Impact of speed humps of bicyclists

Speed hump is one of the most popular and economical traffic calming measures used globally. It induces shocks and vibrations in the vehicles passing over it. Hump aims to force the driver to reduce the vehicle speed to an optimum speed at which the discomfort is minimum. Extensive studies have been conducted to understand the vibration effect. In developing countries such as India, a large percentage of population uses bicycle or other non-motorized vehicles routinely. This study aims to understand the effects speed humps on bicycle riders. Variables such as geometry of the hump, speed of the vehicle, and riding posture of the driver are considered to understand the discomfort levels in detail. A set of volunteers in bicycles were asked to go over speed humps of different geometry at varying speeds and report the level of discomfort they felt. The vibrations were recorded by accelerometers installed on the handle bar, seat, and neck of the rider for measuring vibrations. These readings from accelerometers were converted to vibration dose values for evaluation. The same procedure was carried out for motorized two-wheeler riders also. The result shows that the bike riders experience the same level of discomfort as that of riders of motorized two-wheelers at a much low speeds. This study shows that unless proper considerations for bicycle riders are made, speed humps which is the most popular speed calming device used across the world could harm the bicyclists, which in turn could negatively impact the bicycling level of the region.