Speed bumps - I have let you all down
Discussion
This morning I set off to my council meeting to argue why speedhumps should not be placed on my local road.
Despite having a petition and pointing out loss of trade to local shops, increased pollution, ground bourne vibrations, delays to emergency services bladda bladda blah and also expecting the suppoort of my local councillor,
They gave them the go ahead.
The other councillors backed the scheme and my councillor didn't utter a word - not a peep out of him - his lips never parted.
So, I appologise on behalf of all Cleadon Village residents for our road humps - ones that we do not support at all and would ask that you refrain from sounding your horn when going over them.
I fought a good battle but ultimately lost out to numpties.
On a side note, does anyone know where you can hire JCB's?
Despite having a petition and pointing out loss of trade to local shops, increased pollution, ground bourne vibrations, delays to emergency services bladda bladda blah and also expecting the suppoort of my local councillor,
They gave them the go ahead.
The other councillors backed the scheme and my councillor didn't utter a word - not a peep out of him - his lips never parted.
So, I appologise on behalf of all Cleadon Village residents for our road humps - ones that we do not support at all and would ask that you refrain from sounding your horn when going over them.
I fought a good battle but ultimately lost out to numpties.
On a side note, does anyone know where you can hire JCB's?
Funnily enough I have just been looking at the ABD's information on speed bumps. Shame you didn't have this before you went to the meeting but never say never too late.
MC
MC
I would assume that if you had to drive 2 x daily over several humps for a year your suspension and brakes would suffer sufficient additional wear ( over and above fair wear and tear ) that a suitably qualified engineer would recommend that a great deal of it be replaced at considerable cost. If the local council were put on notice that they could face an annual bill ( backed by legal action ) from a few people they might think twice about implementing this stupidity.
This morning at 07:30 I discovered my parents town had decided to lay 12 or 14 twmpathau (or humps ) on a fairly main road in the town for no apparent reason. And they had not filled the potholes in either. Sorry ---- the 10 horn blares were not directed at those who had opposed this measure and failed.
This morning at 07:30 I discovered my parents town had decided to lay 12 or 14 twmpathau (or humps ) on a fairly main road in the town for no apparent reason. And they had not filled the potholes in either. Sorry ---- the 10 horn blares were not directed at those who had opposed this measure and failed.
I would assume that if you had to drive 2 x daily over several humps for a year your suspension and brakes would suffer sufficient additional wear ( over and above fair wear and tear ) that a suitably qualified engineer would recommend that a great deal of it be replaced at considerable cost. If the local council were put on notice that they could face an annual bill ( backed by legal action ) from a few people they might think twice about implementing this stupidity.
This morning at 07:30 I discovered my parents town had decided to lay 12 or 14 twmpathau (or humps ) on a fairly main road in the town for no apparent reason. And they had not filled the potholes in either. Sorry ---- the 10 horn blares were not directed at those who had opposed this measure and failed.
This morning at 07:30 I discovered my parents town had decided to lay 12 or 14 twmpathau (or humps ) on a fairly main road in the town for no apparent reason. And they had not filled the potholes in either. Sorry ---- the 10 horn blares were not directed at those who had opposed this measure and failed.
Ha. If they'd wanted that they would have sent everyone a copy of the proposal and form to fill in as to whether they agreed or disagreed with the idea. Local councillors are as much up their own reputation and self importance as any other politician and will do what best for you whether you like it or not.
nubbin said: Go back and have another go, Byff - if the majority of village residents oppose the idea, and after all it is your village, then surely they should go with the majority opinion?
Me cynical - nah.
icamm said: Unfortunately in the eyes of the local councils "speed humps save lives" so you have never really got much chance of winning one of these arguments.
Thats basically why we are getting them, as part of the safe routes to school scheme.
My kids go to that school and if I wanted a safe route to school, I'd install a pelican or zebra crossing to assist not only the kids but the community in general. According to my local officer, installing a crossing on a road with no previous accidents will actually cause an accident as the pedestrian will cross the road not paying attention.
So there you have it, if you want to cross the road safely, find a part of the road with road humps - only be careful you don't trip over the bastard things.
i saw on the mark thomas show a couple of years ago that if you get 10 people to attend a local council meeting, and they all stand up and object to a proposal, you can force the council to hold a public ballot. i know at the time that council officers who were spoken too had said that the particular peice of law used in this was being put for review, but don't know what happened in the end.
this would be a good opportunity to have a look and see if this is still in law?
this would be a good opportunity to have a look and see if this is still in law?
Byff
I was at an ABD meeting not so long ago. The concensus amongst the most experienced campaigners was that in most cases the only way you'll get anywhere is by waiting until the scheme has been implemented. Then once it is having a tangible negative impact on all those who thus far have sat back and let you do all the hard work, a lot more support for the removal of the scheme will be forthcoming.
So far you've lost a battle, but the war isn't over. Most people, councillors included, are too knuckleheaded, self-involved and blinded by the speed kills/thinkofthechildren bullshit to consider what the real impact of these schemes will be until it's their front windows that are rattling and their children that suddenly have become asthmatic.
When a previously quiet street becomes a new rat run, when one of their relatives dies on the way to hospital in a seriously hindered ambulance, or one of their houses burns to the ground while fire engines stuggle to get there and one of their cars suffers damage on a bump, people will take more notice and will stand up & be counted.
By keeping in league with the local papers, when these things happen, you can make sure everyone knows about it - then you can start rallying serious support for a campaign to have the things removed.
The tory councillors in our area have campaigned on removal of pinch points and it looks like they've finally won the battle to have the dangerous ones removed from near my house.
Well done in your efforts so far - don't give up when it's just about to get interesting. You will win.
I was at an ABD meeting not so long ago. The concensus amongst the most experienced campaigners was that in most cases the only way you'll get anywhere is by waiting until the scheme has been implemented. Then once it is having a tangible negative impact on all those who thus far have sat back and let you do all the hard work, a lot more support for the removal of the scheme will be forthcoming.
So far you've lost a battle, but the war isn't over. Most people, councillors included, are too knuckleheaded, self-involved and blinded by the speed kills/thinkofthechildren bullshit to consider what the real impact of these schemes will be until it's their front windows that are rattling and their children that suddenly have become asthmatic.
When a previously quiet street becomes a new rat run, when one of their relatives dies on the way to hospital in a seriously hindered ambulance, or one of their houses burns to the ground while fire engines stuggle to get there and one of their cars suffers damage on a bump, people will take more notice and will stand up & be counted.
By keeping in league with the local papers, when these things happen, you can make sure everyone knows about it - then you can start rallying serious support for a campaign to have the things removed.
The tory councillors in our area have campaigned on removal of pinch points and it looks like they've finally won the battle to have the dangerous ones removed from near my house.
Well done in your efforts so far - don't give up when it's just about to get interesting. You will win.
The "speed humps save lives" mentality is difficult to budge. Not because they have a strong argument, but because they are so "black and white" in their thinking. They just think:
"Inconvenience cars / make them go slower..it must be a good idea"... despite evidence to the contrary.
Like, "take handguns away from the registered, we'll all be safer". Gun crime has since soared...surprise surprise, the only ones remaining who have guns are the criminals (I wonder if they handed them in voluntarily in the latest amnesty.) "...More control...must be better..."
The arguments against this frankly low-brow anti-motorist thinking must be made clearly and simply and presented with imperical evidence wherever possible.
I sincerely believe that the anti-motorist thinking is far more simplistic than most of us give credit for...they will continue their stance in the absence of evidence to support it and probably even with strong evidence against. Dogmatic / thicko / pig-headed / controlling etc etc.
An additional thought; the present government seem to be using the "fight" against terr0r1sm as a great excuse to impose more controls and checks on the already over-taxed / over-controlled. Those already outside the system? Of course, they'll continue as before.
"Inconvenience cars / make them go slower..it must be a good idea"... despite evidence to the contrary.
Like, "take handguns away from the registered, we'll all be safer". Gun crime has since soared...surprise surprise, the only ones remaining who have guns are the criminals (I wonder if they handed them in voluntarily in the latest amnesty.) "...More control...must be better..."
The arguments against this frankly low-brow anti-motorist thinking must be made clearly and simply and presented with imperical evidence wherever possible.
I sincerely believe that the anti-motorist thinking is far more simplistic than most of us give credit for...they will continue their stance in the absence of evidence to support it and probably even with strong evidence against. Dogmatic / thicko / pig-headed / controlling etc etc.
An additional thought; the present government seem to be using the "fight" against terr0r1sm as a great excuse to impose more controls and checks on the already over-taxed / over-controlled. Those already outside the system? Of course, they'll continue as before.
I've been abit negative in my earlier posts but as Carzee said "Keep trying". It is almost impossible to stop these things being installed BUT you can keep fighting to get them removed.
Maybe set yourself up as a contact point for anyone who has had their car damaged by these (steering, ball joints etc as well as exhausts and) or ambulance problems. Or atleast make sure you can get copies of any letters to the papers and/or council.
The more complaints about the cost and inconvenience of these things the better.
Oh, and once you have won write to each councillor about how much money was wasted installing this scheme AND then removing it. Plus the costs to the ordinary person who had to get their car fixed etc. It may help to stop them putting future ones in.
Maybe set yourself up as a contact point for anyone who has had their car damaged by these (steering, ball joints etc as well as exhausts and) or ambulance problems. Or atleast make sure you can get copies of any letters to the papers and/or council.
The more complaints about the cost and inconvenience of these things the better.
Oh, and once you have won write to each councillor about how much money was wasted installing this scheme AND then removing it. Plus the costs to the ordinary person who had to get their car fixed etc. It may help to stop them putting future ones in.
icamm said: Maybe set yourself up as a contact point for anyone who has had their car damaged by these (steering, ball joints etc as well as exhausts and) or ambulance problems.
They've just put in some particually nasty ones near me. Which have had the intended result. I now drive a different way home at greater expense to myself (but more tax for the government) and greater CO2 emissions for the environment.
And from the noises from the front-left corner I think the strut mounts and ball joints are shot.
And being Super-Strut suspension (bloody Toyota) it'll be seriously expensive to fix....
I put that bit in because a friend of mine had to have new ball joints on a 3 year old "festa" which we are convinced was due to the speed humps near his house.
Mr E said:
icamm said: Maybe set yourself up as a contact point for anyone who has had their car damaged by these (steering, ball joints etc as well as exhausts and) or ambulance problems.
They've just put in some particually nasty ones near me. Which have had the intended result. I now drive a different way home at greater expense to myself (but more tax for the government) and greater CO2 emissions for the environment.
And from the noises from the front-left corner I think the strut mounts and ball joints are shot.
And being Super-Strut suspension (bloody Toyota) it'll be seriously expensive to fix....
Thank you for your posts - most uplifting. A little bit of humour from deltaf, a word of encouragement from carzee and options for the way to proceed in my battle from icamm.
Becoming a contact point for people who are opposed to this scheme or suffered damage to cars so we can shout with one voice rather than wisper individually is my first objective.
Looks like a phone call to the newspaper is required and maybe this is my excuse to finally build a website. Never really had anything worth building a one for until now, but looks like I'm going to have to open that dreamweaver icon on the desktop and see what happens.
Becoming a contact point for people who are opposed to this scheme or suffered damage to cars so we can shout with one voice rather than wisper individually is my first objective.
Looks like a phone call to the newspaper is required and maybe this is my excuse to finally build a website. Never really had anything worth building a one for until now, but looks like I'm going to have to open that dreamweaver icon on the desktop and see what happens.
I've just found out that there is a fight against ones put in around here (Pack Lane - for those in the area). I am going to get details of the organiser because I understand there is a petition and the council are now wriggling by putting in some sort or speed measurement device to "prove" how well it has worked.
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