TWO women with health problems have told of the severe impact that speed humps on York’s road are having on their lives.

One said such traffic calming measures were like “torture devices” for her, while another said the cushions meant she could not leave her home by car and had to walk beyond the hump zone.

Fiona Evans, of Huntington, claimed the traffic calming measures were both “ineffective and discriminatory.”

She said she had a 20 per cent disability and suffered from chronic pain, and travelling over road humps, even at a slow crawl, caused her long-lasting pain.

“Since the implementation of the Anthea Drive traffic calming scheme, I have been unable to leave, or access my property, in Whenby Grove, by car,” she said.

“Every time my family goes on a car journey, I have to set off in advance on foot, to walk approximately a quarter of a mile to be picked up in an area beyond the speed hump zone. The same applies on return.”

Anneliese Emmans Dean, of Heslington, who suffers from fibromyalgia, wrote to City of York Council to criticise the reintroduction of humps in University Road She said she had been left in pain after crossing them for the first time, having spent weeks on long, circuitous and time-consuming routes to avoid them.

Liberal Democrat councillor Keith Aspden called for a review of the impact on elderly and disabled drivers of traffic calming measures, particularly certain types of vertical speed humps.

“It was especially disappointing that the council installed new humps in University Road in Heslington with little consultation with local residents or affected groups and when concerns have been raised they have not yet been fully acted upon,” he added.

Neil Ferris, assistant director for transport at the council, said it had met Ms Emmans Dean and was currently considering in detail issues raised in the context of national guidelines and current policy in York.

“However, it’s important to note that these measures are put in specifically to slow traffic down and reduce the number of people hurt in road accidents and are a common road safety feature used throughout the country,” he said.

“Introducing these measures in York has proven successful; typically halving the number of people hurt per year in the areas we have treated. Therefore we do need to consider whether any disadvantages of traffic calming are outweighed by the road safety benefits.”

Rupert Lipton, the managing director of the National Motorists Action Group, has taken his own local authority to court over speed bumps in his area.

He said speed bumps cause a problem when they are used “indiscriminately”

by local authorities, and when their effectiveness as road safety measures was accepted without question and without regard to other problems they may cause.

He said: “In an environment where anti-car ideology has become almost accepted by everybody, there is very little control of local authorities in terms of where they put speed bumps, and their design.

“Issues of safety for the emergency vehicles, and comfort for elderly and disabled people in cars, are ignored.”