Speed Bumps Scrape Vehicles

(Originally Published Sept. 24, 2007 in The Point Weekly)
by Phillip Moyer


Driving over the new speed bumps on the north side of campus has proven costly for David Livingston, PLNU junior. Some of the speed bumps, which were installed this past summer, scraped the bottom of his 1992 Honda Accord, causing damage to the car’s engine exhaust fan and radiator.

Repairs for the exhaust fan cost him $190. He has not yet received an estimate for the cost of repairing the radiator.

Livingston is accustomed to bottoming out on the new speed bumps, particularly the one on the hill by Nease Hall.

“It seems that every time I go over it, no matter how slow I’m going, I still scrape a little bit,” he said. “It’s kind of an annoying thing. Even just to go out and get burritos with friends, I have to beware of the speed bump, and I have to go really slow. When I have three or four friends in my car, it makes it even worse. It’s a hindrance, you know?”

Current regulations for speed bumps on city streets require that they be three and a half inches tall and 12 feet wide, with six feet of gradual incline on either side of the bump’s crest, said Mariano Castro, an assistant traffic engineer for the city of San Diego. He added that most speed bumps installed on private roads follow the same standards as the city, though sometimes that is not the case.

The new speed bumps do not follow the city-approved standards. The new speed bumps are about 10 feet wide and vary in height. The speed bump located just before the entrance to Wiley Hall is three and three quarters of an inch high, and the one placed just before Finch Hall is four and a half inches high. The speed bump on the hill by Nease Hall has an uneven height, reaching three and a half inches high on the west half, and four and a half inches high on the east half.

According to certified master mechanic Robert Waters of Waters Consulting in Sacramento, bottoming out on speed bumps can damage many parts of a car, including the car’s engine, cooling, exhaust, braking and steering systems.

“Any one of these system failures could result in anything from an expensive repair to possibly a serious accident,” Waters said.

Chris Wolnick, whose 2003 Jetta GLI came from the dealership with its frame lowered half an inch from its stock height, has a different problem.

“I can’t make it over the speed bump at all,” Wolnick said. “I had to back up all the way up the hill, go in Nease parking lot and then go back up, because I can’t make it over that first bump.”

Wolnick now drives a stock 1989 Mercedes Benz on campus, which still bottoms out as he drives over the speed bumps. His car has since started making rattling noises.

“I don’t know what the purpose of those huge, roller-coaster speed bumps are,” Wolnick said.

Forrest Adams, PLNU senior, tries to avoid using his car because of the new speed bumps.

“It takes me about 15 seconds to go over one bump; that’s how slow you have to go. I have to angle to get one wheel on, then two wheels on, then switch wheels, and switch wheels, and switch wheels, so I’m like, slithering over this thing, and I still scrape,” Adams said.

Adams noted that part of the problem has to do with the fact that his car, a 1994 Honda Prelude, had been lowered before he bought it. The car’s height is adjustable, but Adams states that he does not have the money, the time or the tools to do anything about it.

“I totally, whole-heartedly agree with putting speed bumps [on campus], especially in the areas they have done so. I think they’re in wonderful areas,” said Adams, “I just think they’re ridiculously sized.”

Adams claimed that he talked to Archie Yates, the director of Public Safety, about the problem, but was not able to convince him that the speed bumps needed to be altered.

When asked about the size of the speed bumps, Yates declined to comment.