Humping Around The City
Made You Look! Ah, childish humor it makes me laugh at least.
When Streets Get Humped, We All Get Screwed
The other day I found out through the East Atlanta email list that Ormewood Ave, a main street which connects Flat Shoals Ave and Moreland Ave, was getting speed humps installed. I hate speed humps! Speed humps (along with the not-so-approved technique of leaving big metal plates covering roadwork) have become a popular defense against this city's shitty drivers.
Do speed humps slow down drivers? Yes, but to a damn snail's pace. When many drivers encounter speed humps they slow to a speed which would safely ensure the transport viles of nitroglycerine. It's even more frustrating to see people in SUVs slow as if their vehicles were not designed to encounter bumps (which really may be the case, but that's another story).
Furthermore, speed humps cause people to take alternate routes, which simply moves the danger rather than eliminating it. The people whose street gets humped may get the problem out of their front yard, only to have passed it along to their neighbors -- and that's not very neighborly. Finally, speed humps do nothing to solve the other issues of traffic safety ignorance such as running red lights (by coincedence yesterday I came upon two separate accidents which occurred in the middle of intersections controlled by traffic signals), ignoring stop signs, not paying attention (read 'cellphone usage', 'food eating', 'reading', etc), or seeing pedestrians and cyclists as annoyances on the road which must be eliminated.
Okay Einstein What's Your Solution?
Education and enforcement are the only ways to curb dangerous driving habits. We will never completely eradicate traffic safety problems, especially in a city which loves its cars, and whose mass transit system (again, another story) is abysmal, but we need to try.
And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - ready for the weekend
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 26, playing Razorlight
Drive Safely -- and I mean it!
Paulie [eatl/ga]
When Streets Get Humped, We All Get Screwed
The other day I found out through the East Atlanta email list that Ormewood Ave, a main street which connects Flat Shoals Ave and Moreland Ave, was getting speed humps installed. I hate speed humps! Speed humps (along with the not-so-approved technique of leaving big metal plates covering roadwork) have become a popular defense against this city's shitty drivers.
Do speed humps slow down drivers? Yes, but to a damn snail's pace. When many drivers encounter speed humps they slow to a speed which would safely ensure the transport viles of nitroglycerine. It's even more frustrating to see people in SUVs slow as if their vehicles were not designed to encounter bumps (which really may be the case, but that's another story).
Furthermore, speed humps cause people to take alternate routes, which simply moves the danger rather than eliminating it. The people whose street gets humped may get the problem out of their front yard, only to have passed it along to their neighbors -- and that's not very neighborly. Finally, speed humps do nothing to solve the other issues of traffic safety ignorance such as running red lights (by coincedence yesterday I came upon two separate accidents which occurred in the middle of intersections controlled by traffic signals), ignoring stop signs, not paying attention (read 'cellphone usage', 'food eating', 'reading', etc), or seeing pedestrians and cyclists as annoyances on the road which must be eliminated.
Okay Einstein What's Your Solution?
Education and enforcement are the only ways to curb dangerous driving habits. We will never completely eradicate traffic safety problems, especially in a city which loves its cars, and whose mass transit system (again, another story) is abysmal, but we need to try.
And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal...
Current Mood - ready for the weekend
Current Music - Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 26, playing Razorlight
Drive Safely -- and I mean it!
Paulie [eatl/ga]
posted by Paulie at 8:05 AM
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