Use Your Illusion II: Virtual Speed Humps Coming to Philly

Desperate times call for desperate measures. As part of a city-wide campaign to reduce speeding, Philadelphia is marking 100 intersections with painted-on faux speed humps, like the ones pictured above. Britain’s Telegraph reports:

“The goal is to change the mindset,” said Philadelphia’s chief traffic engineer Charles Denny.

“The driver sees this in the roadway, and they think that it’s some protrusion up out of the roadway, and not a perfectly flat surface. So they slow down before they drive over it.”

Accident data will be collected by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to see if the pioneering scheme actually does make the roads safer.

The virtual humps are the latest innovative measure adopted as an alternative to traditional “sleeping policemen“, which have been criticised for damaging cars, slowing down emergency vehicles, and lowering fuel economy.

We admire the Engwichtian spirit here, but it’s not immediately clear how much of an impact virtual speed humps will have on drivers who, for example, pass over them more than once. And they don’t sound nearly as much fun as the laser crosswalk wall, or this one:

Rubber speed humps that inflate only when a speeding vehicle approaches have been successfully tested in London.

Streetsbloggers, what say you? 

Photo: Telegraph