A government minister has pledged to review the rules on road humps after being warned by a London MP that they were causing misery for residents, especially those living in 20mph zones.
Transport minister Guy Opperman said it was clear some traffic-calming measures were “a problem” and promised new research - and that guidelines on their use would be reconsidered.
It came after Iain Duncan Smith, the MP for Chingford and Woodford Green and a former Tory party leader, told a parliamentary debate that residents were suffering sleepless nights due to the noise and vibration caused when vehicles hit road humps.
Mr Opperman said 20mph zones, especially near schools, were “a fantastically good thing”, while road humps “can play an important role in improving road safety”.
He said the Government had no power to intervene in the day-to-day running of local roads as they were controlled by councils.
But he said Mr Duncan Smith, addressing MPs in a Westminster Hall debate, had made a very fair and compelling point” about how far humps should be located from homes to minimise vibrations.
Mr Opperman said: “We understand and appreciate that there is a problem. I promise that the Department for Transport will look at it and review the situation.”
Transport for London believes the roll-out of 20mph speed limits to be vital to efforts to reduce road deaths and serious injuries in the capital. These are enforced by cameras.
Local authorities often use humps to limit speeds and to discourage motorists from driving through residential areas as a short cut.
Mr Duncan Smith said he was opposed to the “unnecessary blanket use of traffic-calming measures in residential areas”, not to those in place near schools and hospitals for safety reasons.
He said: “There are serious unintended consequences for residents that need to be considered.
“I have sat in a number of houses next to what I call the higher road restriction tables where, even at 20mph, large, heavy lorries hitting the humps create enormous vibrations through the houses beyond.
“The attempt to brake as they go into them creates more emissions. The unintended consequences—the vibrations, damage to property, noise and interruption to sleep… are why I believe that the 20 mph zone should be considered road by road, not on a blanket basis.
“Too many Londoners are struggling on main roads that have rapidly been brought down from 40mph to 20mph.
“Traffic-calming measures are causing higher emissions in parts of the city where the measures are applied, and at the same time traffic is being funnelled with no escape routes.
“Conversations are being drowned out in many houses near the humps, and the effects of additional noise on residents living in the vicinity include disturbed sleep and the stress resulting from sleep deprivation.
“When they are combined with low-traffic neighbourhoods, it becomes a major problem. Some residents now genuinely suffer from some kind of clinical depression.”
