Dunstan's Road Speed Humps

[Nicholas]

The Dunstans Road speed humps must be some of the biggest in the area. Don't get me wrong, i'm all for traffic calming but these are ridiculous. They can't do any good for the foundations as well as the vehicles that go over them. It must be terrible living on that road, you must get vibrations and noise from the traffic. I just wonder how do the council regulate the height of these? Some speed humps aren't that bad. Can someone please tell me, is there a legal limit for the height of these, because even doing 15mph you can hear the banging of cars.

[scotch]

I am so glad that I am not the only one who thinks this ! Leaving on Dunstans road I understand that there is a need to slow down traffic but not to this extent. We constantly hear cars breaking and then the scraping of the bottom of the car! Ouch!!! Would love to hear from anybody who knows the regulations!!

[Pickle]

I agree. Even at totally low speeds these speed bumps are a nightmare. I seem to remember the contractors putting them in, then pulling them out again and redoing them as the first lot weren't right - I haven't come across any quite as brutal anywhere else. My sympathies to anyone living with one outside their house, we have a relatively gentle speed cushion outside ours and the noise/vibration from that is bad enough.

[indiepanda]

Yes, they are definitely the worst I've found in East Dulwich. If you go over them at anything more than walking pace you can hear the underside of your car getting scraped.

[Siduhe]

Can someone please tell me, is there a legal limit for the height of these, because even doing 15mph you can hear the banging of cars.

Did a bit of digging for you - looks as if the governing legislation is the The Highways (Road Humps) Regulations 1999. Section 4 is the bit you want - not the easiest para to follow but I read this as saying that if you take the highest point of the speedbump and measure an imaginary line directly down to the road surface, it must not be more than 10cm high.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1999/1025/contents/made

[GrahamP]

I live in Dunstans road and for a short while the new road surface gave us peace and quiet. Soon after the installation of the traffic mounds I contacted the council and Mr barber via web sites and emails. Despite reminders I got no response.

I live with the regular sound of minor crashes which is a nuisance and have picked several bits of debris from the road.

As part of my reseach I also found the maximum height should be 10cm but also sawa reference to a southwark site that said that the maximum guidance height is 7 cm to allow for an inaccurate installation hopefully not exceeding 10 cm limit.

I believe that the profile of the humps is also a factor. The smooth profile, which is great for bicycles, tips cars forward as the rear wheels go over the hump, making the front underside scrape as the car passes the hump. The position of the road damage shows this clearly.

I feel this problem is being ignored by the officials.

Has anyone got a steam roller to flatten these humps? Even better, has anyone a got a sensible suggestion on how to resolve this?

Graham

[Nicholas]

Thanks all some good points.

[trizza]

I agree these road humps are awful - they scrape my car when I go over them at 15mph! They are the worst I have encountered in Southwark, having lived in the borough for 8 years.

i think that stretch of Dunstans falls under Peckham Rye Ward, so it would be an idea to raise the matter with Renata Hamvas - one of the ward councillors. She posts on here too, so may read this thread.

[pecksniff]

I live on Melbourne Grove (station end) and those road humps are also terrible .

[James Barber]

Hi GrahamP,

Apologies.

I visited Dunstans Road. Rode them on bicycle and complained to council officers they weren't sinusoidal and was told they'd been fixed. I've not check them since and will do so in the next week.

[GrahamP]

From the Independent..... [www.independent.co.uk]

"A builder has forced a council to alter the height of its speed humps because they flout traffic laws. Patrick Cawley, 43, measured a flat-top road hump at 160mm"

The height of speed bumps in not a new issue in Southwark. A google search reveals this information in a cached page from 2009.

"27 March 2009

I was told explicitly by Councillor Jeff Hook that the humps in Raymouth Road that are over the legal height would be changed.

It is now verging on two months and nothing has been done.

Likewise I called for all speed humps in Southwark to be measured and any that are above the legal height to be corrected by the contractor at no cost to the council.

I now publicly ask - is this to be done?

Also the humps in Abbey Street, although cushioned, are over the legal height and once again have pulled the exhaust from its brackets. Are the council to meet the costs of repairing it? I think not!

Something needs to be done and quickly and I await a reply.

Barry Albin, F.A. Albin & Sons, Rotherhithe. "

This problem appears to have beeen resolved, time for some action in East Dulwich.

Southwark News from April 2009

"A contractor for Southwark Council has begun ripping out and replacing illegal speed humps, after finally realising they were too high.

After a series of complaints from people across the borough about the size of the speed humps - including Bermondsey funeral director Barry Albin-Dyer, who had the underside of a hearse damaged by an offending traffic-calming measure - the 'News' spotted the council's contractors hard at work in Raymouth Road last Friday afternoon.

A spokeswoman for Southwark Council said: "The council provided clear instructions to the contractor that the humps should be 75mm high (with a flexibility of up to 15mm). However, when they were tested for height, we found them to be over 100mm. The contractor has accepted that the error is their fault and tried first to reduce them using a heat system."

Anyone got a tape measure?

Graham

[Nicholas]

As a local driving instructor, I cover most of the streets and roads within the area while out giving lessons. The speed humps on Dunstan's Road are, without a doubt, the worst in the area (although Court Lane and Crystal Palace Road are also fairly dodgy). The main issues with the Dunstan's Road speed humps is that they are inconsistant and deceptive. Some look pretty tame while others look mountainous. It's almost impossible to go over 15mph without causing some sort of damage to your car. Obviously, i'm all for traffic calming but there needs to be some consistancy. You should be able to do 15-20mph without causing substantial damage to your car or causing disturbances to the residents. I would never drive my Ferrari down there!

[scotch]

James,

I do hope that your help will be able to rectify these humps. Living with one right outside my house has caused a lot of vibrations and noise pollution. I hope this can be rectified soon for the sake of drivers who are damaging their cars.

[bluntlaser]

We also live on Dunstans Road and the speed bumps are really harm your car however slow you go over them. Agree with all of the above and that something must be done.

[Renata Hamvas]

I have reported them to Council officers, so that they will be checked. There are fixed rules on the height/shape of humps, and they may not be up to spec.

Renata

[Penguin68]

As Dunstan's road is on a hill it is possible that the heights measured from one side might be OK, but too high if measured from the other (the humps appear to be vertical to a notional horizontal line running through them, rather than 'leaning' as they might if they followed the slope).

So it might be an idea to ask them to meaure the humps from both sides to check they meet standards.

[Renata Hamvas]

I have lodged the request already, but I will add in your suggestion, Penguin68

Renata

[Renata Hamvas]

I have had confirmation from Council officers that these bumps are to be checked.

Renata

[scotch]

Any news on this yet?

[Renata Hamvas]

I've had some preliminary feedback on this. The initial examination of the bumps indicates that some may not be correctly profiled, so a detailed survey of them is being carried out.

Renata

[Whoosh]

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!

[James Barber]

These humps seemed pretty standard to mew en I made a point of experiencing them late Friday afternoon. One of the sinusoidal humps seemed slightly large but within tolerances.

Just across the border in Lewisham they really have dodgy sinusoidal humps ie they aren't and some of the old fashioned humps were huge.

The real shame is no political party has adopted averaging speed cameras for a whole residential area. We wouldn't needs any humps or bumps then or alternatively the European insurance approach where the weakest participant in a crash is assumed innocent.

Are the Dunstans Road humps so bad they need council officers to make a special survey. Driving over them should be sufficient.

[mon238]

these speed bumps are a nightmare

[brum]

I drive up and down frequently and they are high, but a sufferance worth bearing in my view. There is a school and a couple of dodgy junctions (Underhill Rd the worst) and without the humps I suspect we will see more collisions and injuries. The tip is to slow down and drive with caution.

[GrahamP]

Brum...

and move house to get away from the noise if you are unlucky enough to live nearby.