Speed hump which drivers can steer around dubbed ‘pointless’

A speed hump which only covers half a road has been called “pointless” by residents, who say drivers are simply steering around the traffic calming measure.

The hump covers only the outside lane of Wigman Road in Nottingham, which has on-street parking bays along the left-hand lane.

It was installed as part of a series of planned improvements to walking and cycling routes, which Nottingham City Council leader Neghat Khan said are “all about making it safer and easier for people to get around”.

But residents say most motorists who drive down Wigman Road steer around the hump to avoid it if there are no parked cars – and believe it has created an “accident waiting to happen”.

Wheelchair user Nigel Fleming, whose home is near the speed hump, said so many people swerve around it that his carers do not want to park in the bays in case their vehicles are hit.

“Most of the cars are trying to avoid it, so it’s pointless,” he said.

“It’s a mystery, I’ve not seen anything like it anywhere else in Nottingham.

“Half a speed bump is just bizarre.”

Betsey Degraft-Johnson, who has lived on Wigman Road for 17 years, said the traffic calming measure has not helped cut problems with speeding on the road.

“Late at night some cars go really fast along here,” she said.

“Not a lot of cars park where that speed bump is so you can navigate around it. If there is a car parked there, you do have to go over it.

“Just one speed bump is very odd because people don’t expect it.

“I’ve seen cars fly down the road and slam on their brakes to swerve around it.”

Cindy Cooke, whose father lives on the road, said: “I drive around it, I can’t see the point in it.

“Some people come down here at 50 or 60mph so it’s an accident waiting to happen.

“People have said it’s a waste of space, why is it even there? It’s quite funny really.”

Nottingham City Council received funding from the government’s Transforming Cities Fund to carry out the work.

The council has been contacted for comment.