There's a saying that originated in the wild, wild west, and if our memory serves us correctly, it goes a little something like this: "If you can't convince the cops to do their jobs, just install as many
speed bumps as humanly possible." Oddly enough, that very mantra has mirrored reality down in
Mexico, with some 18,000 speed bumps established in central Mexico City alone. In an effort to cut down on pollutants emitted from legions of motorcars slowing and accelerating rapidly, Decano Industries is developing a "smart" version that collapses if your vehicle taps it gently enough. Granted, an actual speed sensor would be slightly more efficient, but we're told that it reacts to the impact so quickly that it would seem as if you never even ran over the bump. As for speedsters? The bump would remain erect, increasing their road rage level ever higher. Still, the best advice on all of this comes from one Marielena Ramírez: "They should just get rid of speed bumps, not try to make them smarter."
¡Viva la Revolucion![Via
Autoblog, image courtesy of
ScientificallyFormulated]
posted Oct 16th 2009 9:52AM
The bump will remain erect for speeding drivers.
I bet it will.
There's a road head joke buried there somewhere.
"If your bump remains erect for longer than four hours, please see the Transportation Department."
Where's Michael Scott when you need him?
And I'm pretty sure they stole this idea from a Bugs and Daffy cartoon.
Ah if they could install those here in the US....the race for the red light is on!!!
Yes, those speed bumps are a plague all over Mexico. It's a paradigm.
Giggty, Giggty
uh...and why exactly would speeders not just slow down and then speed up again...???? What is this accomplishing? Is it just so people going 25 mph don't feel the bump? Who gives a shit at 25 mph?
the point of speed bump is to slow down vehicles at that exact location. mission accomplished I'd say.
But after they have slowed down, the driver will hit the gas on the other side of the bump and expel more fumes into the atmosphere... mission failed.
I would assume they are able to put more of these speed bumps in the same area. that way there would not be enough space between the bumps to make it worth speeding up and slowing down, just go slow and you dont have to feel the bump every 20 feet. I think its ingenious. I wish they would bring those here, they accomplish the same thing as conventional speedbumps, sure some people just slow for them then speed right back up, but this way there is no wear and tear on your suspension.
easy solution ... dont slow down for speedbumps?
i love driving a truck
If you had to slow down anyway to "lower" the impact wouldn't it still cause "the legions of motorcars slowing and accelerating rapidly"? (Unless you take in the fact of momentum lost from hitting an actual speed bump)
I'd like to know what they mean my "gently enough." Like anything speed limit and under will activate it? Or say 10 or 15 mph? Because the latter will make you still start and stop.
They could have used cornstarch and water to do the same thing :)
Dude, it's Mexico. In two or three hours the damn things would have baked into solid speed bumps.
So this ISN'T using non-newtonian fluids? That would also be my first suggestion for such an application. It would be quite reliable too.
"The bump would remain erect..."
No, you didn't just write that. Brain bleach, please!
They've taken the orange/white VLC stripe and paint the bumps with them! i can see the cones stripeless!
This post is sponsored by : Viagra. Don't take it slow, take it to the top.
Look, I'm all for speed bumps if it means I don't have to shit my pants every time I drive in the suburbs because I'm worried about getting pulled over cause the cops have nothing better to do!
why, are you black?
Cool. Now I don't have to worry about blowing out my 24 inch tires.
Size. 303/35/r24..,.pheww.
Um, you mean WHEELS. If your tires were only 24" tall, it would look even more stupid than your 24" wheels. Even a Honda Accord has tires taller than that in a stock configuration with a 185/75-14. 24.92 inches tall to be exact.
However, since you said "303/35/r24" I have to assume that one of the following is correct about you:
1. You are being facetious.
2. You are a complete moron, since NO tire manufacturer makes a 303mm section width tire.
3. You do not know what those numbers actually mean or how to calculate the tire height when given these numbers.
4. You are just a typical "Stunna" moron.
dude I bet your dick is HUEG
I've seen a picture of it. It has 350/25R0 stamped on the side.
Oops I meant 305/35/r24. Nexens.
On a 2006 Nissan Titan black with chrome.
I live in socal we all have rims here.
I live in a social where everyone puts oversized spoilers on their cars...
my 1991 Lincoln Towncar black with orange racing stripes has one that's 32in tall... just like my penis
So, then I must assume you are just uneducated, since you insist on calling wheels "rims". Every vehicle that uses tires has rims.
Here's an interesting quote that you might find educational:
"Thanks to the internet there has been a gradual blurring of the difference between a rim and a wheel.
For posterity you should know that the rim is the bit that the tyre sits into. It is made up of some bendy bits called: inboard flange, outboard flange, inboard bead seat, outboard bead seat, inboard safety hump (drop centre) & outboard safety hump. When the outboard rim and the inboard rim are assembled or pressed they combine to form the "barrel".
The bit that has the spokes, radius supports, centre bore boss, etc is called the "centre"
The barrel and the centre combine to make a "wheel". Sure "wheel" doesn't sound as in the know as "rim", but it does have two extra letters."
And, yes, sylpher servur, I spoke with Mr. Hirohito this morning, and he assured me that I have a very large penis. He said it was it was mammoth, dinosauric, and absolutely dwarfed his penis, which, he assured me, was nearly microscopic in size. My penis, he said, was most likely one of the biggest on the planet. I applaud Mr. Hirohito in his honesty.
http://www.bromleytransport.org.uk/Ambulance_delays.htm
"One report from Boulder, Colorado suggests that for every life saved by traffic calming, as many as 85 people may die because emergency vehicles are delayed. It found response times are typically extended by 14% by speed-reduction measures. Another study conducted by the fire department in Austin, Texas showed an increase in the travel time of ambulances when transporting victims of up to 100%. "
Gee...not that "intelligent".
I work in an ambulance, we just speed up and run that shit over as fast as we can. But did you know that in the way to the hospital, you actually have to drive slowly?
Speed bumps to combat slowing and accelerating? How is that not completely brain dead? Everyone slows down and then floors it when theres a bunch of speed bumps, same with stop signs. I am amazed at how stupid they are, it goes against basic logic.
What's the point if you still need to slow down for it to collapse? It would only work if there's motion sensors that detect speed enough before the bump to see that you're not speeding up and slowing down and so you can see it collapse
They better make sure signs are posted so they know what speed to collapses at.
Otherwise slowpokes will be annoyed that they slowed down so much when there's no bump, and speedsters will expect it to collapse and it not only negates the purpose of the bumps, it messes up the cars.
Viva "Marielena"! I think that is a way better solution, the problem is that it needs to be implemented in a city with a driver education, hmmmm scratch that, it needs to be implemented in a city with SOME education and Mexico City is not even close to that.
wait a second...it's supposed to help reduce emissions from people slowing and speeding up rapidly? if your going to drive fast, ur not gonna slow down for a speed bump. and if you do you are just going to accelerate quick again anyways. in my opinion speed bumps actually make emissions worse. because you constantly have to speed up and slow down because whoever designed them designed them where its only comfortable to ride over them when you go 2 mph over it when the speed limit is 25mph. why cant we just go 40 in a 25 like we want to and not have to worry about wasting gas due to speed bumps.
But if you average the rate of speed at which the speed bumps collapse you won't have to worry about slowing down or accelerating rapidly.. But if you disregard that, then you are you're own enemy by wasting gas and spending more money.. =)
While I absolutely hate speed bumps, this is a much smarter way of implementing them. Currently, I just drive over them fast because you're going to get an annoying bump regardless - might as well it get it over with quickly.
slappy do you ever stfu?
20" wheels with low profile tires = 24"
gtfo moron
r0kh, don't get your panties in a wad because you are an uneducated fool. No tire manufacturer produces tires on less than a 20% aspect ratio.
For your theory to work the following must all fit:
24 inch tall tire - 20 inch wheel = 4 inches for the sidewalls / 2 = 2 inches for the sidewall height (so far so good)
At 20 percent of a tire's width, the tire width would be 10 inches or 254mm. We shall call it 255 for the sake of argument.
Look up a 255/20-20. They do not exist. You lose.
Next?
And just for your own education, since you originally said you had 24 inch TIRES, you actually have slightly larger than 32 inch tires.
I'll explain this so even you can understand it. 305 is a measurement of the width of the tire at the widest point of the side walls (the part that bulges out), expressed in millimeters.
35 is the aspect ratio (how tall the sidewall is in relation to the width), expressed in a percentage. In this case, 35% of 305mm.
24 is the size of wheel that the tire fits, expressed in inches.
305mm * 0.35 = 106.75mm tall side walls. There are two side walls, totaling 215.5mm. Ther are 25.4mm in one inch.
215mm / 25.4 = 8.4055 inches, plus the 24 inch wheel yields a tire height of 32.4055 inches.
Just slightly different than your original assertion, would you agree?
Engadget, would you please hire a web developer that knows what the hell they are doing? Your comment system is broken. This reply was supposed to be to Truth.
Developers developers developers.... didn't help MS much either.
Huh. I had a similar idea years ago.
But I also thought that mechanical energy could be used to generate power too. If the speed bumps push down into the ground, they could push a piston or something. All those cars going over them in busy cities or wal-mart parking lots could add up to a significant amount of power.
New add for the Ford Raptor, it doesn't have to slow down for speed bumps, smart or not.
I could careless about speed bumps. Thats why I have a truck. I DON'T slow down for speed bumps. I have a Heavy Duty truck so I can go off road.... For me a speed bump is not even noticeable in it.
There are better ways to make people slow down in certain areas. Speed Bumps aren't the answer.
Just make sure you find some thing I can't beat with technology, or a bigger better truck ;)
I wonder how it's tweaked for weight, cars can vary quite a lot and I wonder if it can handle all weightclasses with equal speed and efficiency.
I like the concept though, as opposed to regular speedbumps.
Wait now!!! what would happen if, while driving over it, your front or rear wheels directly over it, it instantly inflated (milliseconds)???!!!
Love a vid on that!
"In an effort to cut down on pollutants emitted from legions of motorcars slowing and accelerating rapidly"
LOL, wouldn't installing more humps just increase this problem?