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Speed Humps

Haringey Council receives many requests from residents for these to be introduced in their roads to reduce speeds and improve safety.

Opposition to speed humps

There is usually opposition from the Police, Fire Brigade, Ambulance Service and Bus Companies to the use of speed control humps.

The Emergency Services object because humps increase their attendance times for emergency calls, and thus risk the lives and property of the people.

The Ambulance Service and Bus Companies object because of the discomfort and possible injury that may be caused to their passengers and the increased wear and tear on vehicles, particularly buses going over speed tables every day.

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Speed hump regulations

There are regulations governing the layout of speed control humps. There must be a form of "slowing feature" - usually formed by a change of priority (traffic entering the system has to turn sharp left or right into the road, or has to "give way". Sometimes mini roundabouts are used at the start of a system of humps.

The shape of speed control humps are strictly regulated. They must:

be between 50mm and 100mm high
be at least 2.75m long
extend over the full width of the road
allow for a drainage channel at either end
they may have either flat tops or round tops.

Local Authority Standard

Many local authorities have adopted the 75mm high hump as a standard. This standard reduces vehicle speed to around 22mph.

The 100mm high speed humps actually reduces vehicle speed down to 17mph, but this also causes excessive acceleration and braking between humps of up to 35mph. This problem results in an increase in pollution.

Flat topped humps

Flat topped humps can be of any length and are often known as "speed tables". They are sometimes used to reduce the impact on long wheel base vehicles such as buses.

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How to request a speed hump

Speed control humps can lead to complaints about increased noise and sometimes increased vibration from traffic. They have however been proved to reduce traffic speed and they have been installed in many locations.

If you wish to place a request for speed humps, please contact us using the details below.

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