Yet another slightly car related but more save the world type of post. Today I present to you the case of how speed bumps are not only damaging our cars suspension but also destroying our world! I must admit, I do sometimes think speed bumps are useful: specifically for those idiots (usually Citi Golf drivers) who feel the need to “pimp their rides” and lower their cars to about 4 millimeters above the road.
The Automobile Association (the AA to the layman) in the UK commissioned a research project to discover whether slowing down when assaulting a speed bump affected the environment. Basically what they found that a car that gets 4.7 liters per hundred kilometers gets bumped (haha) down to 9.11 liters per hundred kilometers when having to slow down then speed up as is the usual behaviour for a driver traversing the average speed island. Basically what they found was that slowing down from 50Km/h down to 30 Km/h not only kills your good fuel consumption but also increases the release of Carbon Monoxide and Nitrous Oxide.
The issue in my mind though is that a speed bump is a necessary evil to slow commuters down but a solution to this problem needs to be found. It’s obvious that these speed reducers are damaging to our cars as well as causing pollution but in South Africa where our drivers are lawless at best we need some sort of way to slow them down.
My solution to the problem: create a speed bump that raises and lowers. The system would track your speed at a point close to the hump and either raise or lower the speed bump depending on your speed and how much you would need to slow down. Another solution is the implementation of fixed speed cameras. I’ve noticed how they do this in Cape Town: everyone speeds until they get to a certain point where they slow to the speed limit and then speed up after the camera.
Whatever the solution we need to remove these car-destroying humps from our landscape at once or suffer the increase pollution, raised fuel consumption and thus environmental damage.
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