Stop The Humping
When streets get humped, we all get screwed.
I realize that Atlanta has a lot of bad drivers. Drivers don’t use turn signals. Drivers talk on their cellphones while driving. Drivers speed everywhere. Over the last few years it has become fashionable to combat this last problem be installing street humps. I’m here to plead “PLEASE STOP THIS PRACTICE.”
I understand children play on the streets (many moons ago I was one of them). I understand that people will slow down (sometimes to an agonizingly slow pace as if they were transporting nitroglycerin). Really, I understand what they are trying to do. But why punish all of us?
Don’t people realize that traffic will transition to streets that have no humps? The problem gets shifted, not solved.
Could we not generate income for the city/county/state by enforcing the laws rather than coming up workarounds?
What about cyclists? Sure the humps are not extreme, but I’d rather ride my bike on smooth roads without the hassle of the humps.
Just think of all the potholes which could be filled, or metal plates which could be removed if the workers who are installing street humps were working on them instead.
The speed bump (and now the more surly speed hump) was something that was once reserved for very high density pedestrian traffic. But now they are everywhere. To make things worse I see them on streets where I rarely see kids playing. And if adults can’t avoid a car then Darwinism will cure them of their stupidity. I agree, enforce the speed limits, write tickets and then regular drivers in the area will no to slow down.
I agree these speed bumps and humps are aggravating because they make me slow down a little. You’re also right, these obstacles are sometimes located in areas where kids rarely play because their parents or grandparents have trained them to stay out of the front yard. Speaking of grandparents, if they are not nimble enough to dash across the street, they are not “the fittest” and should be run down as you suggest.
Please run for public service office. We need more wisdom and compassion like you suggest. Thanks!
There are different types of speed humps, and with a little education and careful planning, we could get better ones all around Atlanta than what we have today.
Alexandria, VA, for example has a website detailing their traffic calming solutions:
http://ci.alexandria.va.us/tes/td/traffic_calming/calming.html
It’s worth checking out. Which of the different solutions are utilized should depend on where they’re placed.
I lived for a time on speed-humped Shepards Lane (near Emory) – a neighborhoody sort of street used as a highspeed cut-through from Lavista to Clifton and Briarcliff – and those humps were the only way I could get out of the driveway in the morning.
I suppose if a cop were stationed in someone’s driveway every morning picking off the drivers going 45 mph ON A RESIDENTIAL STREET the humps wouldn’t be necessary, but cops got better things to do.
You people need to slow down.