Speed ramps in built up areas

beauf

colm_mcm wrote: »

I would say there’s a maximum speed you can go over speed bumps, so I can’t see how speeding up in between them would make your average speed lower than not speeding up.

I have seen people speeding up a bit too much in between bumps that are quite close together, but I reckon they probably don’t gain much by doing that alright.

Depends who's average speed is higher for longer.

It's why ramps are usually spaced close together to prevent high peak speeds between them. Another way of doing it is to make them harsher so you have go slower over them. So you're limited by how much space you need to slow down.

smellyoldboot

Have a heap of them on my street and vey much needed tbh. Relatively long street close to city centre and used regularly be used by combo of boy racers and joyriders. Still hear dickheads revving away and then braking hard between them but they're more harm to themselves than anyone else now.

Some are more severe than others to be fair. Most you can go over at 30 km/h but I would speed up to around 50(speed limit in town) between them and back down again. Tootling around at 30 feels like standing tbh.

1874

DaveyDave wrote: »

They've added loads around Lucan in recent years that were just unnecessary and they're all so close to each other you're forever slowing down and speeding up. I used to live in an apartment where there was a 500m curved road leading up to the main road. It already had 3 speed bumps then they added another 3. The road wasn't dangerous at all, despite the curve in the road visibility was very open and the current speed bumps were adequate. The road in question was just for housing estates to get to the main road so there wasn't a huge volume of traffic and the roundabouts everywhere meant you wouldn't be using it as a shortcut to get somewhere.

They added two on the road leading to my friend's estate which is a dead end and only 200m, they're the short ones that drop the front end when your back wheels hit it. Nobody living there wanted them.

All they do is disrupt traffic and add to the congestion and add unnecessary wear and tear and extra fuel. I often find there's far too many of them, too close together and they're on quieter roads.

They are necessary for that reason, lots of people just driving too fast, not just boy racers, delivery drivers, mothers dropping kids off to school/montesorri, its endemic, if it takes wrecking peoples cars to get them to slowdown, so be it.

Andrewf20

Andrewf20 wrote: »

I thought they were to deter joyriding primarily.

That is one of the reasons that gets put out there for their implementation. And the theory makes sense, I suppose. You can always tell when you're driving around, what parts of an estate or town/city have had joyriding issues when you see about a dozen excessive speed ramps on a straight stretch of road.

Of course, the reality is that, although they will deter some, many joyriders are rarely too fussed about taking care of their car, and as a result, see the ramps as a bit of a laugh. Also, many will move to scrambler and quads anyway, making the ramps redundant.

Wishbone Ash

Deleted User wrote: »

..... many joyriders are rarely too fussed about taking care of their car...

I thought joyriders used someone else's car?

1874

colm_mcm wrote: »

I wouldn’t lose any sleep over how inefficient it is. If somebody is doing a constant speed over and in between the ramps then in my opinion they’re driving too slowly and can’t criticise anyone who overtakes them safely.

Hang on, so speed bumps (which I dont like myself) but have to be put in place in built up areas to deter speeding because people cannot and will not self regulate (there is always some excuse) but then you think its acceptable to overtake at or in between speed bumps, no, Im not buying it.
Even on a case by case basis, unless another person was stopped, Id say there is little to no reason to pass/overtake in an area with speed bumps and even then Id do so with a good deal of caution.


There was a recent case of a truck driver, and it was suggested he should have gotten a custodial sentence after a child died in a car after he was driving up the ar$e of another vehicle and making attempts at overtaking in a built up area, which resulted in the collision of other vehicles. When those are the consequences of someone gaining seconds in traffic,then saying overtaking because someone is going too slow does not stack up, it proves that speed bumps are needed.

Andrewf20 wrote: »

I thought they were to deter joyriding primarily.

Id say they are either driving someone else car (without permission), in which case the Gardai may intervene, or they are driving their own car and dont care. I am far and away someone that does not like cars or mind anyone else doing so. The reality is, the majority of people speeding is ordinary people driving and going about their business (and so the Gardai will never be likely to intervene unless/until something comes of it).
Id be inclined to say these are mostly drivers for whom cars are merely A to B, because mostly the people I see speeding on my road are women, who (before Corona virus) would zoom down the estate with a gaggle of kids (dropping them off to creche) and then speed off on their way, presumably to work. I challenged a few people in the estate and was met with denial and a hostile attitude. I dont want to tempt fate, but its been a long time since Ive actually heard about a joyrider let alone seen one, didnt even think about it until now, but I suspect its that cars are mostly more problematic to steal without the keys.

Mr_Muffin

They are badly needed on my street. Every house in the estate has 2+ cars, most of which are parked with one side of the car on the pavement. There are also lots of children running around and playing on the street. It's not uncommon for a child to appear from behind one of the parked cars onto the road, which has happened on numerous occasions.

Cars speed up and down the narrow road all the time. The local delivery drivers are the worst. I think ramps serve a purpose, but they need to be positioned correctly to prevent them becoming an annoyance.

What are the alternatives to get people to slow down?

1874

Mr_Muffin wrote: »

They are badly needed on my street. Every house in the estate has 2+ cars, most of which are parked with one side of the car on the pavement. There are also lots of children running around and playing on the street. It's not uncommon for a child to appear from behind one of the parked cars onto the road, which has happened on numerous occasions.

Cars speed up and down the narrow road all the time. The local delivery drivers are the worst. I think ramps serve a purpose, but they need to be positioned correctly to prevent them becoming an annoyance.

What are the alternatives to get people to slow down?

The alternatives arent as cost effective as speed bums, so Id say thats why they are used, someone else mentioned they are relatively cheap to install, then they do their job after install without intervention.
Id say an alternative would be having more police, but thats impossible to have them everywhere, if there were more police, theyd likely be tasked with other stuff.
Next best thing, Id suggest is having the Gardai have some kind of handheld device with a data connection to record stops/get details on people committing faults, and to issue fines etc, that way if someone got a warning and it could be seen if they had a litany of faults, even if they had only gotten verbal warnings, then there is a track record, maybe its time for a fine or worse. That still requires a Garda to be present and see the fault/error.

People should have the sense to know what is an appropriate speed and I think speeds should be more harmonised so its easier to know what speed a type of area would have by road type, proximity to schools/road works, road condition/type, this exists to some extent already but there are large variations in speedlimits, there are bohereens with 100kph speed limitsand others with impractically low speeds.

Psychedelic Hedgehog

As far as I can make out, speed bumps/ramps only deter those driving normal cars - any SUV/MPV/Crossover yoke just flies straight over them without slowing.

I wonder if this is the reason such vehicles are so popular nowadays. If so, it's a massive own goal.

Wishbone Ash

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I thought joyriders used someone else's car?

In the past. Nowadays it's cheap sh/te they buy on donedeal for a couple of hundred.

GSBellew

There is a village on the way to Stranraer that has traffic lights on the approach and exit, if you are exceeding the speed limit on approach you get a red light, if you reach the set of lights at the exit in a time frame that means you exceeded 30Mph you get a red light for longer than you 'saved' by speeding, net result is there is no benifit in exceeding the speed limit, it actually costs you time, couple that with red light cameras and you'll cut out all but joy riders, ramps are ineffective for them anyway.

GSBellew

GSBellew wrote: »

There is a village on the way to Stranraer that has traffic lights on the approach and exit, if you are exceeding the speed limit on approach you get a red light, if you reach the set of lights at the exit in a time frame that means you exceeded 30Mph you get a red light for longer than you 'saved' by speeding, net result is there is no benifit in exceeding the speed limit, it actually costs you time, couple that with red light cameras and you'll cut out all but joy riders, ramps are ineffective for them anyway.

Unless there's a very detailed explanation of that on several signs throughout the road, i doubt anyone would alter their driving style to suit it.

smellyoldboot

GSBellew wrote: »

There is a village on the way to Stranraer that has traffic lights on the approach and exit, if you are exceeding the speed limit on approach you get a red light, if you reach the set of lights at the exit in a time frame that means you exceeded 30Mph you get a red light for longer than you 'saved' by speeding, net result is there is no benifit in exceeding the speed limit, it actually costs you time, couple that with red light cameras and you'll cut out all but joy riders, ramps are ineffective for them anyway.

Makes no sense. The fcukers that would speed through a village are the same fcukers that would pay no heed to red lights. They're too important for that sure.

GSBellew

Deleted User wrote: »

Unless there's a very detailed explanation of that on several signs throughout the road, i doubt anyone would alter their driving style to suit it.

I disagree, I'd certainly alter my driving if I was driving through there every day, doesn't require a detailed sign when there is a red light with no junction or crossing.

GSBellew

smellyoldboot wrote: »

Makes no sense. The fcukers that would speed through a village are the same fcukers that would pay no heed to red lights. They're too important for that sure.

Hence the red light camera, wait for the red light or get your speeding fine.

Isambard

GSBellew wrote: »

There is a village on the way to Stranraer that has traffic lights on the approach and exit, if you are exceeding the speed limit on approach you get a red light, if you reach the set of lights at the exit in a time frame that means you exceeded 30Mph you get a red light for longer than you 'saved' by speeding, net result is there is no benifit in exceeding the speed limit, it actually costs you time, couple that with red light cameras and you'll cut out all but joy riders, ramps are ineffective for them anyway.

Slough Trading Estate on the A4 in the UK back in the day had a series of traffic lights set for 30 mph, stick to that and you got green on them all(maybe 12 junctions).

The Stranraer would surely mean people coming the other way within the limit would get a red, makes no sense .It can't be that it would be red one way and green the other as that would be dangerous I'd say.

colm_mcm

colm_mcm wrote: »

I wouldn’t lose any sleep over how inefficient it is. If somebody is doing a constant speed over and in between the ramps then in my opinion they’re driving too slowly and can’t criticise anyone who overtakes them safely.

1874 wrote: »

Hang on, so speed bumps (which I dont like myself) but have to be put in place in built up areas to deter speeding because people cannot and will not self regulate (there is always some excuse) but then you think its acceptable to overtake at or in between speed bumps, no, Im not buying it.
Even on a case by case basis, unless another person was stopped, Id say there is little to no reason to pass/overtake in an area with speed bumps and even then Id do so with a good deal of caution.


There was a recent case of a truck driver, and it was suggested he should have gotten a custodial sentence after a child died in a car after he was driving up the ar$e of another vehicle and making attempts at overtaking in a built up area, which resulted in the collision of other vehicles. When those are the consequences of someone gaining seconds in traffic,then saying overtaking because someone is going too slow does not stack up, it proves that speed bumps are needed.

If you have for example a 30k limit, with speed bumps - and let’s say you can comfortably go over the bumps at 10km/h - the safe driving speed doesn’t suddenly become 10km/h.

If it is legal to overtake, and the person in front is far going slower than you want to be going, and it is safe to be overtake, then what’s the problem?

The Continental Op

colm_mcm wrote: »

If you have for example a 30k limit, with speed bumps - and let’s say you can comfortably go over the bumps at 10km/h - the safe driving speed doesn’t suddenly become 10km/h.

If it is legal to overtake, and the person in front is far going slower than you want to be going, and it is safe to be overtake, then what’s the problem?

Where I live most of the speed ramps are also pedestrian crossings. Is it OK to overtake on a pedestrian crossing?

colm_mcm

The Continental Op wrote: »

Where I live most of the speed ramps are also pedestrian crossings. Is it OK to overtake on a pedestrian crossing?

I’ll have to look up the rules of the road :rolleyes: As you know most speed bumps aren’t pedestrian crossings.


Do you think it’s ok to overtake on a pedestrian crossing?
Do you really think I think it’s ok?

Seth Brundle

colm_mcm wrote: »

If you have for example a 30k limit, with speed bumps - and let’s say you can comfortably go over the bumps at 10km/h - the safe driving speed doesn’t suddenly become 10km/h.

If it is legal to overtake, and the person in front is far going slower than you want to be going, and it is safe to be overtake, then what’s the problem?

It would be good to know if you have a specific road in mind as many ramps are installed to reduce speeds to safe levels. The reasons are usually because of the level of pedestrian and cyclist activity.
Having someone perform an overtaking manouvre in this area would appear to be prudent. If you disagree, ask yourself if you do it with a garda car behind you?

The Continental Op

colm_mcm wrote: »

I’ll have to look up the rules of the road :rolleyes: As you know most speed bumps aren’t pedestrian crossings.


Do you think it’s ok to overtake on a pedestrian crossing?
Do you really think I think it’s ok?

If you are ever in Dungarvan try getting into town without driving over at least one. On the coast road I have to go over 5 to get to town and everyone is a pedestrian crossing. I say pedestrian but many are also linked to cycle tracks crossing the road.

colm_mcm

Seth Brundle wrote: »

It would be good to know if you have a specific road in mind as many ramps are installed to reduce speeds to safe levels. The reasons are usually because of the level of pedestrian and cyclist activity.
Having someone perform an overtaking manouvre in this area would appear to be prudent. If you disagree, ask yourself if you do it with a garda car behind you?

For some context - The posts and quotes go way back, but my original post was in response to someone who says they go a constant steady speed between and also going over speed bumps.

Hurrache

colm_mcm wrote: »

If you have for example a 30k limit, with speed bumps - and let’s say you can comfortably go over the bumps at 10km/h - the safe driving speed doesn’t suddenly become 10km/h.

If it is legal to overtake, and the person in front is far going slower than you want to be going, and it is safe to be overtake, then what’s the problem?

Don't roads with speed bumps usually tend to have a solid white line down them? The ones I drive do anyway, can't think of any which allow overtaking.
edit: just checked another I'm aware of and it has a dotted line, but I think it might have since been repainted.

colm_mcm

Just as an example of one - Park West Rd.

Eoinbmw

A lot of these ramps are in housing estates which are generally 15kmh but often not posted!

smellyoldboot

The Continental Op wrote: »

If you are ever in Dungarvan try getting into town without driving over at least one. On the coast road I have to go over 5 to get to town and everyone is a pedestrian crossing. I say pedestrian but many are also linked to cycle tracks crossing the road.

haha Waterford council in general seems to have a serious horn for the bumps. I'm expecting to start seeing them on the N road approaches in a few months.