that are about 2 bricks high, by 2 brick widths long with a 75 degrees incline.

It's stupid, no car can get over it without serious risk to the underside

I'd be interested on an answer to that one as one of the schools I regularly visit has just installed similarly dimensioned humps. It's not the height that is the problem. but the width (about 30cm) and the inlcine (they are basically almost semi circular). No matter how slow I go over them my exhaust/chassis always hits.

I'm interested too, as the local college where I play football have some that are a bit harsh, but are also at arond 30 degrees across the road and are terrible for my steering and suspension no matter how slowly I negotiate them.

[Brother Mycroft]

If any speed bumps are on any private road that 'invites' entry [supermarkets/colleges/retail parks] then the bumps must be part of the 'formation' of the road [ie not like scatter cushions laid on the existing surface] if they are of the 'scatter cushion' type then the owner of the land is liable if the bumps exceed the guidelines.