Traffic calming

Speed humps, cushions, build-outs and tables

We justify the significant investment of road safety improvements on the basis of a reduction in personal injury collisions at the location. Each accident saved produces a cost benefit to society as a whole through reduced emergency service involvement, reduced hospital costs, reduced loss of earnings for injured parties and loss of productivity, reduced insurance claims and so on.

Every site that is recommended for treatment on an accident basis is prioritised for funding across the county. As the budget for road safety improvements is finite, it is the sites with the greatest proven need which are treated first and these will have a cluster of incidents with a discernible trend or pattern in the cause of each. 

Installing traffic calming measures without justification on an accident basis leaves the council open to criticism that there is no human or cost benefit to society; an investment of thousands of pounds with no substantial return to the tax payer. We could also not justify to local communities where road users have been killed and seriously injured in speed related collisions, expenditure on a location that has no justification in terms of an accident basis.

Many locations in Staffordshire feature traffic calming measures such as speed humps/cushions, build-outs or tables, which are intended to work in conjunction with the speed limit to ensure good compliance. 

Over time, these physical measures can become worn just like any other highway apparatus. If you have a concern about a defective speed hump or other feature, these can be reported online. 

How can I request traffic calming features?

Physical measures such as speed humps affect everyone who lives nearby and although these were once a popular solution to local traffic speed concerns, they carry with them additional and ongoing maintenance costs. New locations are rarely identified for traffic calming features due to reduced budgets for safety improvements and the significant investment that is required to install and maintain them. 

We would also undertake a consultation exercise to ensure there is a majority of support for the features and we realise that they have become increasingly less popular over recent years for a number of reasons.

Generally, requests are received in locations where there is a perceived speeding problem and if we have no data to support such a concern, it is very unlikely that traffic calming features would be considered over more cost-effective solutions or at all. Instead we will signpost residents to community-led initiatives. 

Please see the questions regarding reporting road safety and if you still feel it necessary, you can tell us about your concerns via Report It and selecting the 'road speed' category) so that we can investigate further.