Speed breakers or “bonggols” seems to be a way to prevent traffic from traveling too fast, especially in a housing estate.
Youths riding motorcycles are fond of riding fast, impervious of the danger they cause to other people.
Children and old folks become their targets.
Residents have little choice but appeal to the local authorities to built speed breakers.
Official speed breakers can only be constructed by the Majlis Perbandaran.
The local authorities have rules and regulations that has to be adhered to with regards to the building of speed bumps.
Road engineers and traffic consultants advise the Majlis Perbandaran as to the suitable spot to build speed breakers.
At certain areas, a speed breaker cannot be built.
One such place is a road which leads to a junction.
My housing estate once encountered such a problem.
No amount of pleading requests could get the council to agree building a speed breaker.
As the residents’ safety was more important than anything else, resident had to resort to “pulling cables” with a well known local Yang Berhormat before it could be built.
The building of a speed bump is not that simple.
Specifications require a speed breaker to be of specific height and fairly elongated.
Such speed breakers are fairly easy to cross.
Motorists love such speed breakers.
But they can cost a lot of money to build.
The Majlis prefer to build speed breaker which are shorter as they require less money to construct.
For your information, the shorter speed breakers are more difficult to cross.
Negotiating a speed bump
Not all drivers can negotiate crossing such as a bonggol.
Besides this, crossing such a speed breaker can cause extensive damage to some types of vehicles.
Some vehicles which have soft absorbers are reported to have their under carriage grazed while crossing the bonggol.
Plastic fuel lines located underneath the bodywork of new cars have been frequently reported to have suffered extensive damage while crossing speed breakers such as these.
Speed breakers built by Majlis Perbandaran are painted in black and white.
A few yards before the bonggol, the law stipulates that on either side, there should be a road sign indicating the presence of a speed breaker.
This is to warn motorists of the potential danger.
Residents are hereby advised that they should not take the law into their own hands and build their own speed breakers.
It’s illegal to construct an unofficial speed breaker without the Majlis Perbandaran’s permission.
If accidents and unforeseen incidents should occur, legal action can be instituted against those who are responsible.
The purpose of this article is not to relate to you the history of speed breakers.
The intention of this article is to advice you the correct manner or method of crossing a bonggol.
Auto cars essentially have little problems crossing speed breakers.
When approaching speed breakers, all auto drivers need to do is to slow down, control a bit of brakes, and the car will do the rest.
Irregardless of whether a speed breaker is of the short type or the elongated soft version, the technique to be used is the same.
Crossing a speed breaker to those driving manual cars will pose some problems.
This is because if you do not possesses the correct technique to manipulate the crossing of a bonggol, then obviously you will face difficulties.
To get across an elongated speed breaker is not a problem.
Slow down slightly and proceed across slowly and gently.
For the shorter version and those which are slightly higher, manual gear drivers should approach the speed breaker, slow down and upon reaching the speed breaker, step on the brakes gently, engage gear one ideally, get across the speed breaker gently, release the clutch slowly and gently to get across.
Accelerate slightly as you cross the speed breaker to gain momentum and off you go!
However, there are certain speed breakers which are extremely low.
In such cases, a driver is suggested to come to the speed breaker slowly, step on the brakes gently and get across the breaker using 2nd gear only.
There is no necessity to use gear one.
Speed breakers at driving institutes
There are no speedbreakers or bonggols in a driving institute.
Its small size eliminates such contraptions being used.
Nonetheless, crossing over it remains the same whether it is found in towns or otherwise.
Imagine you are approaching a speed breaker at a fairly fast speed, say 3rd gear, how do you go along getting across it successfully?
Well, first of all, determine how high the barrier it.
Let’s assume it is a fairly high one.
We obviously cannot rush across it in 3rd gear as the repercussion of crossing a speed breaker or bump too speedily will:
i) Inevitably damage certain parts of the under carriage of your expensive vehicle.
Crossing a bump too hastily, will likely cause inconvenience or cause passengers sitting in side to be abruptly shaken up or rattled, so to say.
Decipher for yourself which of the town above reasons brings you to the question of wishing to cross over a speed bump successfully and in the most appropriate way of solving your problem.
Let’s now confront the problem which I have put forward earlier.
Repeat, you are approaching a speed breaker at 3rd gear.
What should a novice or for that matter, a not too experienced driver do?
In short, how or in what manner should he or she drive?
Ways and manners differ from person to person.
However, the usual matter to eliminate your problem is:
i) Apply brakes and slow down
ii) Go to a lower gear (sat 3rd to 2nd gear) depending on the height of the bump
iii) At times, a driver has to make the decision whether or not he has to even go down gears, as far as 1st gear even.
iv) After crossing the speed breaker, leave one’s clutch gradually to prevent undue vibration of the vehicle and then accelerate slowly to gain up speed.
The above represents the most appropriate manner of getting over a speed breaker or bonggol in a manual car.
Leave A Comment