Motorist Michael Read: ‘real risk’

MOTORIST Michael Read believes Islington’s road humps are the reason he was faced with a £450 bill when he put his 1995 3-Series BMW car in for an MOT.
According to mechanics, both rear springs and shock absorbers had to be replaced because they had been damaged by the humps.
Mr Read, a business writer who lives in Milner Square, Barnsbury, said: “I use my car very little. And most of the time I use it for crossing Barnsbury to Camden and back again.
“The car is well maintained and had only 3,000 miles on the clock since its last major service. It has not been driven ‘hard’ at all.
However, at Darcar garage in Highgate, mechanicsfound the spring had sheared in two despite it being a substantial piece of metal.
Mr Read added: “The garage told me that in the past a broken spring was highly unusual but has become increasingly common since the introduction of road humps in Islington and Camden.
“The repair cost me £450 for the replacement of both springs and shock absorbers. I paid out £150 last year for an exhaust system damaged by the road humps.”
He is concerned about the possible danger if a broken spring is not spotted. Mr Read said: “I’m told that under hard braking, on a motorway, it’s possible I could have lost control of the car and caused a catastrophic pile-up. This is the real risk and the price of Barnsbury’s traffic- calming scheme.
“Cars are not designed to deal with road humps. There must be many cars in the borough which have had their suspension, braking and steering systems weakened and compromised by the battering they are taking.”
Local Freedom Party spokesman Tim Newark is launching a campaign to persuade Islington Council to remove all humps, apart from those outside schools or on dangerous roads.
But Barnsbury Lib Dem councillor Bridget Fox has come out in defence of the humps.
She said that, since they were fitted in 2001, traffic in Liverpool Road was down by 28 per cent. Average speeds were down by 10mph and accidents by 40 per cent.
Labour spokesman for the environment Councillor Wally Burgess said humps were tiny blots on the roadscape. He added: “They are not necessary because there are other ways of slowing traffic. Speed cameras are more efficient, or chicanes, which are tiny obstructions, can slow traffic.”