Yeo: Taking up the humps

A Conservative government would remove all speed humps from UK roads in order to make traffic flow more smoothly.

The Tories have said the humps cost more lives than they save because they delay the emergency services and cause extra pollution.

A Conservative amendment to the Road Safety Bill, being debated in the Commons, proposes that no new speed humps should be permitted on any public road.

Tim Yeo, the shadow transport secretary, said: "Superficially, road humps may seem an attractive solution. But they probably do more harm than good.

"Both safety and environmental considerations are better served by cars travelling at a steady 20mph rather than constantly speeding up and slowing down."

Road safety groups said the benefits of faster response times would be far outweighed by the extra casualties resulting from drivers speeding on hump-free streets.