Retractable Speed Bump awards Slow Drivers *New must see*

[MadisonMPG]

Originally Posted by dcb

reminds me of cornstarch (or some other non-newtonian fluid), or a Tibetan monk maybe.

Reminds me of the opposite.

[dcb]

if you hit the cornstarch quick, then it firms up. push slowly and it yields.

[MadisonMPG]

Originally Posted by dcb

if you hit the cornstarch quick, then it firms up. push slowly and it yields.

Oh, I was thinking something along the lines of...

---v--- where the "v" is a recess full of cornstarch


you are saying
---^--- where the "^" is somehow held in shape and if you go across slow it lets you go through.

[wagonman76]

Let's see how well they function in the great frozen north. Or how long they even stay in place after a snowplow.

I wonder how it accurately measures the vehicle speed. A 2000 lb car should produce half the force at the same speed as a 4000 lb car. But in either case, you have to hit it regardless. So assuming the speed measurement works properly, if you've got a low slung car or spoilers or whatever, you're going to suffer damage even if you're going the speed limit.

I avoid places with speedbumps as well. There isn't a single speedbump or speedhump I know of that you can drive over at the legal posted speed without damaging your car. You have to come to a near complete stop and crawl over them.

[sandcruiser]

speed ditches work much better than speed bumps, for all vehicles.

try to ignore one and you thrash your front bumper and suspension

not only that, but they effectively shuttle water from one side of the road to the other.

[Bicycle Bob]

I'm all for uniformity on these things. On my 1st bike tour, I returned to a nice campground. Turning in to the driveway down to a river, I thought to myself - Ahh! First time in a week I'm on familar pavement! Then I discovered that they had added speed bumps, and not gotten them painted yet, in an area of dancing tree shadows.

[Christ]

It probably records speed some distance ahead with a laser speed detector. Relying on force to deduce speed is very unreliable. EDIT: Yup, it's very unreliable... and they're still going to use it that way. No laser detector.

Trailer park I used to live in, a bunch of the residents got upset over a speed bump being installed in the main driveway. They began going the wrong direction up the one-way road to avoid it. I did the same, because my vehicle would get stuck on the speed bump. It was like 10" tall, with no obvious regard to grade transition. My car had less than that for clearance, by far.

[shovel]

Speed bumps tear up heavy service vehicles such as fire trucks and ambulances that are covered in, or filled with their assorted equipment.

As far as I can tell they do nothing to improve safety. They just annoy people and cause congestion and speed shear.

I go the speed limit over them, personally. It always ticks me off when I see someone in a smooth-riding luxury SUV take speed bumps at 2mph.

[JonnyG]

Have you guys ever seen speed tables? I've seen them in Massachusetts. They're just like speed bumps, except they're like 10 feet long. I can normally go over them at like 25 mph without even feeling them. I really like them because they keep people from speeding, but don't force them to jam on their brakes right before it.

[slurp812]

Originally Posted by RobertSmalls

Or you could just blow through speed bumps fast enough that the suspension passes over the speed bump before the body has time to react. Try it some time.

My Civic Si doesn't have enough suspension. Iv done it in a car with enough, and it will help, with most cars...