Large speed bumps installed in Jersey City are causing numerous vehicles to bottom out and grind into the road surface, prompting city officials to lower the humps.

“Oh my God, what moron did this?,” said a man who identified himself only as Walter after driving his pickup truck over a speed bump on Erie Street near Eighth Street yesterday afternoon. “Too high? I’ll get whiplash.”

The front end of a small four-door car with children inside bit into the pavement as it went over the speed bump. Afterward the driver said, “It’s too big. It’s stupid. It is not safe for anyone.”

A neighborhood resident said the speed bump was installed on Thursday or Friday. Already the bump and the macadam in front of it have been scarred by vehicles bottoming out. “I think they are a great idea by the park, by the school, but they are clearly over-sized,” the resident said.

A man who lives adjacent to the speed bump added: “It’s worse at night when people can’t see it.” He said he also fears that drivers slowing to a crawl to go over the bumps are at risk of being rear-ended by other vehicles.

A Lincoln Town Car that went over the speed bump too fast yesterday afternoon became partially airborne.

The bump at the location is the same color as the roadway. There is a sign just before the intersection that reads, “Speed Bump Ahead 18 M.P.H," while a sign closer to the speed bump is not clearly visible.

“Yes, people have been bottoming out but that’s what speed bumps are for," a crossing guard at the intersection said. "It’s a school zone and people go flying through.”

Jersey City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill said community groups have asked for permanent speed bumps to deal with speeding motorists.

"The city's number one priority is the safety of our residents, especially children," Morrill said. "That is why we have taken the proactive step of installing effective, permanent speed humps to reduce speeding on residential streets, with a focus on streets around schools."

Morrill added that “In addition to marking the speed humps with thermoplastic, reflective pavement markers, the contractor will also be lowering them."

Meanwhile, a similar speed bump located on Duncan Avenue just west of Bergen Avenue is also scarred by vehicles' grinding into it.