Al Hamdani Street which runs near our flat has three road-coloured speed bumps within 20 metres. Two speed bumps was probably sufficient but three is definitely overkill. Perhaps someone in Road Planning had a bad experience on this street and decided it was pay-back time.

No sooner have you bounced over one speed bump than the next one is there. Either way, it slows down the traffic and regularly surprises drivers unfamiliar with the road.

There appear to be two preferred ways of traversing these obstacles. The first method is to totally ignore it or miss that is there. The scrapes and abrasions in the tarmac are evidence that the undersides of many cars are frequently hitting the ground using this approach.

I cross by braking when getting up to the bump, letting momentum carry the front wheels across, then pressing the accelerator gently to pull the back wheels over smoothly. This avoids any appreciable bouncing on the suspension.

The other method is the asymmetrical pass, so that by crossing at an angle, each of the wheels goes over the bump at different times. This produces a rocking motion in the car, which I find less pleasant than the double bump of my method. By driving close to the right side it is also possible for just the driver’s side wheels to go over the bump as they do not stretch completely across the road.

This week the grey bumps got painted with yellow and white stripes taking all the fun out of this short stretch of road.