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Retractable Speed Bump rewards slow driving
Finally, a fair speed bump. Its smart sensors flatten it when a car driving slowly approaches, but stays tall and obnoxious if a car's flying along at more than around 19mph. This could be a suspension saver for those of us who don't drive too fast in parking lots.
This design concept is an excellent idea, but it looks expensive to install and maintain. That might not be too popular as municipal budgets continue shrinking all over the world. Still, we like the fairness of this design. If you'd rather see a more punitive approach, take a look at this.
Yanko Design, via Ubergizmo
By Bananafische at 6:15 PM ON 12/27/08
There was talk a few years ago about a similar but lower-tech version of this.
Basically the speed bump would consist of a very tough pouch or pocket, filled with a non-newtonian fluid such as a cornflour + water mixture (for a video of this substance in action see http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=_SRl-SGTatM).
When a car hits the speed bump at high velocity, the sudden shock causes the fluid to 'sieze' and harden, acting like a normal concrete speed bump would.
At low impact speeds, the liquid remains fairly fluid, deforming and squishing under the tyres, allowing the car to pass much more freely.
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Bananafische:
There was talk a few years ago about a similar but lower-tech version of this. Basically the speed bump would cons...More »