"Robin May" wrote in message
...

I think something altogether less radical would be much more helpful.
How about Newham council spending money on resurfacing **** roads (like
the road to my house, which seems to be about one step above a dirt
track) and fixing potholes, rather than using it to create completely
new road hazards (speed bumps) that damage cars and make roads much
more difficult to cycle along.


Exactly - and if we must have so many 'traffic-calming' installations in
this country, how about making them from good old kerbstones and asphalt,
instead of bloody expensive brick paviours with fancy raised garden beds.

Where I live there are a number of locations where a busy two-lane main road
has been narrowed to a single lane with chicanes and obstacles (either on
both sides or by directing the traffic from one direction into the opposite
traffic flow). These so-called calming measures may work effectively when
there is a heavy traffic flow during the day but at other times they are
positively inviting head-on collisions, as boy racers speed through the
constriction at 40mph+ during the evenings and at weekends, forcing other
motorists, cyclists and pedestrians to dive for cover.

Have any of these traffic planners ever been out to observe the potential
carnage that they are inflicting upon road users? Even the construction
companies installing them reckon that they are lethal and more dangerous
than installing simple, cheap speed humps.