ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla.,None — We've all driven over them. Some drivers hate them; others don't mind them. But now the city of Altamonte Springs might ban speed humps.
The city says the speed humps aren't just slowing down cars, they're slowing down emergency vehicles and now the city may do away with its program to build them. It says the speed barriers impede emergency response times and aren't as effective as it hoped.
"I think it was a good idea initially, but it hasn't turned out to be that way and it doesn't accomplish what it set out to do," resident Sandy Rosell said.
Humps are different from speed bumps because they are longer and graduated. Right now, only one neighborhood, with about 30 homes, has them, but the new policy would ban them from being used anywhere else in the city.
Seminole County already voted to do away with their program. It cited emergency response time as the reason.
The city of Dunedin, Florida conducted a study to test response times in speed hump areas. It said each hump costs fire trucks ten seconds in response time.
The humps keep drivers from going more than 25 miles an hour and don't damage emergency vehicles, but there are those like Dijon Brett who aren't on board with the policy. He says preventing an accident is more important than responding to one.
"God forbid I take my eyes off my son or daughter for one second and they're gone," he said.
Not everyone thinks speed humps jeopardize response time. Eyewitness News checked and Orange County actually had its fire department test and approve the humps and has no plans to end the program.
Altamonte Springs will discuss the issue at their February 2 meeting.
WFTV
