Drivers hate them, they slow down emergency services, and cause congestion. That is what opponents of speed humps say.

Others say they are proven to be effective in slowing speeds and reducing crashes and schools and residents are crying out for speed humps to make roads safer.

The issue has gained traction with Christchurch residents this local body election with many candidates professing their dislike for them and promising to push for fewer humps.

Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger, who is seeking a second term, said this week that if re-elected he would remove community boards’ authority to approve speed humps.

In a recent survey by The Press, Mauger listed speed humps as the one thing the council should stop funding.

“It will be no surprise that I’m not a fan of the excessive rollout of speed bumps across the city. They are not the best use of money at the moment.”

Simon Kingham, a professor of geography at University of Canterbury and former chief science advisor to the transport ministry, said taking these decisions away from community boards was “bizarre”.

It was local residents who wanted them because they wanted their kids to get to school safely, he said.

Kingham said candidates promoting the evils of speed bumps were taking a populist approach and their opposition was not based on evidence or science.

“It’s a vote winner.”

Many people hated the humps because they curtailed drivers’ ability to drive around the city any way they wanted.

In Christchurch, more than 40 locations have had some form of speed hump installed in the past five years. They include speed humps at nine roundabouts, raised platforms at eight intersections and bumps at either zebra crossings or signalised crossings.

City councillor Victoria Henstock, who is seeking a second term, successfully managed to get support from colleagues to have one hump deleted from planned works earlier this month.

She said she has pushed back on speed humps and raised traffic platforms that were unnecessary and disrupt the efficiency of the transport network.

“There are too many and often they are unnecessary.”

Henstock said she was happy to take Kingham out doorknocking with her so he could hear first-hand from residents.

“There is a place for speed bumps and raised platforms where there is a justifiable speed concern, but in many cases people feel that speed bumps have just been forced on them for no real reason.”

Ali Jones, a community board member who is standing for a council seat, agrees with Henstock. Jones is calling for the council to “stop whacking in dozens of speed bumps, as a one-size-fits-all safety approach”.

She said whenever she questioned the need for speed humps or asked about the evidence, she was accused of not caring about safety and of not wanting children and communities to be safe.

“Reality is more nuanced – I value safety and want smarter, well-informed solutions for everyone.”

She acknowledged that communities wanted traffic to slow down and so did she, but she believed the police needed to do more.

“They need to enforce more, be more visible, use red light and speed cameras. Without enforcement and visibility of police, [council] is really up against it.”

Jones said there was certainly evidence of emergency vehicles being slowed by bumps.

The Sunday Star-Times asked police, Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) and Hato Hone St John for their position on speed humps. Do they hinder their job and delay their vehicles getting to emergencies?

Acting director of road policing Inspector Peter McKennie said police did not have any data to suggest that speed humps cost lives in an emergency.

He said police supported roading infrastructure that reduced harm and encouraged safe driving behaviours.

A Fenz spokesperson said the organisation supported the overall goal of safer roading networks. Traffic calming, including speed humps, worked toward that goal.

They said increased response times were an occasional trade-off.

St John Christchurch metro operations manager Sam Kellick said raised platforms did require ambulances to reduce speed and they might interrupt the flow of traffic or make for a less smooth driving experience for patients.

But the organisation had not seen any evidence that speed humps negatively impact ambulance response times or patient outcomes.

Christchurch City councillor and mayoral candidate Sara Templeton believed the speed hump issue was a deliberate move by some to divert away from the big issues facing the city, like water, housing and climate change.

She said traffic congestion had slowly got worse and was now at a point where people recognised it as an issue. People were looking for something new or different that might have caused it and have settled on speed humps and cycleways.

But, car ownership in Christchurch has increased by 65% since 2001, meaning there were simply more cars on the roads, she said.

“Most of the congested roads in the city do not have speed humps or cycleways. Like Brougham St, Papanui Rd, Memorial Ave, Fendalton Rd.”

She said local communities consistently asked for ways to slow down traffic on the streets.

“Everyone wants a slow, quiet street to live in, but they also want a quicker commute. We need to remember we are guests in other people’s streets as we drive through.”

Christchurch City Council has also defended its use of speed humps, saying they are the preferred way to slow traffic.

Acting transport head Stephen Wright said humps and platforms physically forced lower speeds, unlike signs or markings that relied on driver choice.

They were also proven to be effective, he said.

Research showed they lowered vehicle approach speeds by around 10 to 20kph and significantly reduce crash risk and severity, especially for people walking and cycling.

They were also cheaper than traffic signals or other redesigns - about $20,000 to $80,000 per site, depending on scale. They could be installed overnight.

The council had statistics showing a reduction in crashes at Christchurch intersections where raised platforms had been put in place.

“Schools and residents have requested traffic calming to reduce through traffic from speeding or undertaking anti-social road user behaviour on local streets.”