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Islington Tribune - by TOM FOOT
Published: 9 May 2008

Damages payout fuels anti-bump campaign

A CALL for Islington speed bumps to be ripped up and replaced with speed cameras was made this week.
It came as environment chiefs were forced into an embarrassing U-turn following a landmark compensation payout to a driver who damaged his car on a bump in Roman Way, Holloway. Retired tree surgeon Michael Copsey, 66, from Liverpool Road, was paid £95 for repairs to his Mini Cooper weeks after being told he would not receive a penny.
The council claimed restrictions on the height of speed bumps did not apply in London.
But in a letter to Islington South and Finsbury MP Emily Thornberry, a Town Hall official admitted: “Further information has come to light... the height of the speed restriction in places was over the allotted height.”
The Labour MP said this week that speed bumps were a “third world” approach to traffic calming and that cameras were a 21st-century solution.
She added: “Bumps are a sledgehammer approach to road safety. We are lucky enough to live in a rich society with resources to tackle the problem.
“I know taxi drivers who won’t come to Islington because of the bumps. They are incredibly unpopular and right now we do not even know how many are illegal.”
Lib Dem environment chief Councillor Lucy Watt said: “It was not a U-turn because I was given the wrong information in the first place. Speed bumps are unpopular but they have saved a large number of lives in Islington.
“We certainly will look into putting up cameras, if that is what people want. But I would say there would be similar objections to having cameras on every street as there are to bumps. At least with bumps you are guaranteed no one can break the limit.”
She added: “We’ve already got a programme of putting in new, lower-speed bumps, and we’re reviewing the ones which are slightly bigger – like those in Roman Way – to make them more comfortable for drivers.
“If anyone wants to let us know about any speed bumps they think are too high, we’d be more than happy to examine them.”

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