Road markings and signage - speed humps

Information about speed humps.

We receive many requests from residents for speed humps to be introduced in their roads to reduce speeds and improve safety. 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 people's he lives and property. 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 humps every day.

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, at least 2.75m long and extend over the full width of the road, except for a drainage channel at either end. They may have either flat tops or round tops. Many local authorities have adopted the 75mm high hump as a standard. This is because it has been found to reduce traffic to around 22 mph. The 100 mm high humps reduce speeds to 17 mph on the hump but speeds rise to 35 mph between the humps, causing excessive acceleration, braking and increased pollution. 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.

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.

Can I request Speed Humps in my road?

We wish to ensure that the money received from Central Government to provide traffic calming measures is targeted to achieve the maximum reduction in road traffic casualties by dealing with the most severe locations first. To help us establish those locations every 12 months we carry out a study of all accidents that have resulted in a person being injured and all known accident "hot spots" in the Borough. As a result of that study the difficult task of prioritising the locations for safety improvement projects has been determined.

Nevertheless, if customers consider that vehicle speeds on a particular road are too high we can review the situation and, depending on the circumstances, we may be able to offer an alternative treatment such as the installation of our SpeedVISOR equipment. This is an electronic device which can be temporarily installed in the street to flash the 30 m.p.h. speed limit when vehicles drive at an inappropriate speed and has proved successful in reminding drivers of the speed limit in residential roads.

Please contact us by post at:

Corporate Director of Community Services
PO Box 19
Council House
Solihull
West Midlands B91 9QT

Or use our online form

Please provide a summary of the problems being experienced and details of the particular times of day/day of the week when the situation occurs or is at its worst.

Contact Details

For more information please contact us

Telephone: 0121 704 6474

Email: environment@solihull.gov.uk