http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: Do Speed Cushions Encourage Stupidity? en Sun, 31 May 2026 10:02:47 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1737#post-17227 Tue, 23 Nov 2010 13:58:18 +0000 spitfire 17227@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Drivers often aim to get wheels on either side of the "cushions" I have seen (and indeed indulged in said practice, only when the road is clear mind if oncoming traffic does it to you though it is very annoying)</p> <p>I was at a community cooncil meeting when a particular individual asked the question (almost dripping with spite) "how do you cyclists deal with these speed bumps?" the three of us (that I know of) that were there simply gasped and laughed - "we go around them, sometimes over them" - I wanted to add "I tend to stand up in the saddle and use my kneed like the original suspension they are" but sadly there wasn't time as the conversationmoved quickly away from bikeists as it always does (we're not normal) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1737#post-17194 Tue, 23 Nov 2010 11:55:56 +0000 wingpig 17194@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>They can certainly add to the things people are concentrating on to a greater extent than a simple cross-road hump would. On Melville Terrace the poorly-maintained old-fashioned tarmac lumplets are a pain as they confuse a road already confused by an absence of markings, parked cars on both sides, car-swerve-out points where there's a pedestrian cut-through from the footpath and an appalling surface. On Newhailes Road the modern rubberised cushions provide a convenient check on car-speed, keeping them down to pretty much bicycle-speed, preventing them trying to overtake. Too often. Sometimes. On Lochend Drive they're a pain as they're something else on which attention is diverted alongside the priority-direction pinch-points. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1737#post-17192 Tue, 23 Nov 2010 11:49:57 +0000 kaputnik 17192@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>must look to the unsympathetic driver like we're just swerving around for no reason. </em></p> <p><strong>Taxi</strong> - *honk honk*<br /> <strong>I</strong> - <em>one fingered wave</em><br /> <strong>Taxi</strong> <em>driver winds down window passenger window and passes</em> - "you're all over the f***ing road"<br /> <strong>I</strong> - "Yes. And?"</p> <p>It's almost physically impossible to navigate a staright and predictable line in town, so you just have to ride like you're taking up the entire lane. I feel a lot safer doing that when I see the gutter-runners suddenly swerve wildly around a pothole, sunken civer, tarmac wave or a broken bottle. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1737#post-17189 Tue, 23 Nov 2010 11:34:47 +0000 Cyclingmollie 17189@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Do Speed Cushions Encourage Stupidity? Yes. Speed cushions shouldn't be problem for bikes; there's space to pass them on the inside. But parked cars prevent that forcing bikes to either go over the speed cushion or avoid it by going further into the centre of the road than is ideal. Avoiding speed cushions, drain covers, pot-holes and tram-lines must look to the unsympathetic driver like we're just swerving around for no reason. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1737#post-17188 Tue, 23 Nov 2010 11:33:13 +0000 smsm1 17188@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>A couple of things I've noticed about these speed cushions are that drivers will jump between the pedals, so you can be cycling behind a car and it'll slam on the brake to get over it. Then when it speeds off and I'm trying to accelerate back up to speed, the car behind will [try to] overtake to jump in the gap, to then slam on the brakes at the next speed bump....<br /> Alternatively some drivers will half overtake and swerve in front of me to hit the bump properly thus force me to slam on the brakes to stop. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1737#post-17186 Tue, 23 Nov 2010 11:09:46 +0000 Numptie 17186@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>There are several rows of these 'speed cushions' outside a school I pass when driving the kids to band practice and I find rather than have half an eye on pedestrians (mainly kids coming out of the school, some mucking about)I am focused on the speed cushions. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1737#post-17178 Tue, 23 Nov 2010 10:23:06 +0000 Wilmington's Cow 17178@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I've long wondered whether any one had ever done some sort of mapping to see routes that people take on roads with speed cushions rather than speed humps and see if it leads to a weaving wiggly line. Near my house most of the streets have these, and on many cars are parked on either side, so people tend to swerve to the centre of the three cushions to lighten the shock on their suspension.</p> <p>Hell, I do it myself.</p> <p>But this morning there was a strange occurence en route to work. I was moving out to pass a parked car just before three speed cushions, two cars coming the other way, and their side of the road completely free. Suddenly the car in front swerved right to go over the centre cushion rather than the left. </p> <p>This came as something of a surprise as given I was overtaking a parked car I was suddenly presented with a car which, to all intents and purposes, was headed straight for me. She then swerved back in left as I looked back bemused after an adjusted avoiding action, with the driver behind, who had stayed left, presumably equally bemused.</p> <p>There are three causes as far as I can see: 1. stupidity coupled with a sort of 'learned reaction' to speed cushions; 2. done deliberately to 'scare' the cyclist; 3. she may have been overtaking the other car at the moment I checked behind to make sure it was alright to pull out to overtake the parked car, but she seemed to be going no faster than the car behind.</p> <p>All very odd. </p>