The speed humps that brought calm to a road

SIR – When our once peaceful residential road became connected via a single-track country lane directly to the M25, vehicle numbers increased from 500 a day to more than 4,000.

Since the introduction of speed humps (report, April 10) that number has been reduced substantially, speeding has been eliminated, accidents all but eradicated and the air we breathe is significantly cleaner.

Please, let’s have no more illconsidered knee-jerk reactions from those who contributed to the problem of traffic pollution in the first place. Chorleywood, Hertfordshire SIR – Jed Payce (Letters, April 9) is right to point out the partial culpability of town councils for pollution.

There is also their previous obsession with one-way systems, a prime example being my local town of Kingston-upon-Thames. Whereas one used to be able to get to Kingston bridge fairly easily (and quickly) from any point of entry into the town, one is now forced to go all the way around the town to achieve this.

A right turn just after the station was also closed off some time ago, with just a lane left for cyclists. All motor vehicles have to execute a “diversion” of at least a mile to reach the bridge.

That the Government has finally latched on to the contribution of speed humps to pollution is pleasing, although far too late. There is a simple solution: move speed cameras from “safe” roads to urban roads and fine drivers who drive too fast there.

An additional word of caution with regard to road cushions, however: drivers should also slow down while driving over these. If they are straddled, then their edges break down the inside wall of one’s tyres, leading eventually to a blowout. Hampton, Middlesex SIR – Clearly our pothole-riddled roads need urgent attention (Letters, April 11); but I believe the problem is being exacerbated by drivers, especially those of four-wheel-drive vehicles, who make no attempt to avoid potholes where they can safely do so. Marlborough, Wiltshire