Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/08/15/why-speed-bumps-made-from-sill.html
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If practical this is a rather neat technical solution. My idea was a speed sensor in the road and a half-circular bar that could be rapidly rotated from slush to sticking up a few centimetres. This could be cheaper, though the risk is vandals cutting it open to extract the polydimethylsiloxane.
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The jazzy background music is what sold me.
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First thought is that this product can be easily vandalized [punctured] , rendering it useless.
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I think it is less silly putty and more oobleck.
Eh, but how often would that be? Might still be worth it.
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When it snows?
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In SE San Diego, it would be often… Sorry to burst your speed bump…
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In many places they use speed humps (though I don’t think the nomenclature is very set yet) which just make the speed bump longer. If you take it at a reasonable speed, it’s just fine. If you hit it too fast, you get bumped. I first saw them on bicycle boulevards in Portland. You can drive 15-20mph over them, or ride a bike over them and it’s really no more than just a normal road feel. You hit it at 25-30, and it’s a big bump. I’ve seen them in several places since, they seem to be gathering steam.
This is cool, but I can’t imagine it works better than just lengthening the size of the hump.
A quick google result:
https://www.trafficsafetystore.com/resources/choosing-speed-bumps-humps
They’ve got 3 different speed options right there.
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This is a truly appalling statement. In addition to illegitimate reasons, there are at least a few legitimate reasons for going double the speed limit - medical emergency being only the easiest to come up with. Destroying someone’s most valuable possession without due process is exactly the kind of thing Boing Boing usually rails against.
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Or it might just leak out from regular wear and tear. I think they’ll need a foam-like product before it’s practical world-wide.
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Wow, that’s a fantastically shrill and humorless response to common hyperbole.
Would you say you’re disappointed?
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From plows? It might survive that. You can’t just plow a speed bump either, you would have to raise it some.
Or do you live somewhere where there are spikey tires?
I’ve been to Texas and they have these awesome road bumps that you can see really well at night, but you can’t have them where I live because of snow. I have thought about making
Vandalism is that bad they have to vandalize the street? What if said goo was self sealing or hardened due to air exposure?
It had a British person selling it, maybe it would be fine in more civilized countries.
Yes, I was thinking the spiky tires might cause some issues.
ETA: I wonder how extreme cold would affect this type of speed bump? Actually if the temp dropping also lowered the speed you could easily drive over this speed bump, that would be pretty nifty to slow people down on snow and icy days.
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Someone might paint a dick around it.
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The speed bumps I hate are the ones on, let’s say, a 15 MPH alley in Chicago, where they’re set up so that they’ll rip out your car’s undercarriage if you’re going faster than 1 MPH.
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I assume you’re making some kind of reference that I don’t get. But I am saying that with the tings that have been happening the last few days, this kind of hyperbole looks less like humor and more like callousness.
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Kids these days needing their polydimethylsiloxane fix
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At that point wouldn’t it be just more cost effective to install a regular speed bump? This goo filled one just seems like it’s looking to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.
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Personally I’d rather risk the undercarriage of my car being destroyed than see some kid on my street get killed because drivers seem to treat our street like a drag strip despite the speed humps.
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