Porsche owner has got the hump over bumps
Porsche owner Julian Pruggmayer has got the hump – over speed bumps he says stop him driving through a South Staffordshire village near his home.
The 48-year-old financial adviser claims the traffic calming measures in Bilbrook are too high for his red £118,000 GT3.
Former police officer Mr Pruggmayer, who is married and lives in Perton, said: "I pay £500 road tax a year and more on insurance, so I should be allowed free passage down any public road as long as I obey the speed limit and stay within the law.
"But I cannot travel down the main road through Bilbrook without wrecking my car. The bumps catch on the underside of the Porsche. I would have to stop and crawl over them at less than 5mph creating a far more serious traffic problem.
"Now I have to take a wide detour and this is ridiculous. There is a 30mph limit on road but the traffic calming measures ensure traffic goes far slower. It has been turned into a no go area for my car and that is not fair."
Mr Pruggmayer drives around 1,000 miles a month but the brakes have been put on his travels down parts of Duck Lane and Pendeford Mill Lane since the new traffic calming measures were introduced earlier this year.
The disgruntled driver tried to iron out the problem in a meeting with highways engineer Ian Vickers and Mark Keeling, Staffordshire County Council community infrastructure liaison manager this week.
They explained the project involving a handful of speed 'cushions' and two raised zebra crossings, each up to four inches high, had been installed at a cost of £60,000 at the request of the local Parish Council. Mr Vickers said: "The Government lays down the criteria for work such as this and we have to stay within those parameters. The height is set at between 3ins and 4ins. Car manufacturers are warned about this."
Mr Vickers added: "There was full public consultation before these measures were introduced and since then we have had two complaints. We cannot tailor such schemes for a Porsche or any other car."
He added that the project was being monitored and could result in a 20 mph zone – currently involving parts of Bilbrook Road, Joey's Lane and Withers Road – being expanded.
Mr Pruggmayer said: "Why did they not simply introduce a 20mph speed limit on the stretch of road involved and be done with it. That would have been a lot cheaper and saved my car from running the risk of unnecessary damage."
