Thomas Kistler

October 29, 2002

To whom it may concern,

What we all want is a better safer community with access for all. Speed humps (tabled crosswalks) do not provide this. All the documented scientific studies support the problems with speed humps, not any benefits.

They cause : traffic diversion and congestion onto our neighboring streets, causing irritation and frustration for our neighbors, delay emergency response, significantly increase air pollution, increase damage to private and public vehicles, increase gas usage, cause pain and restrict public access for the injured and disabled.

As a retired Firefighter/Paramedic for the City of El Cajon, I am very familiar with speed humps and their effect on emergency vehicles. During my 15 years with the city I had many experiences with speed humps, none of which were pleasant. Speed humps do slow down response times unless you want to damage your equipment, vehicle or personnel. This is not an option, if you can’t get to the sick, injured or dying you can’t help anyone.

Speed humps throw everything and everyone on the emergency vehicle around unless you take them slowly. I have worked with the City of El Cajon as an acting engineer on informal studies that reinforce this. Studies and my own experience have show that the emergency vehicles must slow to approximately 5mph over each hump. The time required to traverse each hump is from 6 to 15 seconds. That amount of time doesn’t sound long but with successive humps, which is how they are installed the seconds add up to minutes. To the general public 30 seconds to a minute isn’t long but it means life or death in many cases. I would ask you why emergency medical crews train to get to an emergency as fast as possible ? The answer is simple, the faster they get there the more people they can save.

Time / response calculations show that deaths in critical situations increase dramatically as the emergency response times increase. For instance, a two minute response time gives you an 82% survival rate whereas a four minute response only a 51% survival rate and a five minute response time the survival rate is down to a meager 19%. The same calculations show 8 times as many people will die due to the delays speed humps cause than they will possibly prevent.

Then there is the emergency transportation of these critically sick or injured. So, not only is there a delay in response but in the transportation of these people. As a Paramedic for 15 years I know first hand how hard it is to provide adequate care in a moving vehicle. Speed humps make it impossible. The ambulance either has to stop or treatment has to be postponed until after them. Also, watching a patient in pain getting bumped around and asking you for help is gut wrenching ! Imagine having a broken back or neck and on top of that an excruciating ride to the operating room !

Proposing tabled crosswalks is the same thing as putting speed humps on all major routes of response. This is going to kill a lot of innocent people who are not aware of the delay these cause. It is also going to trap the disabled people in their homes who are only able to get out with the use of vehicles.

Reply requested,

Thomas Kistler