Fake Speed Bumps Coming Soon to a Road Near You

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

30 Jun 2008 11:19 AM

(Photo by AP news) What if you were driving along a quite road near your home or a busy street in an unfamiliar town when you suddenly noticed three pyramid-type structures or boxes sticking up in the road ahead. Chances are that you would immediately put on the brakes and slow down to avoid running hard over the objects. But, once you actually rolled over them, you would soon discover that these obstacles were actually fake speed bumps applied into the road.

This newest technology of fake speed bumps consist of orange, blue and white plastic that sits flat and smooth against the road. From afar, the speeds bumps create an optical illusion of three -dimensional objects in the road. At night, glass beads make the bumps reflective. The fake speed bumps are being testing all across the country, including a city not too far from me, Philadelphia, PA.

The fake speed bumps have been showing some mixed results. It seems that initially they do tend to slow traffic down, especially on residential streets. Once people catch on, however, they tend to speed over them without a thought. Some folks have slowed down not because they thought the bumps were real but because they thought the bumps were art installed on the road.

The fake speed bumps might be a good solution to encouraging motorists to slow down since they can be used were real speed bumps cannot, such as where there is a dip in the road or in front of a firehouse. The fake speed bumps also cost a lot less than do real ones.

Even if the fake speed bumps don't fool all of the motorists all of the time, there are advertising campaigns planned to tell motorists that real police officers will be following behind in the areas near the speed bumps. They are also hoping that the speed bumps, even if known to be fake, will serve as a visual reminder to slow down, such as in a school zone or residential street.

What do you think of this technology?

Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.

Related Articles:

Friday Funny: Boy Were They Wrong!

cars, fake speed bumps, speed bumps, technology