I drive a 2007 Mazda3. Two years ago, my city installed rubber speed bumps on my street-- 6 of them!!! I thought that if I slow down, my car would not be damaged by these bumps. I slow down to about 5-10 miles an hour over every bump. So, I’ve been hearing this strange noise recently and the car feels like it’s riding with the brake, or the tires are grinding against something. My mechanic told me yesterday that my shocks are completely gone and all 4 tires (purchased just last year) are all damaged and have to be replaced-- among other damages to my car totaling over $1,000. And he tells me eventually the damage to my car will be permanent. What do you think? Do I have a case for a lawsuit against my city? If 5 miles an hour is not slow enough, what do I have to do? Stop the car every time, get out and lift the car over the bump?
In my opinion…you don’t have a case. 5-10mph is too fast for most speed bumps. Depending on the type of speed bump you have, you must “creep” over these things. It’s legal for municipalities to install them and you can’t sue them for because you drove too fast and caused damage to your vehicle.
Try 2 mph.
Only a lawyer can tell you if you have a valid lawsuit against the city. Of course, the lawyer may charge almost as much as the value of the damages.
5-10 mph is still too fast. Stop and creep over them. That’s why they put them there, to make people slow down and stop.
Lawsuit? Your not going to win. It’s been tried and failed. Rally the neighbors to petition the county commission to remove the speed bumps is your only hope. But, have a stronger argument than this.
Illegal Bumps ?
Some Bloke Over In London Is Fighting The Islington Council Because Their Speed Bumps Along The Carriage Way Were Illegal. They Were Too High, According To Regulations.
BBC Article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/content/articles/2008/10/29/london_speed_bumps_s14_w7_feature.shtml
Rather than trying to collect on car damages, maybe you can see if there exist some standards regarding the dimension limits for speed bumps and shut them down.
CSA
You might see if you can get your city to start using speed “humps” rather than speed bumps. Most cars can go over a typical speed hump at 20 mph. If you can get the city to use a sinusoidal rather than a parabolic profile, the beginning is less abrupt and they are even less of a problem at low speed.
I asked a couple of mechanics about this and they agree-- the HUMPS, which have a less steep slope, are much better for your car than the short-impact rubber BUMPS. And the humps are just as effective in slowing down traffic. But the city tried to save money by installing the damaging bumps. If I can’t sue the city, I am going to get them to change to the humps and change the speed limit to 20 m/p/h-- right now, it’s 25.
John, That’s An Interesting Site You’ve Got. While Off The Subject, What Is Your Position On Round-Abouts And The Added Peril For Pedestrians ? Is It On Your Site ?
CSA
The design and context of roundabouts determine if they are good or bad for pedestrians. The sort of mini traffic circles used for low-volume neighborhood intersections in Seattle are fine for pedestrians, and are an alternative to using stop signs, speed humps, or speed bumps. On the other hand, multi-lane roundabouts used for some high volume intersections create a multiple-threat situation for pedestrians that is not good. Blind pedestrians have problems at roundabouts with medium to high volumes because they cannot use the sound of parallel and perpendicular traffic to determine when it is safe to cross, and there are few large gaps with no traffic in the adjacent circle.
You have pointed out a deficiency in my website – I will have to add a page on roundabouts.
I say you damaged your car, not the City.In a different situation (private property that was a legal easement for utility companies,and others used for access to their homes)the owners of the private property (one was my neighbor, a cop) put out his own speed bump. The attorney down the street (it was a dirt road) got all liquored up one day and came down and started digging up the cop’s speed bump. The cop told him to stop the guy did stop but moved to get in his truck, the cop said “you are drunk and I am not letting you drive”. Well the drunk attorney got in his pickup anyway,started it up,the cop reached in to turn off the truck and the attorney gunned it. Now the cop is riding on the hood with the truck speeding crazily backwards and these guys crash into a tree on my property, now the fight is on. The cop is off duty (and in civilian clothes) I run out and ask “are you a policeman and do you need my help”?(I knew he was but I wanted him to ask for my help) the cop say’s “Yes” and we took care of the drunk. The other neighbor comes out with an old pair of handcuffs and we cuff the attorney. Well an “officer needs help” call had gone out and the cops started comming from everywhere, they took the attorney to jail(but the cuffs were so old they would not release), they asked "who was the last one to use these cuffs “Wyatt Eyrp”? The County Attorney charged the previously drunk attorney with assualt on a police officer, he was looking at 3 years, (but no drunk driving for some reason).
You know how they say not to p***off an attornry? well now starts that part. He plea bargins down his case but slaps me with a lawsuit for thumping him. The County provides me with an attorney (as I did come to the aid of a cop even though I always had been looking for a way to work this guy over, you know how on cop shows they show the people out on the ground? well my cop friend did not want to do this and we did our work inside the attorney’s truck, you learn something everyday). The judge throws out the case against me saying the attorney did not file on me within the required time period( I laughed long and hard over this ruling). I see the cop every now and then (he is pretty high up in the City Police now). The cop said he owes me a favor as he was getting wupped up on pretty good and I put a stop to that,(he was barefoot and lost his glasses in the fight).I never needed his help for anything and this happened almost 20 years ago, never saw the attorney since.
Speed bumps and alcohol do not mix is the moral to the story.
I don’t think you have a case at all and unfortunately sometimes crossing a speed bump/hump/whatever you want to call it may require a speed of 1 MPH. If that’s what it takes then so be it.
Instead you’re wanting to up the ante by wanting to go 20 MPH? Patience grasshopper, or move to a bump-free area.
Should I even ask why the city installed 6 of these things on your street? Complaints from neighbors about perpetual speeding, maybe even over the speed bumps/humps maybe?
Find some like minded neighbors, pry the speed bumps off the street and deposit them on the steps your local town or city hall.
Then proceed directly to jail so you can spare you and your family the embarrassment of being hauled off to jail in front of your neighbors.
Not if you do this under the cover of night. If these speed bumps are the kind I?m envisioning, they are only secured to the ground with some heavy duty bolts that are attached to some anchors embedded in the roads. Remove the bolts and the rubber speed bumps come right up. Not that I?ve done anything of the sort before or anything.
But anyway, if you get enough people to complain about it, the local government will usually do something about it.
Two years ago a street on my, and many other people’s commute to work had it’s speed limit dropped to 35 MPH from 45 MPH, no explanation was given. After a few weeks of complaints to the country and letters printed in the local newspapers about it, the 45 MPH speed limit was back up. The county never did say why the speed limit was ever lowered in the first place, even traffic engineers wrote in to the newspapers that they weren’t sure why it was lowered in the first place either, but it’s moot point now.
My law professor used to tell us all the time that there has never been a law passed that someone somewhere didn’t want. The speed bumps were put in because one of your neighbors wanted them in. They’ll come out when you and your neighbors petition the city to have them removed. When you are taking the petition around the neighborhood, you’ll find out who wanted them in the first place. The other way is about 30 minutes of work at 2:00 am taking them out. Once you take them out, though, they’ll be looking for you. I agree though, 5 mph is too fast.
It’s a combination of a lot of seniors who have to cross the street to go to the recreation center-- they get scared even if there are no cars coming-- I know because my mom is 90 and that’s the way she is. So I definitely understand what’s going on. Our street is also the only one that runs diagonal North/South, so many drivers have learned they can save a lot of time cutting across, so we get a lot of thru traffic.
But let me ask you guys this: If I have to slow down to 1mph to make it safe for my car to go over the bumps, then why not just put a STOP sign at that spot??? It would make it even safer for the pedestrian, there would be no difference to the motorist in terms of speed, and there would be no harm done to the car? And why use the worst kind of bumps if you’re going to use one at all?
I’ll tell you another thing-- the real speeders are not effected by this-- SUVs that can take the bumps go over them at very high speeds. And I’ve seen crazy kids in sports cars run thru this street, bumps and all at extremely high speeds-- like it makes it more fun for them.
The street on the next block North of here has a lot of kids always playing there-- instead of bumps, they opted to make the speed limit 15 mph. I rarely ever see anybody go faster than that on that street. Just as effective!!! Our street is 25 mph but with street bumps-- that’s stupid and the people who pay for it unnecessarily are drivers like me.