Inventor plans automatic speed bump that reacts to vehicles

So, there you are, minding your own business, doing, say, 20 or 30 over the speed limit, when, all of a sudden — whomp! — you hit a bone-jarring speed bump that seemingly came up out of nowhere. Of course, the bump was there all along; you were just too busy enjoying your speed trip to notice the signs warning you about it. But if a Welsh inventor has his way, speed bumps really will be appearing out of nowhere, and will be able to target specific drivers as well. Gywn Harvey's "selective road hump" (yeah, they call 'em "humps" over there — wacky brits) would be set to operate differently based on road conditions, time of day and other factors, and could raise and lower itself based on your speed. Want to avoid it? You could just stick to the speed limit — or just cross Wales off of the list of possible road-trip destinations.

[Mike @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

They might call them "Humps" in Wales, but not in Blighty, they're speed "Bumps" here (or sleeping policeman, it depends on how bigotted your parents were...)

And I think they suck as an idea. Do you have "Speeds Cushions" in the US? Which is like a quarter of a speedbump right in the middle of your lane?

[jp @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

They're called Ramps in Ireland...

[Jon B @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

"or just cross Wales off of the list of possible road-trip destinations"

Jesus, you guys put Wales on your list of places to go?

[Axeman @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

You just know that the 'speed hump' sign is gonna get stolen a lot.

[Jody @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

They have Speed Humps in Chicago.

Also am I the only one that finds the phrase "speed hump" extremely funny?

[Ditchdigger @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

What I want is a speed bump that automatically adjusts to my tiny car... I've been noticing that as more and more people drive humongous SUVs and pickup trucks they keep making the speed bumps taller and taller so these monster truck drivers even feel anything -- which leaves my little car bucking like a rodeo bull! Of course, a bump that would just disappear if my speed is fine would be great too...

[David @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

What an utterly stupid idea. How many dead cyclists and motorcyclists will be needed before that is obvious? All that needs to happen is a car to overtake at fractionally above the speed limit, and the motorcyclist/cyclist is in severe danger.

[Jon B @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

"Also am I the only one that finds the phrase "speed hump" extremely funny?"

In the UK they have signs that say "Humps for 40 metres" to warn you of speed bumps - some people much like yourself I would imagine find this especially amusing if they scratch of the 's'

[Jonathan Baldwin @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

Sleeping Policemen to me... bumps otherwise here in blighty (though notice that the US sign says 'hump' so maybe we've got things the wrong way round in the article?)
Anyway - anything to reduce speed on roads is a good idea to me, but how quick would this thing have to be to spot a speeding driver and not get the one before it? Or after?

At the University of Hertfordshire they have a pole in the road that rises out of the ground - it can be removed by bus drivers and emergency vehicles only, using a radio signal.
Last time I was there, a car full of students had decided to drive onto campus behind a bus, and the pole went straight through the engine. Complete write off!

[matt @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

#7 - article in (crap) student union magazine about that there: http://www.uhsu.herts.ac.uk/studentmedia/Universe%200405/webpaper2.pdf

[Gorn @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

Yes, sounds wonderful, if someone is going over the speed limit make something to increase the risk of driving. So can you sue this person for making them and whoever ok'd the installation after some jackhole creams head on into your vehicle when they where speeding in the opposite direction and lost control due to this speed hump?

[1337freek @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

Not only Brits have speed "humps", here in Englewood, NJ we have them too.

[JamesM @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

"They might call them "Humps" in Wales, but not in Blighty, they're speed "Bumps" here (or sleeping policeman, it depends on how bigotted your parents were...)"

Why does it depend on how bigotted our parents were?????

I think you'll find that was a term used for a passive form of traffic management.

[Jon @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

Yes - here in the UK we seem to have infinite tolerance for stupidity on our roads - first 'Road Safety Cameras' (police revenue generation cameras) and 'Traffic Calming' (suspension knackering) measures, now mechanised cyclist killers are set to make an appearance!

Yet the police continue to punish someone who drives 5-10 mph over the limit on safe staright roads out of town, whilst they do nothing about idiots who are out of their skull on drugs OR those sales reps in BMWs (OK - it's a generalisation - but one with more than a ashred of truth) who tailgate the car in front allowing 25 milliseconds of thinking time in the event sudden braking in front.

Doh!

Our country gets more and more driver unfriendly by the day.

[JamesM @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

"They might call them "Humps" in Wales, but not in Blighty, they're speed "Bumps" here (or sleeping policeman, it depends on how bigotted your parents were...)"

Why does it depend on how bigotted our parents were?????

I think you'll find that was a term used for a passive form of traffic management.

[Galley @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

I thought that here in the US, small ones, (18" or smaller) were called speed "bumps", while the massive ones that are six feet wide are called speed "humps".

[PJ @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

I've said it before, I'll say it again.

When streets get humped, we all get screwed!

[Luke @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

so let me get this straight: A sleeping policeman wakes up and humps you fast if you're speeding? and that's why your butt hurts right afterwards?

[Socks @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

You Merkins who haven't seen an example already will now need to do a Google Images search for "humped zebra crossing".

[nefarious @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

You know, we're a little backwards here in Texas, but we have bumps and humps. Bare those traffic control devices which are intended to slow the driver down to 5MPH. Bumps are typically about a foot wide and 4-6 inches tall. Humps on the other hand are designed to slow traffic to 15 or 20 MPH depending upon their design. This is done by adjusting the 6+ foot width and the 4-8 inch height. But then again, like I said, I am in Texas. ;-)

[Pyrowolf @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

They call them "Humps" here in good ole Ohio.

[Zelidar @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

A dream is about to become true.

I always hated the idea of bumping 500 cars for the 5 poorly educated speeders.

Having lived just off a busy road crossing a residential area for a couple of years I often wished I could welcome the usual speeders with some directed EMP rays right out of my window :-).

[Zelidar @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

A dream is about to become true.

I always hated the idea of bumping 500 cars for the 5 poorly educated speeders.

Having lived just off a busy road crossing a residential area for a couple of years I often wished I could welcome the usual speeders with some directed EMP rays right out of my window :-).

[Chris Parker @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

Nope, sorry.

Im Welsh and everyone I know calls em "Speed Bumps". Never heard of "road humps"

[Jes @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

We have both bumps and humps here in New England. Bumps are the short ones, usually found in parking lots and the like. Humps are big long ones, usually found on city streets to keep traffic down without being quite so jarring. The faster you go over a speed bump, the more your suspension deals with it (instead of the entire car) so the less you feel it. Also, I wonder how fast you'd have to go to completely miss the auto-bumps, if they react with any sort of slowness.

[Karan @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

I like Jes' thinking: how fast do you have to go before you miss it because of reaction time? :D

[burt @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

I've discovred that speed bumbs/humps/sleeping policemen all become less of a problem when your driving a hire car, they actually get less annoying the closer to 40mph you hit them. ;)

[Jonathan Baldwin @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

#8 thanks! That was the one I saw in the flesh so to speak!

#12 - an average of 7 people are killed on the UK's roads every day. That's seven too many. Speed cameras are not money generating - or at least they wouldn't be if drivers simply drove at sensible speeds. It makes me angry beyond belief to hear drivers criticise cameras as tax revenue methods when the obvious way to 'beat' the system is, er, to drive legally.

[Herb @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

You will never see one of these in a public road in the U.S. - there is no way that a public DOT or municipal DPW is going to want to maintain one these things, especially in areas that get snow. In fact, I know of several speed bumps in New England that have been removed because plows kept tearing them up.

Will these automatic speed bumps be able to differentiate between civilian traffic and police/fire/ambulance traffic? I can't imagine that one of these bumps suddenly appearing will be good for a patient receiving emergency care in a speeding ambulance...

[Stern @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

#25 I don't know if you have actually ever read any statistics on "safety" cameras but it's been proven that most do nothing to help safety on the roads and a good proportion actually do less than nothing as serious injuries and deaths have often INCREASED after the introduction of the cameras.

in fact I remember watching an episode of top gear where they marked out the 7 most dangerous roads in Britain, that is the roads that have the most injuries and deaths per mile and out of the thousands of cameras in the UK there was only around 12 cameras in total between the 7 roads. This only further proves that cameras are primarily revenue based one of the most important factors of where they are placed is decided by estimations on how long it will take for the camera to pay for itself.

[mcd @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

Fantastic idea, of couse what about the driver speeding behind you who drives into the back of your car when you slow down because of this bloody ramp???! Also this thing could prove fatal to cyclists etc. Would cause more accidents than it prevents.

Worst idea ever, suprise speed bumps.

[Daryl Herbert @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

At what point do we stop considering these to be traffic safety devices? This looks more like a dangerous booby trap, designed to selectively damage cars.

Why not just shoot at cars that go too fast? Put hidden guns in the road for unsuspecting speeders, and automatically open fire on them... that would reduce speeding, too.

[Joe Clay @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

We have both speed humps and speed bumps in Florida. Bumps are the gentle ones and humps are the small and tall ones that will totally destroy anything that isn't an SUV if you go over it at more than 1 mph.

[AH @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

1. I think the liability involved in random speed bump popups is too big to make this feasible--you hit see the bump at the last second and slam on the breaks only to have the semi behind you smash you flat and leave your family to sue the city involved. Of course, if this is just residential, the car behind you will also be speeding and in all likelihood have a better frame than you leaving your car a ruin and a lawsuit waiting to happen as well

2. To the ones who feel traffic cameras are justified... they de-personalize law enforcement and mitigating circumstances are thrown out. Before the advent of cameras, you could cut your arm off and your wife/mom/brother/roommate/whatever would toss you and your arm in the car and fly like mad to the hospital... the police car that chases you pulls you over, you wave the arm, and they then give escort to the hospital. A camera can't do that

[Jim Konz @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

In Sao Miguel (Azores) an island owned by Portugal, they have a traffic light which turns red if your approach speed is above the speed limit. Sucks for people driving behind these people, but it's very effective.

[Jonathan Baldwin @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

There is absolutely no *independent* evidence to suggest that speed cameras do not make drivers slow down.
There is evidence, however, that drivers speed up on roads where they know there are no cameras. Because this leads to more accidents, there is an obvious link between speed and accidents.

The argument that cameras depersonalise law enforcement - I mean, come on! You'd say 'oh it's okay that people are allowed to risk other drivers' and pedstrians' lives because one day there might be a *real* emergency...

The anti-camera lobby has to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.

The Top Gear experiment was seriously flawed, incidentally, (it used the same scientific methods that make-up companies use to 'prove' they can reverse ageing - i.e. pick a few examples that seem to back you up, distort them, and forget to carry out controls or look at accumulated data over a reasonable period in time) and that programme has been censured on several occassions for its cavalieer attitude towards road safety (to give one particularly ridiculous example, repeatedly crashing a car into an ancient tree in a village to test its durability, without first of all checking if the people who owned the tree minded...)

[James @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

Joe Clay-
I think you've got your bumps and humps mixed up. In DC, we have both. Bumps are little and vicious, humps are the newer ones that are long and don't require you to pretty much stop.

[Andrew @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd like to see some schematics and a more detailed description of how it will react to the differing weather conditions.