Bumps, Lumps, Humps, and Dips
Traffic engineers and planners like those who work for the City of Dublin, CA, call it “traffic calming,” but most of us call them speed bumps. Actually there are differences amongst the bumps, lumps, humps, and dips we see on city streets everyday.
Speed bumps are about 5″ high and about 5″ deep. They are used in private driveways or parking lots. Bumps are designed to limit speeds to less than 10 mph. This street had bumps, and then some time later the city came back to add the “bump” warning. After some practice you can figure out what the ideal speed is for your car. I have even seen the “bump” warning painted on the street with only a painted (fake) bump. It seemed to be aimed at non-local drivers using the street as a short-cut. Speed lumps are similar to speed bumps, but have flat spots specifically spaced to allow firetrucks to straddle the raised area. Motorcycles and bikes can also benefit from the flat gaps in lumps.
Speed humps are are about 3″ high and deep enough that they are not too sharp. Traffic can easily cross at about 25mph. The speed hump in the picture is located in front of a listing I had in Concord. The City of Concord installed this speed hump along with others about 4 years ago because of the excessive speed down this street. At first they really seemed to help slow traffic, but now their effectiveness has worn off a bit. Locals have enough experience with them that they know the speed limits for their cars to coast through these traffic calming devices. I see some people who don’t even slow down, while others crawl over very slow. The net effect is mostly positive for the neighborhood, and they give a bit of extra business to the muffler repair shop. Dips, as the name implies, are indentations used for “traffic calming.” They can be used where water drainage is also a consideration.
As a Realtor, and as a property owner, I have seen both the benefits and the downside of traffic calming used in residential areas. I have even seen them used in cities that use snow plows. If you want the City to install, or modify, humps on a public street near you, I encourage you to contact the public works department. The engineers who work for the City of Dublin are usually very responsive and quite helpful.
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