Dump humps call

By Danielle Galvin
RUBBER speed humps in the Pakenham Place car park are causing headaches for drivers.
This week, a Facebook event was created by fed-up Pakenham residents calling for the yellow and black speed humps to be removed from the car park.
Pakenham mum Amanda Maslen started the event on Facebook and says the new speed humps were put in a couple of weeks ago.
“Everyone has been complaining about them,” she said.
Amanda says the pedestrian crossing is not the issue.
“We don’t want them permanently removed necessarily, but they are the worst sort of speed hump,” she said.
Janice Dodly has lived in Pakenham for over five years, and she drives a Holden Commodore station wagon that scrapes as she mounts the high arched speed humps out the front of Safeway and Target.
She says they don’t slow people down.
“They are lucky I haven’t gone over there with a hammer and removed them myself,” she said.
With population on the rise in Pakenham and infrastructure lagging behind, Janice says there are too many people in the area for the speed humps to work.
“It’s so busy and built up now that it’s dangerous to have them there,” she said.
Motorists with lowered vehicles are complaining about the height of the bumps.
In the Target carpark, motorists speeding around the corner face a bottleneck as cars converge from three different roads.
The Pakenham-Gazette Facebook page was abuzz with residents debating whether the speed humps slow down the hoons or disrupt the flow of traffic.
A comment from one annoyed motorist detailed the damage to her van’s newly fitted brakes.
“I had my brakes fixed about four weeks ago. When I got my car back from the mechanics they were perfect. Since the installation of those speed humps my brakes have started rattling and making all sorts of noises.”
Nonie Sullivan regularly shops at Target in the Pakenham Place centre.
“I think it reminds people where they are and that they should slow down,” she said.
But another long-time Pakenham resident, Ben Vanlith, has something else to worry about.
“I had an operation on my back, which didn’t go so well. When I go over the speed humps, it hurts my back. Anyone in favour of the speed humps should drive over them with a crooked back,” he said.
Jim Baillie works in Pakenham and he believes the speed humps ruin the wheel alignment on vehicles.
“It doesn’t matter whether you’re going over them slow or fast, they ruin the alignment,” he said.
But other residents believe that speeding drivers and hooning teens need to be reminded to slow down and stick to the speed limit.
Another concerned resident welcomed the speed humps in a comment on the Gazette Facebook page.
“I think it’s a good thing. There are so many idiots [who] fly past and don’t stop for pedestrians, so it’s good they are there so slow those idiots down!”
The Pakenham Place carpark is owned by property developer Lend Lease, who was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.