A Midlands ambulance service yesterday claimed speed bumps potentially put more lives at risk than they saved.
Staffordshire paramedics said the placing of speed humps dramatically slowed down ambulances on residential streets and had a "detrimental" impact on emergency call-outs.
Three speedbumps meant up to a minute's delay and in cases were it was suspected that a patient had suffered a heart attack this could be the difference between life and death, said one paramedic.
Individual roads were highlighted by paramedics as the places where speed bumps were most hazardous.
A spokesman for Staffordshire Ambulance Service said: "Am-bulance paramedics are becoming increasingly concerned that measures taken to prevent road accidents are having a far greater detrimental impact on their ability to save lives and are potentially putting at risk far more lives than the measures are intended to save."
In south Staffordshire the worst roads were named as Dimbles Lane, Lichfield, Silver Link and Kerria in Tamworth, Staplehill Road and Moore Street in Burton and St Michaels Road in Brereton.
One ambulance paramedic who was concerned about the possible delay caused by speed humps, said: "I estimate that three speed humps in road delays an emergency ambulance by one minute, in life threatening emergency calls seconds count if a live is to be saved.
"All we ask is that whilst we support and applaud action to cut deaths or injuries from road accidents, it reality for us a small amount of our emergency calls, could the authorities not also take into account the overwhelming number of calls to life threatening medical calls which they may in unconsciously be endangering by potentially slowing down emergency ambulance responses."
