I WRITE in reply to Mr Gordon Humphreys's letter about road humps in Fulwood Hall Lane.

I wish to disabuse Mr Humphreys of at least one misconception, namely that road humps only damage car suspensions if crossed at speed.

A few years ago I drove a Mini Metro fitted with hydrolastic suspension and was queuing to discharge a load of waste paper collected for the skip at Wellfield High School, Leyland.

I moved up two car lengths in the queue and in the process passed over a speed hump in the school yard.

By the time I reached the unloading point a trail of hydrolastic fluid stretched back from my car to the hump.

I could not have exceeded about 5mph from the time I approached the hump. Is this what Mr Humphreys describes as "at speed"? I also remember working in Warrington and my employers fitting speed humps to the private road.

Numerous complaints were received by the management from workers who suffered damage to catalytic converters and to suspension, despite slowing down.

The only group who did not complain were those who drove company cars.

They did not have to stand the cost of repairs themselves, and consequently they, as a group, were willing to drive over the humps at full speed.

Management eventually removed the humps.

I would also suggest another group who would regard driving at speed over humps as acceptable -- those who steal cars and drive them for kicks.

Traffic calming measures may be necessary but there must be many other ways which are preferable to road humps.

Mr Stan Sayer, Lever House Lane, Leyland (via e-mail)