Speed Bump Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Installations on private land do not require a Traffic Regulation Order and do not require planning permission. You do require the landowner's permission. If they are going on a shared private road, then there must be agreement from all owners. Examples of this are car parks, private driveways and roads, school grounds, sports facilities and business premises.

Installations on private land do not have to conform to the regulations as those placed on public roads. Speed bumps designed to decrease vehicle speed to 10mph or lower are restricted to private roads.

Installations on public roads must be specified by the local authority. In these circumstances they recommend speed bumps should be between 25mm and 100mm in height. Whilst our speed bumps are not for use on public roads, all of ours do conform to this.

Currently the installation of speed bumps or cushions on a private road or land does not constitute development and so no explicit planning permission is required.

You must seek and gain the permission from the land owner and any other interested parties before starting installation of speed bumps.

On property that is Listed (Grade I, Grade II* or Grade II) or in a conservation area you should make additional checks on whether further permission is required.

Yes, provided that the freeholder has given permission to do so. If it is on a managed property, any decision usually lies with the management company or residents association.

Premium speed bump kits - our most popular kits. The yellow segment colour is made from solid PVC, which means it does not wear or fade. Supplied in black and yellow alternating segments. Can be supplied in all yellow, all black too (please email us or call on 01905 794875). Supplied in 50mm height only.

Ridgeback speed bump kits - all black with reflective yellow triangles added. Available in 50mm and 75mm heights. Carries a slightly reduced price compared to Premium and has a different appearance.

Value speed bump kits - Great value, robustness and durability where appearance is less important; the yellow segments are painted, instead of being solid yellow PVC. Available in 50mm and 75mm heights.

XL speed bump kits - suitable for applications where the majority of traffic are vans and lorries.

We recommend 50mm speed bumps for almost all applications where the majority of the traffic is cars. This generally slows the traffic to around 10mph.

For applications where the majority of traffic is lorries or vans, 75mm may be appropriate. This generally slows the traffic to around 5mph. 75mm can be aggressive for cars, so if many cars usually use the site we encourage 50mm.

We would strongly recommend our 50mm premium speed bump kit. This is by far the most popular choice and generally reduces traffic speed to around 10mph. This is high enough to be effective, but not so high that people find them 'too aggressive'.

Yes, all of our speed bumps are made in the UK and we keep plenty of stock ready to go; if you order before 2pm on a working day we will dispatch the same day.

Our kits are sold in half-metre steps from 1 to 10 metres. We recommend leaving a gap either side for a variety of reasons including drainage or clearance for cyclists.

On each kit page we have a table that lists the exact measured length of every kit if you require the precise measurements.

If you require a kit longer than 10 metres please call us on 01905 794875 or email sales@startsafety.uk.

On public roads, speed humps are limited to 100mm based on the Highways (Road Humps) Regulations 1996. On private land (e.g. a car park) there is no maximum, however we recommend no more than 75mm in height.

Exact speeds cannot be prescribed through the height of speed bumps - this depends on the vehicle and wheel size. Generally, two common rules are used to determine the height required. To slow traffic to 10mph then we suggest the use of 50mm. These are suitable for all vehicle types and occupy the majority of all installations. To slow traffic to 5mph we suggest the use of our 75mm height speed bumps. Note that road users will find these very aggressive, so are generally used on sites with larger vehicles, such as lorries.

No. Speed bumps must be secured to a solid surface such as concrete or a good quality tarmac. Without this the fixings will work loose and the speed bumps won't be secure.

One option is to lay a concrete strip where you require the speed bumps to sit, or alternatively use signage alone to discourage excessive speed.

We do not recommend installing speed bumps to block paving. This risks breaking up the pavers, as well as individual blocks working loose and splitting causing a complete strip failure over time. If you want to install speed bumps in this situation, we recommend laying a solid concrete strip where you wish the speed bumps to be and installing on that.

Yes, our speed bumps are safe for road legal vehicles, including HGVs up to 44 tonne, cars, motorbikes and of course, bicycles. We recommend 75mm height speed bumps for effective speed calming of large HGV and vans.

Our speed bumps are designed to take road legal vehicles including HGVs of up to 44 tonnes. If HGVs use the site constantly, we recommend using our XL speed bumps.

For almost all road legal cars, both 50mm and 75mm speed bumps are suitable at a sensible speed. For 75mm speed bumps, some car drivers find them too aggressive, especially if driven over at excessive speed. We encourage 50mm speed bumps to be used where the majority of the traffic is cars.

Yes, our speed bumps are very easy to install, please see our Speed Bump Installation Guide for more information.

When you buy a speed bump kit from us, everything you need is included, except for the electric drill giving you peace of mind.

All of our speed bump kits are secured to the ground using an oversized, specially designed plug and screw - the 'universal fixing', suitable for tarmac or concrete. To secure an inner segment, it requires four fixings. An end segment requires two fixings. Each fixing requires a 16mm hole to be drilled and it is strongly recommended to use a heavy duty electric SDS drill.

To make it even easier, many installers buy our 16mm nut driver that can be used with an electric drill or impact driver to speed up fastening the screws.

Our speed bump kits are designed to be installed by any competent person(s) with just an electric SDS drill. This means the total cost is far less than tarmac speed humps; no contractor required, no resurfacing and no site closures.

Many people comfortable with heavy-duty tools install our kits themselves, however there are a broad range of trades that would be able to professionally install the kits.

The only thing you require is an electric SDS drill. Optionally you may also find useful:

• A 10mm drill bit to mark the holes
• A hole-blower to remove excess dust from each holes
• A nut driver / setter to speed up screwing in each screw.

Please refer to our installation guide for the full instructions.

A short summary of the process is: lay the sections out and mark the hole positions. Move the speed bumps away from the holes and drill with the supplied 16mm drill bit. Hammer a plastic plug into each hole. Move the speed bumps back into position and screw in the metal screw with a socket or nut driver. Our universal fixing works in both tarmac and concrete.

For those who are familiar with installation, with good quality powerful drill and a typical surface it is possible to do a 3 metre premium kit in 2 hours (24 fixings).

This varies widely depending on the length of the kit, the material it is being fixed to, the capability of the electric SDS drill being used and how familiar the person installing them is with installation. Please remember..

• Concrete, especially reinforced concrete can take longer to drill each hole.
• A powerful drill saves time and effort. An unsuitable drill might give up!
• A nut driver / setter saves significant time when screwing in each screw.

Yes, it's quite common for a single person to install a speed bump kit on their own. We always recommend having a good quality electric SDS drill and some familiarity with the process before starting.

Please see our installation guide for instructions and videos on how to install our speed bump kits.

Yes. Each section is held down by 4 (inner sections) or 2 (shoulders) universal tarmac or concrete bolts, so they can simply be unscrewed and new holes drilled in the new locations. New fixings will be required in the new location which can be purchased separately.

The previous fixings can be left in place or removed and the holes filled.

Strongly recommended. We sell a complete range of speed bump signs, both post and wall mounted in various sizes. Typically these are installed 20 metres ahead of the first row of speed bumps.

Signs are not legally required on private land but are generally encouraged for duty of care reasons.

We have a combination sign which says 'CAUTION SPEED BUMPS' along with a speed roundel of either 5mph or 10mph. We recommend this, available as a post mounted or wall mounted version. At a minimum, a speed roundel showing the speed limit of the site should be displayed.

Our speed bumps are not made from rubber, but are made from high density, high quality PVC. Our gallery has photographs of installations made many years ago and are still in good order including supermarket car parks and industrial estates. With our premium yellow sections, they are solid yellow PVC on the outer so the colour will not wear off.

Our premium kits use solid yellow PVC on the outer which means the colour runs through; it cannot 'wear off' or significantly become pale in colour.

Our value kit yellow sections use a painted finish over recycled PVC which costs less but the colour can weather and wear over time. If this is a customer-facing site, we recommend our premium kits.

We recommend checking that the fixings are tight after the first few weeks of traffic and intermittently after that. It is also a good idea to sweep the sections free of grit, debris if it is accumulating against them.

Our kits are supplied with a speed bump optimised 'Universal Fixing' - This uses a specially designed non-loosening thread and plug that will rarely, or ever need tightening once secured.

We do however recommend checking that the fixings are tight after the first few weeks of traffic and intermittently after that.

Yes. If for some reason a part is damaged (e.g. a digger or agricultural vehicle catching an edge) all parts can be purchased individually from our parts and accessories section.

Yes. We have a full range of speed bump kits and speed bump accessories that you can purchase yourself with no trade account required and no minimum order.

Yes. Standard delivery (2-3 working days) is included in every one of our kits to UK mainland addresses, excluding the highlands, islands and specific remote postcodes.

We hold all kits and accessories in stock and ready for dispatch the same day when the order is received before 2pm. Our standard delivery service is 2-3 working days, however there is a small additional fee on checkout for a next-day service.

Yes. Please email or phone us for a quotation - our speed bump kits are delivered on a pallet and due to the nature of pallet deliveries to remote, export or difficult to reach areas we quote these on a case by case basis. We do this routinely so it is no issue; we do this manually to ensure we are giving you the best shipping cost possible.

Yes - our kits are generally available in 1 to 10 metres online however we can supply other lengths and colour combinations (e.g. all yellow or black). Call 01905 794875 or email sales@startsafety.uk to order.

Yes. We offer credit and accept POs from schools, councils, the NHS and other government services.

For private businesses we offer credit and accept POs where we have an existing working relationship with them, subject to credit checks and application approval.

Speed bumps are used when needing to moderate or slow the speed of traffic, usually where vehicles and pedestrians share space such as car parks, private estates, school grounds or yards.

All of our speed bumps are designed for private land, where it's often necessary to show that reasonable measures have been taken to manage the speed of vehicles. Our speed bumps come in two heights; 50mm (for around 10mph) and 75mm (for around 5mph)

They are very effective when installed properly.

For locations with high volumes of HGVs or very large vehicles, we recommend 75mm speed bumps.

For all other vehicles we strongly recommend 50mm speed bumps.

Speed bumps and speed humps both aim to reduce vehicles' speed, but use two slightly different designs.

Speed humps have a much shallower slope at each side and a much longer length to drive across - these are usually laid in tarmac.

Speed bumps are shorter in drivable length with a steeper slope at each side. These are commonly installed in driveways, car parks and entrances to private property - and are bolted to the surface.

All of our kits are speed bumps in this sense. They are bolted down, can be retrofitted to existing tarmac or concrete car parks.