Whoosh

From what I saw it was mainly on the side windows. Looked like letters in some cases. I saw about 7 or 8 from a quick glance along the road this morning but wasn't early and lots of people would've left earlier so could've been much more. Was at least up to the Goodrich mini-roundabout.

Happened to mine too. We had ours keyed a couple of weeks ago too. Will be reporting both to the police today.

I apply common sense and move left where the left filter lane ought to start. It makes no sense as it's currently marked but then there's very little common sense applied regarding bus lanes. I've always assumed there's some kind of quota and they have to make enough new ones every year. Mind you, there's worse on the other side of the road where there's the traffic light system. There's the bus lane bit for buses to go through when it's green and then there's the other lane for buses to go through when theirs is red.

James Barber Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > How do you design a speend hump that keeps every > vehicle from going faster than 20mph. > If you design and build them for low slung sporty > cars then all other cars willcomfortably go at > 30+mph. > As it is 4x4's can go just about any speed over > these humps. > I completely agree, but that's essentially why speed humps are pointless. Saying they're not very good but it's impossible to do better isn't a great defence of them! I do feel there are worse problems than the Dunstans ones though. It seems the new trend is to build car-length ones at the end of side roads where they junction onto main roads. They seem to be proliferating around ED. The only point I can see is that they allow pedestrians to cross without having to step down or up a curb. Very worthy in a slightly pointless and expensive way, but the fact that they force traffic turning or crossing the main road to slow to a stop in the middle of faster traffic just so they can turn into a side road is dangerous. I don't get why the council pay thousands just to make the roads dangerous. Wouldn't a dropped curb do the same thing for a fraction of the money and in safety?

And the wider point is their usefulness anyway. Many on here speak of the bad old days before humps when the roads were supposedly a dangerous menace - this is before my time having only lived here for 10 years, but in the few weeks before the new ones were built I can quite honestly say that I saw no more speeding than with them. I don't recall seeing anyone speed at all in fact, people just smoothly (and quietly!) drove past. The main offenders of speeding in my experience are lorries taking a shortcut, and these are effectively immune to the speed humps anyway. They don't slow down but just make a lot of noise. I know this is crazy to many, but are speed humps actually so needed? Are so many car drivers really that irresponsible? My honest opinion is that they're not, and that we won't all be in mortal danger if we didn't have them, but the speed humps themselves are not the solution, even if there is a problem. Average speed cameras would of course be preferable, but there's no way that's workable on such a scale.

GrahamP Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- In my > opinion you should be able to drive a car over the > bumps at 20mph without causing noise or damaging > your car. If you go faster, you face the > consequences This is exactly the point. Speed humps don't enforce the speed limit at all, they enforce a much lower and unnecessary one. In my car which is a lightly sporty hatchback, no Ferrari, I have to go to below 10mph to avoid potential damage and even then it's hardly comfortable, especially when they're so regular on Dunstans Road. Saying that, ours are far from the worst in the wider area. Even on the adjacent Ryedale the humps are old and broken and have potholes either side in some cases. I certainly have to effectively stop and crawl over at walking pace. These are worse than Dunstans, but in both cases I'm not being forced to stay at 20mph, I'm unnecessarily being forced to go at 10mph or less. Which is uncomfortable, impractical and noisy for residents.

I live on Dunstans Road and they are indeed dreadful. The 2 or 3 weeks between the road resurfacing and the new humps was a joy. Obviously all the people doing 95 and running over the kittens must happen while I'm away, but what we actually had was cars gliding past in 3rd gear at 20-25 in silence. Now it's like living next to a worksite - slamming on brakes, clattering over the humps, grounding out on the other side scraping the tarmac and then accelerating loudly off again. Some of the lorries with loads in make a noise like a car crash. But don't worry, it's for our own good!

Just rode home from Borough via Old Kent Road, Peckham and Lordship Lane. To be honest, you'd barely notice anything unusual at all unless you were looking. People sat in bars in the sun, kids playing on the big playground, the usual number waiting around for buses. Nothing to see here ladies and gentlemen, move along :) Only signs were most (not all) shops shut on LL and a few more police around. Also, I rode past the police station - no vans in the road like before but I looked through the gates and there were 3 or 4 riot vans in there. So that's reassuring :)

Was reading through this post and was going to mention Almax too, but looks like 2 people have got there first. It's no consolation to the OP of course, but sadly many bikers rely on the claims of the cheapo makes like Oxford that you can get in the high street. Great deterrent against opportunist kids but no use against serious thieves with a bolt-cutter. Almax is, quite possibly, the only way to go. Sadly, my Almax currently has around 5 deepish hacksaw grooves in it to attest to the plentiful thieves in the area, but none that have come close to actually getting through, luckily.

Yes, but as I already reported both crimes to the police...

Exactly my point. But you've missed mine. Slow down to what? I do 20 anyway between them and about 2mph over them. Should I stay at 2mph then? Would you enjoy that if stuck behind me? :)

Yep... my driver's side door was done just before Christmas. Again, no attempt to get in, just casual vandalism I suppose. Was a bit unusual because it was around 8am Sunday morning, odd time for that kind of thing. I got a knock on the door from a couple of PCSOs who were very sweet and sympathetic. Still made me angry though... the car hadn't even been repaired from having the bumper stolen.

It's sad but the condition of the roads generally (hopefully improving mind you) and the speed humps everywhere do affect your choice of car nowadays. My currrent car is just too uncomfortable over all the speed humps so will have to be sold soon, sadly. The only real solution is a large 4x4... something I detest but would actually now consider to make town driving more palatable. Which seems like forcing to take a step backwards. I walked down Dunstans Road last night and it was so different with the new surface and (currently) no speed bumps. Cars were wafting along in 2nd or 3rd car in near silence as opposed to the usual 1st gear accelerating and braking and clattering over the bumps. The new surface helped too of course but the difference in noise levels overall was quite significant. I only wish it could stay like that.

Hi James, thank for that. Very interesting attachment. It has to be pointed out though the stats don't necessarily prove that the cushions actually reduce the accidents in themselves though. Not that you were necessarily saying that, but there are obviously many other factors. As I said earlier, all the near-misses I've ever had in the area, on bike or in a car, have been at the point of some kind of traffic calming measure, and nearly always directly because they were there.

I think it's an ill-thought out idea. Speed limits are adhered to by either common sense or 'measures' - cameras, speed bumps, road narrowing etc. In the first case the limit itself is rarely relevant; people will go at the speed they think best, the actual number on a signpost is not going to make much difference. When it comes to traffic calming measures, I think they're mainly a waste of (a lot of) money and only really go towards adding frustration, damaging vehicles, adding to noise and C02 and adding an extra danger in themselves, especially for those on 2 wheels who tend to have to face oncoming traffic in the middle of the road constantly. It was such a joy driving down the newly-surfaced Dunstans Road tonight. I'd almost forgotten the pleasure of driving at a steady 20-ish on good tarmac, able to look at the road in front of me rather than staring a few feet ahead for obstacles and not having to brake to a near halt every 20 yards and accelerate off again, making uncomfortable and noisy progress. The ones that speed now will speed then... and they're often the ones that can avoid the humps anyway or are cushioned against them - lorries, vans, 4x4s, scooters, motorbikes. The irony is that I have a fast sports car but so have to go so slowly over every hump that I just irritate everyone behind. The noise of the car constantly accelerating and decelerating in first gear is probably annoying for everyone. Purring along in 2nd and 20mph is a different story.

Thanks for the information James, very useful. I'm also curious to know what 'traffic calming' measures are planned for Dunstans and other roads. It's obviously too late to influence anything now, but can I just say that I hate speed bumps with a passion. To me they clearly just add danger in multiple ways, especially as a biker where they pose a very real risk. The triple road cushion type are the worst as car drivers will just head down the middle of the road - comfort is far more important than squishy oncoming cyclists/motorcyclists unfortunately. I commute from ED to London Bridge every day by motorbike, and I'd say that well over 90% of any near misses and heart-in-mouth moments are down to speed bumps. Peckham is worse than ED where they're often positioned on bends on very broken roads that you'd really have to experience first-hand on a motorbike to understand the very real danger of them, but they're a liability everywhere.