8:10am Sunday 29th August 2010
Some months ago a speed restriction of 20mph and a set of humps were placed on the main road through Lamphey village, adjacent to the school.
While I accept the need for some form of traffic slowing by a school, my observations over the last few months suggest that the humps are largely ineffective. The humps are made of plastic with sharp edged corners and do not cover the road width. Any vehicle larger than a small car, particularly vans, buses and lorries, can straddle the humps and not be slowed at all. One hump outside the school can be avoided completely by moving into the school lay-by if it is empty.
If a small vehicle straddles the humps, the sharp corners may cause damage to the inner walls of the tyres, an area not easily seen, and could cause a later blow-out at speed. Looking at the humps, one can see many scratch marks which must mean contact with the under side of vehicles and again possible hidden damage.
Perhaps those responsible for the application of these traffic calming measures would care to explain how they reached their decision. Radar speed detection coupled with a warning indicator would have been far more effective.
On a separate point, I wonder if anyone has done any research into the effect of humps and ripple ridges on roads in general to people who suffer back problems. After a recent injury I found crossing humps even at 10mph jolted my spine and did not aid a quick recovery.
Graham Powell,
Freshwater East Road,
Lamphe
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