Speed Bump Ahead: How Speed Bumps Help In Road Safety
As the number of cars on the road increased, they made their way into quieter neighborhoods
, utilizing their streets as an alternative route to get to where they needed to go. This practice by motorists gave birth to the concept of traffic calming.
First developed in Europe in the late 60s, the concept of traffic calming is based on the idea that neighborhood streets should help create and preserve a sense of place, and in these areas, people should not be dominated by automobiles.
If one thinks about it, neighborhood streets should be a place where a family can take a stroll, children can play, people can ride their bikes and play with their pets; all without having to worry about the risk of getting hit by a speeding car. After all, you shouldnt be speeding through a neighborhood street; this is what a main thoroughfare or highway is for. In fact, you most certainly cant play tag or take your dog for a stroll along the state intersection. Why cant that same condition apply to a neighborhood street?
While the concept of traffic calming has been around only fairly recently, the tools for their implementation have been around for quite longer. One such tool for traffic calming is the speed bump.
The speed bump has been around since the early 20th century. The first town to implement the use of speed bumps is Chatham, New Jersey, which raised its crosswalks 5 inches above the ground specifically to slow down speeding motorists. Since then, you could find a speed bump virtually everywhere. It is also called a speed hump, road hump, hump, sleeping policeman or slow child in various parts of the world.
Speed bumps help slow traffic down by forcing a moving vehicle to reduce its speed in order to convenientlyand safelypass over them. Speed bumps can cause vehicles to slow down to speeds as low as 5 mph. As a traffic calming device, it is such a simple yet effective way to make sure that cars slow down.
Speed bumps can be made from a number of materials, from concrete and asphalt to plastic and rubber, the latter of which are prefabricated. For obvious reasons, concrete and asphalt speed bumps are considered permanent speed bumps. And while prefabricated speed bumps are considered for temporary use, these types of speed bumps are being considered for more permanent situations.
For one, a number of prefabricated speed bumps are made with compressed plastic which is a very durable material. Another factor is that they are easy to install. What this means is you dont need specialized labor to install these devices. And what can be easily installed can be easily removed. If you need to make a major renovation to the road on which the speed bump is installed, you need only to remove the device, store it away as you make those renovations and reinstall them when youre done.
Another advantage that prefabricated speed bumps have over concrete or asphalt ones is that a number of them have pre-formed channels underneath, through which you can lay down pipes, cables or hoses. You can certainly do this with the concrete or asphalt varieties but when these pipes or hoses need replacement, it becomes more of a hassle to replace or repair them.
The speed bump has been shown to be a very effective device in slowing down speeding vehicles thereby making the roads in and around residential neighborhoods safer. The next time you encounter one being installed in your neighborhood, keep that in mind. Speed bumps definitely help keep neighborhoods safe.
by:Noel Dugenia
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