As Micky-T said - they HAVE to follow up by actually giving out tickets. My town falls short on that and the speeders feel free to take a chance, they come flying through our little area, which is full of kids, all day long.
It's the same with the damn cell phone law - no one believes they'll ever be stopped.
How about cardboard cut-outs planted behind trees that would look like a patrol car was hiding there?
YEAH, spikes would be awesome! That's a really good idea, key thing being follow-up and/or randomly putting real ones down on occasion as well...I'm all for anything that saves taxpayers money....
To me, the best deterrent was what was done in Lancaster, SC. They put a police car on a small hill overlooking a busy intersection that a lot of people were speeding through and running the light. They would have either have a real officer or a dummy dressed up in officers clothing in the car throughout the heavy traffic times of the day so it appeared there was always someone watching. From a distance, no one could tell if it was a real cop or a dummy in the car. So what happened? Exactly what they wanted; it became a much slower driven through intersection that no one ever ran the red light at.
I read somewhere about someone who'd made life sized cutouts of kids and put them on the law. Apparently it slowed people down a bit. I personally thought it sounded creepy.
Doc I saw an article on these too. You touched on the issue I had, that people would just figure they were fake and speed any way. I thought the same thing about the ocassional real speed bumps to screw up their cars, ha ha ha.
July 11, 2008 at 7:14 PM
[Image] I was reading about these the other day and figured I would share because these are fabulous. Fake speed bumps! It's an optical illusion painted onto the asphalt to simulate real speed bumps and discourage speeding in neighborhood areas where kids play. People see the illusion and slow down because they are not sure at a distance that it's not a real speed bump. Ingenious I say. They are trying this experiment in Philadelphia after a similar experiment worked in Phoenix.
Now I know what you will say that as soon as people figure out what they are they will continue to speed and ignore them, but that is not the point. The point is that these puppies cost about $80 a piece instead of $1500 for a real speed bump and they can be erased and moved as well. That's a huge economic savings. I would slow down if I saw one and once people start to ignore them THAT'S where you station officers to give them tickets. The Phoenix study found that "after motorists adjust, the fake bumps will act like flashing lights in a school zone, reminding drivers they are in an area where they should not be speeding."
I think this is a win - win situation. The only way to make it more effective is if they actually made about 3 or 4 real bumps colored that way and stuck them in random places so that some idiot who thought they knew better and they were fake would tear up their car trying to speed. That will teach them!
Let me know what you think... It does make me wonder what other fake things they could make like this to trick people.
16 Comments
Close this window Jump to comment formNot a bad idea, as long as they follow through with some ticketing after they start ignoring them.
July 11, 2008 at 8:04 AM
I'm not sure if the dumbass kid up the street will realize what speed bumps look like and will continue to drive like a fricking idiot.
But I think the reminder factor alone, knowing some people will ignore them once they figure it out, is pretty great!
July 11, 2008 at 8:30 AM
As Micky-T said - they HAVE to follow up by actually giving out tickets. My town falls short on that and the speeders feel free to take a chance, they come flying through our little area, which is full of kids, all day long.
It's the same with the damn cell phone law - no one believes they'll ever be stopped.
How about cardboard cut-outs planted behind trees that would look like a patrol car was hiding there?
July 11, 2008 at 8:52 AM
Looks like a great idea to me. They're a visual reminder instead of a physical one. And personally, I despise speed bumps.
That makes me want to go out and buy one of those long t-shirts with a hot girl in a bikini painted on the front!
Happy Friday!
July 11, 2008 at 8:53 AM
my town just installed some speed bumps and they aren't all pretty and colorful like that.
it would really only work once though. I guess you need the tickets all the time anyway..... so what's the real point?
July 11, 2008 at 9:00 AM
I say you paint a 3-D picture of a dead body in the road. Then you'd be ASSURED that these drivers would slow down!
July 11, 2008 at 9:08 AM
While it's great in theory, eventually people are going to figure out that they're not real and the speeding will continue to happen.
July 11, 2008 at 9:31 AM
Yes, eventually people will go back to being jerks, but in the meantime you might save a child's life.
July 11, 2008 at 9:38 AM
Next up, optical illusion road kill!
July 11, 2008 at 10:02 AM
Wouldn't optical illusions of spikes be more fun?
How about optical illusions of bad ass mobsters with tommy guns?
Or optical illusions of PMS'ing women with kitchen knives.
July 11, 2008 at 10:31 AM
YEAH, spikes would be awesome! That's a really good idea, key thing being follow-up and/or randomly putting real ones down on occasion as well...I'm all for anything that saves taxpayers money....
July 11, 2008 at 10:53 AM
This comment has been removed by the author.
July 11, 2008 at 11:38 AM
To me, the best deterrent was what was done in Lancaster, SC. They put a police car on a small hill overlooking a busy intersection that a lot of people were speeding through and running the light. They would have either have a real officer or a dummy dressed up in officers clothing in the car throughout the heavy traffic times of the day so it appeared there was always someone watching. From a distance, no one could tell if it was a real cop or a dummy in the car. So what happened? Exactly what they wanted; it became a much slower driven through intersection that no one ever ran the red light at.
Got to love small town ingenuity.
July 11, 2008 at 11:40 AM
I love the optical spikes idea too !!
July 11, 2008 at 12:51 PM
I read somewhere about someone who'd made life sized cutouts of kids and put them on the law. Apparently it slowed people down a bit. I personally thought it sounded creepy.
July 11, 2008 at 1:55 PM
Doc I saw an article on these too. You touched on the issue I had, that people would just figure they were fake and speed any way. I thought the same thing about the ocassional real speed bumps to screw up their cars, ha ha ha.
July 11, 2008 at 7:14 PM