Speed bumps more of a hindrance than help

AFTER reading the article on the petition for speed bumps on Harvey Road following the sad death of Keely Birks, my thoughts are with family and friends (“Jake traumatised after seeing his friend killed by car”, December 1).

Harvey Road has had problems with drivers speeding for many years.

I am all for some type of speed restrictions being used to curtail speeding by irresponsible drivers but NOT speed humps. The reason I say no to these are as follows.

■■They cause issues for people with painful muscular skeletal conditions travelling by car or public transport.

■■Seriously slow down emergency services attending a call for assistance.

■■An ambulance transporting a patient with spinal injuries, severe broken bones, where a jolt could cause paralysis, or where a patient needs to get treatment ASAP for other injuries, would have no choice but to slow down every time they passed over the bumps.

The added time doing this could result in even more lives being lost.

People breaking the law would not be concerned about speed or speed bumps when trying to evade capture by the police.

The use of 24/7 CCTV and speed cameras would deter the majority but not all.

The use of these are subject to regulations on where and for how long they can be used.

Perhaps the occasional road restrictions to single file along with crossing points near shops along with set turning areas for traffic would be useful.

Unfortunately, even where there are crossings, you can observe on a daily basis adults and children daft enough to cross the road near to but not on the crossing.

Further measures maybe required such as the installation of a central reservation with fencing as on Raynesway.

There is enough grass verge to allow for this should the road need to be widened to compensate.

Kevin Winson, by email