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Bumps vs cameras
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baggydave


Posts: 390
Joined: May 2004
Post: #1
26-01-2008 12:23 AM

A big thank you to all my readers for both upping the standard of debate and moving back into the good old days of people power (class war, Foxtons etc). Ah a tear in my eye.

And a rarity these days BD posting on the grown-up site.

Not such a risque subject though. For some pathetic reason I actually caught the train into town today. Not being prepared for this I had to make do with reading the Metro on the way there, and one of those dreadful think and rather pointless freebies (forgot to take my Brain Clough, dirty evil Leeds book with me).

There was an article stating that for environmental reasons speed cameras are better than speed bumps as speed is more constant (ie 50mph, then 35mph, then 50mph, as opposed to 40, 15, 40, 15). Round the posh estate they have speed bumps from hell, yet elsewhere in SE23 they are more like pimples.

So is it good we have traffic calming (surely as grown up adults we can choose to drive at a safe speed, whilst hands on the mobile phone) and if so how best achieved.

Maybe I am becoming less reactionary in my old age.

A second question is should I be bothered to report the British Gas van driving at 50mph over the speed mountains on Westwood Park today? Too late as I didn't make a note of the registration anyway.

BD - keeping up appearances

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davidl


Posts: 180
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #2
26-01-2008 08:52 AM

Personally I would far rather have police people with mobile speed camera things than bumps or fixed speed cameras.

Bumps seem to come in two varieties - the ones which are so steep that unless you slow down to 5mph it seems your shock absorbers are going to come flying through the bonnet (a German car manufacturer now sells special "London" shocks since their normal ones don't last very long in our fair metropolis), and the ones (like Honor Oak Road) which are pointless because anything larger than a Reliant Robin can fly over them with no disruption provided they line themselves up correctly (which sometimes means traffic from opposing directions being right in the middle of the road - I don't understand why they are designed this way myself but I am sure there's a method in their madness).

Fixed speed cameras (like the ones on Peckham Rye) often mean that lots of cars travel at 45/50mph until they get to the camera zone, then they slam on their brakes, slow down to 25mph for about 50 yards and then speed up again. I think this is the pattern of unsafe speed staggering you're talking about above and I really don't think they work when they're on routes which the same people travel frequently and so know where the cameras are and when they can speed, and when they can't.

Never ceases to amaze me when I am driving and travelling at the speed limit how many people feel the need to overtake me.

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michael


Posts: 3,255
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #3
26-01-2008 09:40 AM

I hate police cameras as I have been caught by them twice. The first time I thought there was a man with a gun standing in the middle of the road and the second I thought somebody was going to drop a rock from a motorway bridge, in both cases my natural reaction was to speed up to minimise the danger. Each time I ended up with three points on my license. At least with speed cameras and speed bumps you do not feel that your life is being put in danger.

With fixed speed cameras you know where they are, especially if you have sat nav. Since these are meant to be in accident blackspots they act as a warning of a potentially dangerous area and an area where particular care is needed (especially since many drivers brake to late to reduce speed).

I do worry about the damage the humps do to the underside of my car. When I am driving at the recommended speed I regularly hear clunking noises as I go over. It would be nice if Lewisham roads were suitable for driving cars down (this is not a problem that I find happens so much in other London boroughs).

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steveb


Posts: 113
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #4
26-01-2008 05:20 PM

michael wrote:
I do worry about the damage the humps do to the underside of my car. When I am driving at the recommended speed I regularly hear clunking noises as I go over.


Agree about the damage that humps do even though you drive within the speed limit. I'd prefer more cameras, which are effective.

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Snazy


Posts: 1,516
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #5
27-01-2008 01:03 AM

Simple answer... ANPR and SPECS in town.
If they were serious about speed it would happen.

Im not supporting it by the way, but see dangers in all the current methods.
Cushions cause people to swere down the road. After they were introduced on Church Rise, people now zig zag down the road.
The proper humps on Sunderland are so badly built that they can be heard ripping peoples cars apart where the road has dropped from beneath the hump.

Camera's as stated cause people to reaction brake and slow for a 30 metre period then speed back up.

Cameras = revenue generators (to a degree)
Humps/Cushions = an end of year spend to keep next years budget high.

Neither are an effective method.

SPECS and ANPR = constant speed monitoring, reduced average speeds. At the end of the day, speed, get caught, pay the price. Smile

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grahamw


Posts: 58
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #6
29-01-2008 12:56 PM

There are also other ways of traffic calming - narrowing roads, chicanes, windy bits, raised tables etc. There's also a relatively innovative approach called 'shared space' where pedestrians and cars are on the same level, with relatively little formal management - cars slow down naturally (supposedly)...

Personally I think all traffic in residential areas should be clamed to 20mph, including the South Circular.

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Londondrz


Posts: 1,538
Joined: Apr 2006
Post: #7
30-01-2008 10:25 AM

Can I put out a personal plea to those of you that drive. Going over the middle hump in the road to protect your cars suspension whilst I am bimbling along in the other direction on my bike doesnt help your car and forces me off the road. I am sure that all of you nice SE23 peeps wouldnt do this of course but please do think about it.

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Snazy


Posts: 1,516
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #8
30-01-2008 10:39 AM

Could not agree more, the clever use of the speed cushions has now turned my road into what looks like the start finish straight of a GP circuit on a warm up lap. Cars swerving about all over the place to go over the cushions central, and rapid acceleration and braking for others.
Its actually made the road MORE dangerous.

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shzl400


Posts: 729
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #9
30-01-2008 12:31 PM

Londondrz wrote:
Can I put out a personal plea to those of you that drive. Going over the middle hump in the road to protect your cars suspension whilst I am bimbling along in the other direction on my bike doesnt help your car and forces me off the road. I am sure that all of you nice SE23 peeps wouldnt do this of course but please do think about it.


I would have thought bikers would have liked the cushion style humps, as you can totally ignore them by riding in between the cushions. Even the ordinary speed humps aren't much of an obstacle, especially for small bikes - should I admit to attempting to take off over speed humps on Devonshire Road on a 125?

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Londondrz


Posts: 1,538
Joined: Apr 2006
Post: #10
30-01-2008 12:43 PM

shzl400 wrote:

Londondrz wrote:
Can I put out a personal plea to those of you that drive. Going over the middle hump in the road to protect your cars suspension whilst I am bimbling along in the other direction on my bike doesnt help your car and forces me off the road. I am sure that all of you nice SE23 peeps wouldnt do this of course but please do think about it.


I would have thought bikers would have liked the cushion style humps, as you can totally ignore them by riding in between the cushions. Even the ordinary speed humps aren't much of an obstacle, especially for small bikes - should I admit to attempting to take off over speed humps on Devonshire Road on a 125?


They are great but not when car/van/bus drivers force us off the road in order to save their suspension in the mistaken blief that straddling the bumps is good for the car. It is not, it just pushes the tracking on both wheels out.

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