Speed bumps

[Gumby]

Speed bumps- do you:
Take them at full speed
Slow down a bit
Slow down a lot so as not to damage your suspension/throw you and your passengers around/scrape the front bumper

I personally go for the last option, as the speed bumps near my house are vicious. However, if someone is following I feel its only polite to go a bit quicker. If I can pull over I will, but sometimes I cant.

Is there anything else you can do so as not no to annoy people or damage your car? Seems like a catch 22 situation to me.

[brianhaddon]

Of the three options the latter. There is little in my mind you can do about those who wish to take them faster. Perhaps accelerate swiftly to the next one but that seems inefficient use of resources. At the end of the day they can always go past if they want and quite frankly we seem to be needing to pamper to more and more pushing, thoughtlessness and bad manners these days and I don't wish to do that.
Regards
Brian Haddon

[fungus]

Depends which car I'm driving. The wifes old Peugeot 306 estate would take some at 30 without discomfort. The same speed hump in the daughters Cooper S would probably be taken at under 10mph.

[Gumby]

Depends which car I'm driving. The wifes old Peugeot 306 estate would take some at 30 without discomfort. The same speed hump in the daughters Cooper S would probably be taken at under 10mph.

that's the speed I have to do, but everyone else takes them at what must be 30 even though its a 20 zone. I imagine their suspension must be in a awful state. Took mine to be realigned the other week and it was out by a fair bit, despite my best attempts.

[martine]

I try and stick to the speed limit - if the bumps are designed properly then it's not viscious and no damage will result. I don't move out to the centre to try and avoid speed 'cushions' - I've seen people get dangerously close to oncoming traffic doing this...

There is the opinion that it's best not to straddle speed cushions as the sloping sides create wear on the inside edge of the tyres. I can't see how in practice this would make any noticable difference but it's only a gut feeling.

Is this an urban myth or does anyone have proper evidence (kwik-fit tyre monkeys 'opinion' doesn't count).

[jont]

Slow right down. If the car behind doesn't like it, tough. I've wondered about getting a bumper sticker along the lines "If you don't like my speed, tell your council to remove the bl**dy speed humps". Also tends to make quite a racket as I accelerate away, but again I'd hope the locals would complain if they don't like it

"Cushions" seem particularly stupid. Sure they minimize the hassle for ambulances, but then it also does for transits, buses and all the other vehicles that are going to make the most mess of a kid running out. Not sure it's helpful distracting peoples attention towards minimizing car damage around the location there's presumably some extra hazard that the humps have been put in for.

[michael769]

I try and stick to the speed limit - if the bumps are designed properly then it's not viscious and no damage will result. I don't move out to the centre to try and avoid speed 'cushions' - I've seen people get dangerously close to oncoming traffic doing this...

There is the opinion that it's best not to straddle speed cushions as the sloping sides create wear on the inside edge of the tyres. I can't see how in practice this would make any noticable difference but it's only a gut feeling.

Is this an urban myth or does anyone have proper evidence (kwik-fit tyre monkeys 'opinion' doesn't count).

I don't believe that the slope on the side of a cushion is steep enough to come into contact with the side walls. The tyre walls a vertical and you'd need a near vertical edge (like a kerb) to harm the side walls.

Certainly I straddle humps and have never experienced any wear on the interior. The only times I saw tyre wall damage on tyres in my old job it was on the outside (almost certainly due to kerbing).

Cushions that comply with the current rules should be able to be taken at 30. Unfortunately not all are. In my back yard it is common to see contractors sent back to lower recently introduced humps or their profile changed. The impression I get is that some contractors are not good at following the design drawings...

[martine]

I don't believe that the slope on the side of a cushion is steep enough to come into contact with the side walls. The tyre walls a vertical and you'd need a near vertical edge (like a kerb) to harm the side walls....

I wasn't thinking of sidewalls but the inside 1/4 of the breadth of tread...I've heard others blaming cushions for ueven tyre wear - but I can't see it myself.

[michael769]

Me neither.

Uneven wear is usually due to underinflation, or in older cars deranged suspension or steering geometry.

[revian]

Speed bumps- do you:
Take them at full speed
Slow down a bit
Slow down a lot so as not to damage your suspension/throw you and your passengers around/scrape the front bumper

I tend to brake a tad just before the bump, then realease the brake so that the car nose is up a bit when it comes into contact with the thing.

Ian

[lordgrover]

Straddle or mount, that old chestnut?

Clearly, shouldn't need saying but when it's safe to do so I try to centre the wheels on one side with the centre of the hump. I fear there may be some truth to the splaying of geometry if you try to straddle the thing.

[TripleS]

Speed bumps- do you:
Take them at full speed
Slow down a bit
Slow down a lot so as not to damage your suspension/throw you and your passengers around/scrape the front bumper

I tend to brake a tad just before the bump, then release the brake so that the car nose is up a bit when it comes into contact with the thing.

Ian

That sounds like a good idea in theory, but I imagine it needs considerable accuracy to make it work.

[revian]

Speed bumps- do you:
Take them at full speed
Slow down a bit
Slow down a lot so as not to damage your suspension/throw you and your passengers around/scrape the front bumper

I tend to brake a tad just before the bump, then release the brake so that the car nose is up a bit when it comes into contact with the thing.

Ian

That sounds like a good idea in theory, but I imagine it needs considerable accuracy to make it work.

Yup... Just done it on my local bumps... Firing too early is the easiest mistake...The problem is that one may have to stab at the brakes a tad hard to produce the required bounce back.