‘Tank-slapper’ rumble strips gone

A set of rumble strips which many MCN readers said was dangerous has been removed.

Dozens of you responded to a police appeal in MCN asking if rumble strips in Swillington, West Yorkshire, could cause tank-slappers – where the handlebars shake violently from side to side.

Officers were investigating the death of a rider yards from the set of strips, on A642, in a crash witnesses blamed on a tank-slapper.

We forwarded your responses, many of which described experiencing a tank-slapper at the same spot, to the police last month ahead of their meeting at the site with Leeds City Council officials.

A council spokesman said today: “The markings have been removed following concerns raised by motorcyclists that they were uncomfortable to ride over and will be replaced by a series of red markings which will give a visual warning to road users.”

He said the new markings would be “much flatter to the surface of the road” than the “raised” rumble strips.

He said there was no evidence of a link between the rumble strips and the fatal crash in May.