Hi All,
As many of you are aware, there have been two "traffic calming" devices placed in the transponder lanes at both entrances to our Village, one at each entrance. These devices are referred to as "speed bumps".
"In another Comment stream, Anonymous said...
Whoever authorized the speed bumps at the entrances should be shot.
Dec 5, 2008 6:23:00 PM"
A bit draconian I think but clearly this issue is a major point of controversy developing in our Village..
The fundamental driver of this action is the incredible rate of gate crashing, which is recently 15 broken gates per month, about one every other day!!
I have done a bit of research on the issue and there are indeed problems with Speed Bumps, if people are not educated as to their placement, purpose and design parameters.
The devices in use at our gates are made of hard rubber, they are two inches high at maximum and 10 inches wide, they extend across the entire lane.
These devices are designed to be crossed at a speed between two and five miles per hour, in essence they require a dead stop, as is required at our transponder gates.
Can they cause suspension damage, can they cause injury to your back, can they cause you to loose control of your car? The answer is yes, IF YOU EXCEED THE DESIGN PARAMETER AS TO SPEED.
If you cross at the design speed of 2 - 5 MPH none of the consequences listed will occur and we will stop experiencing gate breaks..
If I have any criticism, it is that there was not a proper vetting of the intent to place the Speed Bumps in advance, there has not been sufficient education of our Unit Owners, so there will be incidents of crossing at higher speed than the devices are designed for and this will indeed lead to problems.
Please SLOW DOWN, and give the project a chance to work. Meanwhile I will research as to the availablility of an off the shelf Speed bump with a more gentle slope.
Comments strongly solicited!
Dave Israel
As many of you are aware, there have been two "traffic calming" devices placed in the transponder lanes at both entrances to our Village, one at each entrance. These devices are referred to as "speed bumps".
"In another Comment stream, Anonymous said...
Whoever authorized the speed bumps at the entrances should be shot.
Dec 5, 2008 6:23:00 PM"
A bit draconian I think but clearly this issue is a major point of controversy developing in our Village..
The fundamental driver of this action is the incredible rate of gate crashing, which is recently 15 broken gates per month, about one every other day!!
I have done a bit of research on the issue and there are indeed problems with Speed Bumps, if people are not educated as to their placement, purpose and design parameters.
The devices in use at our gates are made of hard rubber, they are two inches high at maximum and 10 inches wide, they extend across the entire lane.
These devices are designed to be crossed at a speed between two and five miles per hour, in essence they require a dead stop, as is required at our transponder gates.
Can they cause suspension damage, can they cause injury to your back, can they cause you to loose control of your car? The answer is yes, IF YOU EXCEED THE DESIGN PARAMETER AS TO SPEED.
If you cross at the design speed of 2 - 5 MPH none of the consequences listed will occur and we will stop experiencing gate breaks..
If I have any criticism, it is that there was not a proper vetting of the intent to place the Speed Bumps in advance, there has not been sufficient education of our Unit Owners, so there will be incidents of crossing at higher speed than the devices are designed for and this will indeed lead to problems.
Please SLOW DOWN, and give the project a chance to work. Meanwhile I will research as to the availablility of an off the shelf Speed bump with a more gentle slope.
Comments strongly solicited!
Dave Israel
12 comments:
Different cars will react diffrently to a severe bump such as have been placed at the entrances. Riding in the car and going over that at three miles per hour after a full stop is just like being on the sidewalk with the car and going off the curb when the front wheels hit the gutter and again when the back wheels hit the gutter. I have had years training in both motor vehicles and aircraft. A speed bump such as placed at the entrances can and does damage the suspension system of the vehicle. The shock of the bump to many of us is painful. I for one am more in favor of having a full stop steel plate come up and then go down. No one gets hurt; no damage to the car; all cars will then be forced to stop; no more broken gate arms; no more backaches; no more notes on the blog.
Hi A Nony Mouse
Dec 6, 2008 6:51:00 AM,
My research agrees with your statement insofar as Traffic Engineers do not recommend Speed Bumps. One reference referred to them as "inverted potholes".
The installation of a retractible steel plate, or Bollard in the transponder lane has been discussed and rejected by some for fear of law suits when someone does hit it, as no doubt they will from time to time.
I do not know if indeed such a person would have a case.
If the A Nony Mouse poster is indeed a credentialed professional in this field; please write a Professional opinion, sign it and turn it in to UCO, perhaps it will have some effect, and your efforts may save us from a law suit.
Dave Israel
Dave:
At yesterday's Safety meeting this
was a sore point with me...having a
Chrysler 300C I have to be particularly carefull when parking
in any space with a head bumper,
obiviously I'm not approaching it
at any speed to speak of...let alone attempting to enter the trans
ponder gate after coming to a full
stop..it's a jolting and noisy
experience in addition to damaging.
As I stated, my car will be inspected on Tues.,and we will proceed from there. I realize the
need to eliminate the gate crashers
however, it could be achived with
a design that is less harsh.
Your efforts as always are appreciated...
Bettie L
By putting a speed bump at the entrance with all the implications: ie, being jarred, damaging cars, hurting backs..etc Everyone pays the price for the few that run into the gate because they are either not paying attention, their eyesight is too bad to be driving or their attention span is non-existent.
The solution for this problem is to have the offender pay triple the cost of the repair to the gate arm
and call the police and have them issue a ticket.
Where speed bumps in the village are molded in a round shape on the top the ones on the entrances seem to be of a square shape imposing a little jolt to us going over the top of it.
Dave,
Thank you for bringing this important issue to the blog.
To UCO decision makers - IF WE MUST HAVE SPEED BUMPS, PLEASE, PLEASE NOT SO HIGH. Kindly check out the speed bumps in front on Wellington F. I think most could live with that.
My little car is weeping and my little spine is aching. I always stop before going through the gate - but it's not helping.
The speed bumps that were put up at the two entrances for transponders are certainly damaging to the suspension of cars to say nothinbg to my lower back. I think speed bumps are a good idea but not the ones they put up. The genius who chose those should be made to go over them back and forth all day and see what it does to their car and lower back. The speed bums we have around the village are more than adequate and will do the job. Justs because a person volunteers for a job does not make them knowledgable about what they are doing as we see time and again here. Let's hope the genius who spent our money for these awful bumps studies up before they come up with another winner and wastes our money.
PS one of the suburbs up north where I come from put up similar bumps and removed them very quickly when the law suits flew in.
The stop sign at the Haverhill gate comes AFTER the speed bump (not sure about West Gate). Shouldn't it come before? Then you would have presumably stopped and be starting up again at only the undamaging 5 mph. It seems to me that whenever communities or businesses put in speed bumps, there are problems: the bumps are too high, not tapered enough, too jolting, or installed in wrong places. Seems as if I am all the time seeing where places have had to make speed bump CHANGES. It is a commentary on our foresight.
Lanny Howe
Whoever ok'ed the design and installation of these new speed bumps really wanted to take out their frustrations on the car owners of Century Village. Not only does it take an unnessary toll on our cars suspension and our backs but it is also weakening the tires on our cars. Its hard to believe that one or two people can make decisions to impact all the car owners in our village.
Can't we go after those who are doing the damage to the gates without punishing everyone?? The bureaucrats didn't think this one through. "Teaching the few" has it right. Maybe the driver who destroys a gate should not be driving. Giving them a ticket might be the first step in getting them off the road.
Would the powers that be please replace the bump with a hump? I only approach them at 1 m.p.h. and
still believe that front end wear and tear on my little Mitzubishi will be accellerated by it. I am now seriously considering using the guest lane in the future. If many others begin to do the same, it will defeat the purpose of having a transponder lane. Enough is enough!
Tonight I drove out of
the Haverhill gate and
before the gate there is
a speed bump that is so
smooth that you don't
even realize you are
driving over one and then
the gate opens. Returning
to enter the Haverhill
gate into Century Village
is like night and day.
You have to stop completely
and crawl over the speed
bump. Why such a
DIFFERENCE???
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