Sad note in my apartment complex - animal lover warning!

[mhkohne]

I'm going to have to look into speed bumps for my neighborhood. I'm really sick of the dangerous driving that some of my neighbors do.

We asked about bumps in my neighborhood and the response from the township was that the PD/fire company/ambulance company all objected to speed bumps that they might have to contend with in an emergency. So don't be too shocked if you run into similar push back.

[Chromatix]

An alternative to speedbumps is chicanes. They have the dual advantage that they work equally well on off-road vehicles as family cars, and they don't inconvenience the emergency services so much. They also provide natural crossing points for pedestrians.

The main disadvantages of chicanes are that they tend to reduce roadside parking space, and they tend to get in the way of cyclists. But if you have driveways then the parking space is a non-issue, and it is possible to add narrow bypass lanes for cyclists.

[PepperElf]

had to look up "chicanes" - interesting idea.

although one other option i guess is... a reverse speed bump. not sure what it's called but my bf felt it would be great for one of the nearby roads where people speed (45 in a 25). instead of a bump it's a dip. he said when people speed over them it'll be more apt to damage the vehicle or something like that. (the idea that people will pull their heads out of their asses faster if they are risking damaging their cars)

[Chromatix]

Unfortunately, the faster you go over a dip, the easier it is for the car to ride it. The suspension only has to push the wheel down to meet it, then let it back up again, and even if it hits a travel limit, it just puts the car body in freefall briefly while the wheel isn't touching the road. In freefall, the faster you are going the less the body will drop before you reach the far side of the dip.

With a hump, most cars have limited upward suspension travel, so they have to lift the actual body - via the bump-stops if necessary - to get the wheel over it. The theory is that hitting the bump stops is *much* more uncomfortable than being in brief freefall. The trouble is that off-road vehicles have long suspension travel in both directions by design, so they hardly notice humps - and since they are big, heavy and high, they are the most dangerous vehicles to be speeding in on a residential street.

That's why chicanes are starting to be preferred over here. They are *more* trouble for a high-built SUV to deal with due to their tendency to roll, and the physical limits for getting around them rapidly include adhesion which is *very* difficult to design a car to circumvent (and even harder for a motorbike). And no, the silly little spoilers you see on the back of some cars do not help - the massive ones on F1 cars would, but even they only take proper effect at 100+mph.

[wolfie]

With a hump, most cars have limited upward suspension travel, so they have to lift the actual body - via the bump-stops if necessary - to get the wheel over it. The theory is that hitting the bump stops is *much* more uncomfortable than being in brief freefall. The trouble is that off-road vehicles have long suspension travel in both directions by design, so they hardly notice humps - and since they are big, heavy and high, they are the most dangerous vehicles to be speeding in on a residential street.

I guess that explains why at the local strip mall, all the SUVs have to slow down to (literally) half the speed I'd be doing in my compact car (with 15 years worth of sag in the suspension) in order to get over the speed bumps [/sarcasm]. Seriously - if I'm going too SLOWLY I hit my front crossmember on the back side of the bump.

That's why chicanes are starting to be preferred over here. They are *more* trouble for a high-built SUV to deal with due to their tendency to roll, and the physical limits for getting around them rapidly include adhesion which is *very* difficult to design a car to circumvent (and even harder for a motorbike). And no, the silly little spoilers you see on the back of some cars do not help - the massive ones on F1 cars would, but even they only take proper effect at 100+mph.

So how is this LESS bad than speed bumps for a fire truck/ambulance/police car to negotiate?

[Chromatix]

It's better at least for the ambulance, because the patient and equipment don't get jolted. I have no idea how difficult it is for paramedics to do their job in the back of a moving vehicle, but being jolted hard at random intervals can't possibly help.

For a big fire engine, it's probably a wash either way. Meanwhile police drivers get to use their advanced driving skills to get around it as quickly as is safe. Your police drivers *do* get advanced training for pursuit and emergency response driving, right?

Also, most SUVs - especially the ones favoured by "soccer moms" simply because they're big and cheap - *aren't* genuine off-road vehicles - they don't have the heavy-duty transmission or suspension required. Proper off-road capability is a premium feature.

[Sapphire Silk]

It's better at least for the ambulance, because the patient and equipment don't get jolted. I have no idea how difficult it is for paramedics to do their job in the back of a moving vehicle, but being jolted hard at random intervals can't possibly help.

It's very difficult. It takes some practice to learn how to do things in a rig while its moving. Certain things, they have to stop because if two people are required (like for CPR), obviously you can't drive and do chest compressions.

[Caractacus_Potts]

I drove by a guy in a business suit leaning over a cat on the side of the road with a BMW pulled to the curb about 10 feet further on. I figured the guy had hit the cat and was taking care of it so, sad, but nothing I need to get involved in.

About a half hour later going in the other direction I see the cat still lying on the side of the road but no sign of the guy or the BMW. The cat was in pretty bad shape, bloodied and mewling as I wrapped it in a blanket I had in the car. I took it to the closest emergency vet but it had no tag and I am not sure what they did for it (might have been a stray, belonged to a lousy owner or an escaped pet).