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TENTATIVE GUIDELINES
ON
THE PROVISION OF SPEED
BREAKERS FOR CONTROL
OF
VEHICULAR SPEEDS
ON
MINOR ROADS
TENTATIVE GUIDELINES
ON
THE PROVISION OF SPEED
BREAKERS FOR CONTROL
OF
VEHICULAR SPEEDS
ON
MINOR ROADS
Puhlished by
THE INDIAN ROADS CONGRESS
.Jarnnagar lloust-, Shllhjah:lll Ruacl,
New l>t'lhi-llU Oll
I 9%
Price R:,. 32
(Plus packing. & rostagd
IRC: 99--1988
..
I. INTRODUCfiON
1.1. Development "f suita blc recom mendati0ns on speed
breakers have been under the consideration of the Trallic Engineer-
ing Commmee of the Indian Road~ Cungrc:ss for some trme. The
Traffic Engrneering Cl mmattee 10 their mcctang held at Bhopal on
the 4th February. 1986 entrusted th e <.!rafting 0f the Sl:lndar<.l based
0n the spot studies of suit<tble speed breakers to the University o f
Roorkee. The draft prepared by them was considered by t he
Committl'e in their meeting held at Hyderabau on the 17th Janu-
ary, 1987 ard it \\as decided that the draft could be finalised b y
the IRC Secretariat and Member Secretary, Traffic Engiueering
Committee in light of the comments received
Acco rdingly, the draft was reviseu by the Traffic Engineering
Committee (pe rsonnel given below) in their meeting held at Ne w
Del hi on 12th June, 1987 :
Dr. N.S Srinivasan Conve nor
D. Sauyal Member-Secretary
U.K. Ag•twal K . Suryanara:vana Rao
K. Arun~ocnalam ProL N. Ran~anathan
R.T. Atre Or. O.S Sahgal
A.K. Bandopadhyaya D V. Sahni
P.S. Bawa Dr A.C. Sarna
J...K. Bhattacharya R.K. Saxena
Dilip Bhattacharya H.C. Sethi
S.P. Bharaava H.M Shah
A.G. Borkar R.P. Siklc.a
P. Das R. Thillainayogam
S.B. Deol V.V Thakar
T. Ghosh D.L. Vaidya
Dr. A.K. Gupta Prof. Dinesh Mohan
Joginder Singh P 0 Valsankar
Dr. C.E.G. Justo C F (NH), Kerala (V .S. lyer)
Dr. L.R. Kadiyall Director, Tran~port Re:;earch,
V.P. Kamdar MOT (R C Sharma)
Dr. S.K. Khanna The Chief, Tran~pnrt & Communicatio n
N .Y. Meraoi Board , B M R D.A. (R. Y. Tambe)
Narain Prnlcash Mathur S E. Traffic Engg &
K.C. Nnyak Management Cell, Madras
A.N. Naoda The President, IRC & DG (RD)
S M. ?arulkar (K K Sarin)
Sbeo Nandan Prasad -Ex-officio
Dr. S P. Planiswamy The Secretary, IRC
Dr. S.P. Raghava Chari (Nin ...n Koshl)
V.S. Ranc -Ex-officio
Prof. M.S.V. Rao
1
,
JRC: 99-1988
2. GENERAL
2. I. Roads of different categories and under different situ·
tions are designed for designated design speeds at which vehicles
can trave l with convenien ce nnd sufety. However, at cc rtuin Joe·
ations, such as approaches to manned and unmann ed level eros·
sings, sharp curves, congested{accide nt-prone locations, resid ential
streets, etc., control of speed may become r1ecessary to promote
orderly traffic movement and improve d safety .
.
2.2. A number of engineering measures are available to con·
trol vehicular speed. Some of these are posting of mandatory
speed limit signs, use of flashing beacons to alert drivers. road
markings of various tyres, etc.
2.3. Yet, there may be cases, particularly on secondary/
tertiary roads an d on residential streets in urban areas, where cer·
tnin· physical constraints may beco me necessary for effecting con-
trol on ve hicula r speeds. In this regard, th ree types of devices,
namely, speed breakers, rumble strips and width restrictions have
beert used successfully . Choice among these will depend on loca l
factors such as the type of area traversed, the type and volume of
traffic, the extent of speed reduction desired, and other local fac-
tors. Ho\\oever, speed breakers, in particular, are meant mainly
for residential areas, minor roads, and similar situati ons. Their
use on major inter-city roads outsid e urban areas is not considered
a good engineering practice, and the Indian Roads Congress does
not favour it.
2.4. Speed breake rs, where permitted to be in stalled, provi-
de visua l, audible and tactile stimuli which alert drivers and cause
them to slow down. These can have different heights, lengths,
spacings, signs, etc. In fa ct, no pa rticular design is suitable for all
2
IRC: 99-1988
the types of vehicles using the road. For example, a speed breaker
designed for trucks can be dangerous to motor cyclists and one
designed for motor cycl1sts will be metfcctjve for trucks. The des-
ign recommended herein IS a compromise design to suit average
Indian road traffic condit1oos and is based on field investigations
and research.
2.5. Speed breakers are not intended as substitute for pro-
per mandatory, warning or informatory signs but arc meant on ly
t o draw attention of driver:. to a possible hazard ahead.
2.6. These recommenJat10ns may require revision in the
light of future experience and development in the field. Towards
th1s end, it is suggested that a record of speed and accident condi-
tions, before and-after the mstallatioo of speed breakers, should be
kept.
3. DEFINITION
A speed breaker is a hump surface across the roadway hav-
ing a rounded shape with width greater than th<:: wheel base of
most of the vehicles using the road. When there is decreased vari-
ation in sensory stimuli and at locations where speed con trols are
desired, a speed breaker acts as a strong stimuli to arouse
reactio n in the brain. Smce the driver reaction times are fas-
ter in response to audible and tactile stimuli than to visual stimuli,
a driver subconsciously reduces his speed. An ideally designed
hump should satisfy the folio~ ing requirements:
(i) There should be co damage to vehicles cor excessive discomfort to
the drivers and passengers whee passing at the preferred crossina
speed.
(ii) The hump should not aive rise to excessive noise or cause harmful
vibrations to the adjoining buildings or affect the other 1esidents of
the area.
(iii) Above the de~ign speed, a driver should suffer increasing level of dis-
comfort (but without losmg directional control and without any vehi-
cle damage) depending oo the extent through which des1gn speed is
exceeded.
4. SCOPE
~.1. Warrants
Use of speed breakers IS JUStified pnmarily under the follow-
IllS three Circumstances :
(I) T-iotersections of minor roads with rural trunk highways, characteri-
sed by relatively low traffic volumes on the minor road but very high
average operating speed and poor sight distances . Su<·h locations
have a high record of fatal accidents and as such a speed breaker on
the minor road is recommended ;
3
,
IRC: 99.1H8
(2) Intersections of minor roada with major roads, and mid-block aect-
iooa In urban areas where it is de~irable to brin4 down tho souda;
and
(3) Selected local streets in residential areas, school, colleae or univer-
sity campuses, hospitals, etc. Also an areas where traffic is observed
to travel faster than the re~tulated or safe aoeed in the area.
4
lol l.O NGITUOINAl. SECTI()foj
8Rl!AI<ER TO 8£ CONTIII!UfO
OVER THt F\Al. SH0Ul.O(A
I· CARRIAGEWAY __.j WIDTH WITH A,R01'111ATt
B.t.S£ COUAst
I
I b I TRANS VERSE SECTION
V>
Fig. 1. Recommended •pecification for rounded hump type of&peed breaker for aeneral
traffic at preferred crossing speed 25 kmfh
h;IO em
t\~\7m
':20 1:20
t--
r
'~"' ·I· L•5.0m
-'-
~,-
1.5m- - -·rll
Fia. 2. Recommended apeciflcatlon for hump type of apeed breaker for heavy truck and
bus traflic at preferred crouiog speed 2S tm/h
-
~
~
CIO
Aheod Sf9n I AeflectoriMd I
-
~
0
[Hump Aheod Sign
-
~
>0
00
00
01
Fia. 3. RccommCDded plaetmCDt of bumpfbumpa in mid-bloclc section, bump marking in cbcquercd pattern
and sian board locations
IRC: 99-1988
I
180 "' f 180 ...
.~PULLCTOAS
1----t'~- 120"' ~ .i. I ~~ 120 ,.__,.._j---1
MA.JOR ROAD
'"" l
Mojor ro~d
olleQd
SPUD 8A!AKI"
7
-
Ill'
()
-
:g
'
'C
00
oc
AlT(AH;(f( &LACK
---
ANO WilT( AOAO MARKING
,(
BUilDING
, A_
~' L
"--.·;7
.,...,
MSTRICTION
lfi7 '"
fNO~
~ff~.
'>"
SPUO BAUKfJII
.,p
RESTRICTION t:NO! SIGH
\.r
HUM p AHEALl
SIGN
I
Fia. 5. Plan of speed breakers on approach to a sbarp curve
IRC : 99-1981
SPEED T 1~ 31~1
20em
BREAKER l
SIGN DETAILS·
Lateral Placement Left
0.60 m on kerbed roads
2.3 m on unkerbed roads
Mounting Heiaht
2.0 m on kerbed roads
1.5 m on unkerbed roads
Use reflective paint or strip
Size of b. 60 ern or 9:> em (standard)
Red strip width 4.5 em or 7.0 em
Post (8 em x 8 em x 0.8 em)
T -Iron to be painted white and black in alternate 25 em banda
Pia. 6 Recommended hump warnioe alan with definition plate
10
IRC · 99·1988
Signs'. The sign should have a definition plate with the words
'SPEED BREAKER' inscribed thereon and should be located
40 m in advance of the first speed breaker. Location of this sign
is indicated in the illustrations of typical cases contained in Figs.
3, 4 and 5.
8.2. Speed breakers should be painted with alte rnute black
and white bands as shown in Fig. 3 to give add itional visual
warning. For better night visibility, it is desirable that the mark·
ings are in luminous paint/luminous strips. Embedded cat-eyes
can also be used to enhance night visibility.
9. MAINTENANCE
Care should be exercised to repair the hump at regular inter-
vals and also to remove the dust or mud collected on either side of
the hump. Repainting of markings on the hump is the most
important maintenance activity, as this provides an essent1al visual
warning to the drivers.
II