THE ASSOCIATION OF BRITISH DRIVERS

IN SCOTLAND

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Speed Humps

I read the story on speed humps with interest (7th August). Aberdeen City Council's comments were particularly interesting.

"Aberdeen has one of the best accident reduction records in Scotland. That's due, in no small part, to the introduction of traffic-calming measures in some residential areas."

This is a very bold claim. Where's the justification for it though? After all, speed is the cause of less than 1 in 10 of all accidents, according to Grampian Police figures.

Accidents, by definition, are unexpected events, not carried out with intent. As such they will vary up and down.

Drivers with different levels of ability and varied states of mind use different roads on different days at different times in different weather
conditions. The same is true of other road users too. Is there a constant in there somewhere to conclude that speed humps are responsible for any reduction in accidents? I don't think so. If each householder in a street painted their front door red and accidents fell, would the council claim red front doors made the roads safer? Maybe it would!

Seatbelts save people from going through windscreens, crash barriers help contain wayward cars. These are positive safety features, with proven benefits. Speed humps are not such a feature and Aberdeen City Council shouldn't make statements it can't prove."

Simon Tonks

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