Dear Tom and Ray:

Hello! I live in a condominium complex, and there is a great debate we need your help with! We have a question about speed bumps and possible injury to someone's front-end alignment. Our speed bumps are removable, and they are approximately 12 to 16 inches wide and 4 inches high. They are bolted down when in place; we remove them during the winter for easy snow removal. They are made out of some type of heavy-duty plastic. When winter was over, it was time for us to get them re-installed, and several residents said their car alignment has been damaged by the speed bumps. Several of us made the comment that they needed to slow down, but we were reassured that they were going very slowly over these speed bumps when the damage occurred. The cars that supposedly have been damaged are small cars like Hondas and Toyotas. Is it possible for a speed bump to damage the front-end alignment or cause any other damage to the vehicle if the driver is going at a proper speed over the speed bumps? Any comments you have would be appreciated! Thanks for your time! -- Rosemary

RAY: No. Going over speed bumps at a reasonable speed will never cause alignment problems. Or any other problems for your car.

TOM: So these people are either doing their best Flying Tomato impersonations when crossing the speed bumps, or they're trying -- in a roundabout way -- to recoup some of their condo association dues.

RAY: Tell them to go jump in the condo association lake, Rosemary. They have no case.