Fleet managers up and down the country have highlighted the ongoing headaches for their drivers when faced with road humps – better known as 'sleeping policemen'.

A new AA Populus survey of more than 24,000 AA members revealed how 62 per cent of fleet drivers continue to "loathe" the fact that these traffic management systems continue to be seen on roads across the UK.

Despite a sympathetic redesign of many road humps in recent years – ensuring they are less likely to catapult cars into the air with steep inclines or cause damage to vehicles – they remain a considerable bugbear for the nation's professional road users.

Responding to the survey, head of marketing for AA DriveTech David Richards commented: "As urban areas become ever denser, traffic and people must mix safely to maintain safety and access.

"Traffic calming should be well designed so as to gently coerce drivers and pedestrians into being careful and considerate – without launching vehicles into the air or sending cyclists and those on foot sprawling."

He added that with the introduction of new and effective means of traffic management on busy routes in recent years – such as the wider rollout of 20 mph zones – many fleet drivers are hopeful that the road hump could have seen its heyday (although this may not be the case).