noisebeam

Annother related article from City of Mesa web page : Flashing Lights - Do they work
Al

Bruce Rosar

I've done a little research since my previous post, and discovered that what my town calls a raised, elongated hump with a parabolic top is labeled by the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) as an asphalt speed table. I've biked over a number of them without a problem (although you certainly know it's there if you're traveling at the post speed limit)

noisebeam

I've talked to planners here who call the 4' deep gently sloping (parabolic ? ) raised asphault 'humps' and the 1' deep raised asphault 'bumps'. We also have speed tables which are usually 12' or long flat top with a ramp on each end.

The attached image is somewhat to scale and shows what I understand to be 'bumps' 'humps' 'tables' and the later 'unknown' which I encountered in the school zone I described above.

Al

Bruce Rosar

Just found the town's Speed Hump FAQ. Looking at the drawing (on page 7), the tops here are flat and 10' long. Here are a few of the entries in the FAQ:

DataJunkie

Apparently, speed humps have a COMPLETELY different meaning in Colorado. Especially along colfax.

noisebeam

What meaning do they have in CO and different from AZ or different from Bruce's findings?
Al

noisebeam

The humps diagramed and pictured in the Town of Cary reference are about the same depth, but lower than the 'speed tables' here and much greater depth than the 'humps' here.

found this too, for Tuscon, which is different that cities here as I know bumps are legal in cities around where I live
https://dot.ci.tucson.az.us/traffic/ntmp/files/hump.pdf

Al

DataJunkie

My mind is in the gutter at the moment.

noisebeam

I see with all this talk of speed, tables, humps and resulting bumps I can imagine.
Al

LittleBigMan

This sounds like a theoretical argument.

I think past experience has shown that intersections are made safer by traffic lights. If you really want to come up with an example of "mindless driving," a good one would be a long-distance trip on the freeway.

PaulH

Thanks, *jack*!

I don't think either the MUP or the break in the wall existed when I was there. The shopping center across the street from campus housed a joint called "The Student Prince Hofbrau." We all just climbed over the campus wall to ge there.

Paul

Helmet Head

Absolutely agree!

Note that freeways induce mindlessness because of their design to allow traffic to achieve and maintain "uninterrupted flow".

But the phenomena I call "freewayization of surface streets" is all about allowing traffic to achieve and maintain "uninterrupted flow" on surface streets, except for intersection controls. The idea is even if there is an intersection, motorists don't have to slow down (much less stop) unless there is a stop sign or red light.

I agree that in a world with mindless drivers who only pay attention to traffic controls and otherwise maintaining flow, a given intersection can be made safer with a traffic light. But it's that kind of short-term thinking that has produced the mindnumbing driving environment.

We have 4-way stops where there should be no controls. We have traffic signals where we should have stop signs for one street, maybe, or, better yet, traffic circles. It goes on and on. Drivers don't pay attention because, for the most part, they don't have to pay attention. It's so easy to drive you don't have to think about it all. And the proliferation of traffic signals has made it so.

tomcryar

With more and more traffic lights, we end up with a situation where what the motorists are paying attention to is only the traffic lights. That is, they won't stop midblock for a pedestrian or even turning driver any more.


In what universe?

noisebeam

Does the mid-block ped have a marked or unmarked x-walk? Does the turning vehicle have the ROW?
Sure stopping when one should not is courteous and works in small 100 people towns, but in reality it causes more problems than it helps.
Al