Those annoying speed humps

Speed humps are an incursion to the free movement of vehicles and were never designed to appear by stealth or used as a way to frustrate and punish educated drivers in an otherwise civil society.

To acerbate these injuries and damage, there are absolutely no advanced posted signs warning drivers of approaching unmarked humps inconsiderately pitched with the same colour of the roadway in a country where it is the paradigm not to post Speed Limit signs advising motorists of the nuances in required speeds for various areas.

These humps can best be described as barbaric, third world and inevitably frustrating to the 99.8 percent of responsible motorists and the plethora of them now randomly popping up as part of our driving landscape can also mean the difference between life and death for a dying patient in an ambulance rushing them for treatment, while further slowing down and damaging police drivers and vehicles seeking to apprehend a suspect or rushing to a crime scene.

A speed hump was specifically designed for limited or restricted sensitive areas like hospitals, schools, and military facilities and, even so, they are professionally done and painted bright yellow so as to warn drivers of an approach requiring caution, further supported by advanced warning signs stating “Hump Ahead”. It is unequivocally ludicrous to see humps on short streets with five homes, while on a 1/2 mile stretch of Non Plasir Road in Cunupia there are 12 humps in total disregard that not all drivers are transients, and many residents in this area are forced to go over humps an average of 48 times per day on this street alone.

In areas where humps are fewer or don’t exist, I am yet to see any motorist drag racing down a road usually devoid of sidewalks recklessly looking to knock down pedestrians, and I am further irritated when approaching impending humps at the end and beginning of roadways since approaching intersections would inevitably require me to stop, and in taking off why is a hump necessary after having just stopped and now building reasonably required take off acceleration? Overall, I am confident that our drivers are responsible and call upon the relevant authorities to instead spend money on proper apprehension of the few errant drivers instead of punishing all drivers by foolishly installing punitive and over-abundant humps all along the way.

They can further inform drivers by erecting speed limit and other pivotal road signs inclusive of Stop signs and street signs, more so when the increased issuance of tickets is now a viable option which contributes enormously to the State’s coffers, thus offsetting the cost of creating a more civil society on par with international standards. Local driving is just not enjoyable anymore!

Trevor Hosten via email