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If this technology becomes common place, what is the future of speed bumps? It seems as if speed bumps are a rather questionable approach to traffic calming, a

If this technology becomes common place, what is the future of speed bumps? It seems as if speed bumps are a rather questionable approach to traffic calming, as larger vehicles (which should be a priority for calming) are less affected.

selectodude 1y ago
They’re already too small for the idiot monster trucks everybody drives nowadays. Not sure this will change that.
- beau_g 1y ago
  Speed bumps are much rougher in my idiot monster truck than they are on my Mercedes station wagon, idiot monster truck spring rates and damping are engineered to tow heavy loads/carry heavy payloads so especially when unloaded speed bumps are quite jarring compared to a passenger car.
  - nikisweeting 1y ago
    Just hit them significantly faster, it'll do the same thing as going slow with a heavy load. There's a reason the faster you ride motocross the harsher you tune your spring and damping rates.
    - serf 1y ago
      what's the reason? it surely isn't ride smoothness, it's control. similar to a race car -- you don't compensate the speed with damping and spring rates in order to maximize a smooth ride , you do it to more quickly transfer the movement energy OUT of your car, into the ground and traction patch so that the car can remain dynamic for the next force. this does not equate to ride quality, most race cars (and bikes) are bone-shakers.
      - nikisweeting 1y ago
        ride smoothness in the medium frequency range = control. if you're bouncing all over then you're weighting and de-weighting constantly, which is terrible for control. high performance cars are mostly bone shakers at slow speeds when not in their ideal operating range. at high speeds they should level on top of it all, just watch a rally truck go over dunes or the video of an F1 wheel well stabilized to the frame of the car. sure you have low-frequency high-g-force weight transfer during acceleration/deceleration, and you have high frequency signal from the road texture, but medium frequency parking-lot-speedbump-style bouncing should not be happening at all or you're going to lose the race.
        potato3732842 1y ago
        See also: unladen vs laden commercial truck, same exact principals apply just at way different speeds and weights.
    - mikrotikker 1y ago
      My riding skill improved so much the day I fully grokked "lean back and twist the throttle" to handle obstacles (I did it by accident and thought I was going to die)
  - kevin_thibedeau 1y ago
    Off-road trucks have better bump handling ability as their suspensions aren't configured like load handling trucks.
  - potato3732842 1y ago
    Except for the fact that the in the average case the monster truck is probably being driven by someone who'll full send it (which minimizes the bump) and the Mercedes is being driven by someone who'll inevitably crawl over it at 2mph. But yeah, swap the average drivers and the Mercedes is gonna do way better.
joshvm 1y ago
We use chicanes (of a sort) and single lane bottlenecks in the UK. Forcing the vehicle to turn is a pretty easy way to get people to slow down and people complain less because it's friendlier on their suspension. In my home town there's one road that was clearly experimental? where the whole (one way) road gently zigzags for maybe 500m.
- pests 1y ago
  They just tried something like this in some city in Minnesota (I think) and had to revert after a month from the public outcry.
  - nativeit 1y ago
    Right, but people are famously idiots.
criddell 1y ago
Speed bumps are already almost meaningless with modern suspensions. Next time you have a rental car hit a few at speed and you might be surprised how well an average car handles it.
- varjag 1y ago
  If it's the posted speed that's exactly how the bumps are designed. You aren't supposed to brake.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
nikisweeting 1y ago
I've never understood speed bumps as a concept. Almost every car has at least 4in of travel, so you can hit them at significant speed and not damage anything. In fact the faster you hit them or the more load you're carrying the better the suspension handles it because you open up the high speed compression valves. If there's no one around and it's an empty remote rural access road I'll often hit them at 30mph+ with no issue. Rolling over them at a slower speed where your shocks stay uncompressed forces your whole car to go up and then down again, instead of absorbing the energy in the shocks.
- Aurornis 1y ago
  > so you can hit them at significant speed and not damage anything. That’s the point. They’re not supposed to damage the car. They’re supposed to be a little uncomfortable if you’re going too fast. It’s more reminder than a physical stopper. > In fact the faster you hit them or the more load you're carrying the better the suspension handles it because you open up the high speed compression valves. This is a case of knowing just enough about a topic to be dangerous. Entering the higher shaft velocity part of the damper curve doesn’t mean the suspension is handling it “better”. The high speed behavior of the valving simply means the damping forces aren’t increasing linearly with shaft velocity. They trade extra travel for reduced peak forces. Make no mistake, though. The faster you go, the higher the forces. The high speed valving (if the OEM dampers are even digressive) isn’t changing that. If the speed bump is tall enough and the bump stops get completely compressed you could bottom out the damper, which is not good for it. > I'll often hit them at 30mph+ with no issue. Just because nothing immediately breaks doesn’t mean you’re reducing the life of the OEM dampers. Repeated high speed impacts and will shorten the life. Getting the wheels bumped up into the range where you’re compressed bump stops transfers a lot of energy into the bushings and other components. > Rolling over them at a slower speed where your shocks stay uncompressed forces your whole car to go up and then down again, instead of absorbing the energy in the shocks. That’s the ideal way to do it. This is better than the sudden sharp impact of high speed crossing. You’re not doing your car any favors by driving quickly over speed bumps. Fortunately for you, OEM replacement dampers aren’t too expensive but replacing prematurely worn bushings is kind of a pain.
blindstitch 1y ago
My first thought. It's the ultimate American invention, something to let you fly straight over the speed bumps people have installed to keep their streets safe, neatly tying up the infatuation with car culture with a complete disdain for all life outside the car.

selectodude 1y ago

They’re already too small for the idiot monster trucks everybody drives nowadays. Not sure this will change that.

beau_g 1y ago
Speed bumps are much rougher in my idiot monster truck than they are on my Mercedes station wagon, idiot monster truck spring rates and damping are engineered to tow heavy loads/carry heavy payloads so especially when unloaded speed bumps are quite jarring compared to a passenger car.
- nikisweeting 1y ago
  Just hit them significantly faster, it'll do the same thing as going slow with a heavy load. There's a reason the faster you ride motocross the harsher you tune your spring and damping rates.
  - serf 1y ago
    what's the reason? it surely isn't ride smoothness, it's control. similar to a race car -- you don't compensate the speed with damping and spring rates in order to maximize a smooth ride , you do it to more quickly transfer the movement energy OUT of your car, into the ground and traction patch so that the car can remain dynamic for the next force. this does not equate to ride quality, most race cars (and bikes) are bone-shakers.
    - nikisweeting 1y ago
      ride smoothness in the medium frequency range = control. if you're bouncing all over then you're weighting and de-weighting constantly, which is terrible for control. high performance cars are mostly bone shakers at slow speeds when not in their ideal operating range. at high speeds they should level on top of it all, just watch a rally truck go over dunes or the video of an F1 wheel well stabilized to the frame of the car. sure you have low-frequency high-g-force weight transfer during acceleration/deceleration, and you have high frequency signal from the road texture, but medium frequency parking-lot-speedbump-style bouncing should not be happening at all or you're going to lose the race.
      - potato3732842 1y ago
        See also: unladen vs laden commercial truck, same exact principals apply just at way different speeds and weights.
  - mikrotikker 1y ago
    My riding skill improved so much the day I fully grokked "lean back and twist the throttle" to handle obstacles (I did it by accident and thought I was going to die)
- kevin_thibedeau 1y ago
  Off-road trucks have better bump handling ability as their suspensions aren't configured like load handling trucks.
- potato3732842 1y ago
  Except for the fact that the in the average case the monster truck is probably being driven by someone who'll full send it (which minimizes the bump) and the Mercedes is being driven by someone who'll inevitably crawl over it at 2mph. But yeah, swap the average drivers and the Mercedes is gonna do way better.

joshvm 1y ago

We use chicanes (of a sort) and single lane bottlenecks in the UK. Forcing the vehicle to turn is a pretty easy way to get people to slow down and people complain less because it's friendlier on their suspension. In my home town there's one road that was clearly experimental? where the whole (one way) road gently zigzags for maybe 500m.

pests 1y ago
They just tried something like this in some city in Minnesota (I think) and had to revert after a month from the public outcry.
- nativeit 1y ago
  Right, but people are famously idiots.

criddell 1y ago

Speed bumps are already almost meaningless with modern suspensions. Next time you have a rental car hit a few at speed and you might be surprised how well an average car handles it.

varjag 1y ago
If it's the posted speed that's exactly how the bumps are designed. You aren't supposed to brake.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]

nikisweeting 1y ago

I've never understood speed bumps as a concept. Almost every car has at least 4in of travel, so you can hit them at significant speed and not damage anything. In fact the faster you hit them or the more load you're carrying the better the suspension handles it because you open up the high speed compression valves. If there's no one around and it's an empty remote rural access road I'll often hit them at 30mph+ with no issue. Rolling over them at a slower speed where your shocks stay uncompressed forces your whole car to go up and then down again, instead of absorbing the energy in the shocks.

Aurornis 1y ago
> so you can hit them at significant speed and not damage anything. That’s the point. They’re not supposed to damage the car. They’re supposed to be a little uncomfortable if you’re going too fast. It’s more reminder than a physical stopper. > In fact the faster you hit them or the more load you're carrying the better the suspension handles it because you open up the high speed compression valves. This is a case of knowing just enough about a topic to be dangerous. Entering the higher shaft velocity part of the damper curve doesn’t mean the suspension is handling it “better”. The high speed behavior of the valving simply means the damping forces aren’t increasing linearly with shaft velocity. They trade extra travel for reduced peak forces. Make no mistake, though. The faster you go, the higher the forces. The high speed valving (if the OEM dampers are even digressive) isn’t changing that. If the speed bump is tall enough and the bump stops get completely compressed you could bottom out the damper, which is not good for it. > I'll often hit them at 30mph+ with no issue. Just because nothing immediately breaks doesn’t mean you’re reducing the life of the OEM dampers. Repeated high speed impacts and will shorten the life. Getting the wheels bumped up into the range where you’re compressed bump stops transfers a lot of energy into the bushings and other components. > Rolling over them at a slower speed where your shocks stay uncompressed forces your whole car to go up and then down again, instead of absorbing the energy in the shocks. That’s the ideal way to do it. This is better than the sudden sharp impact of high speed crossing. You’re not doing your car any favors by driving quickly over speed bumps. Fortunately for you, OEM replacement dampers aren’t too expensive but replacing prematurely worn bushings is kind of a pain.

blindstitch 1y ago

My first thought. It's the ultimate American invention, something to let you fly straight over the speed bumps people have installed to keep their streets safe, neatly tying up the infatuation with car culture with a complete disdain for all life outside the car.