Check this out

I was reading about these the other day and figured I would share because these are fabulous. Fake speed bumps! It's an optical illusion painted onto the asphalt to simulate real speed bumps and discourage speeding in neighborhood areas where kids play. People see the illusion and slow down because they are not sure at a distance that it's not a real speed bump. Ingenious I say. They are trying this experiment in Philadelphia after a similar experiment worked in Phoenix.

Now I know what you will say that as soon as people figure out what they are they will continue to speed and ignore them, but that is not the point. The point is that these puppies cost about $80 a piece instead of $1500 for a real speed bump and they can be erased and moved as well. That's a huge economic savings. I would slow down if I saw one and once people start to ignore them THAT'S where you station officers to give them tickets. The Phoenix study found that "after motorists adjust, the fake bumps will act like flashing lights in a school zone, reminding drivers they are in an area where they should not be speeding."

I think this is a win - win situation. The only way to make it more effective is if they actually made about 3 or 4 real bumps colored that way and stuck them in random places so that some idiot who thought they knew better and they were fake would tear up their car trying to speed. That will teach them!

Let me know what you think... It does make me wonder what other fake things they could make like this to trick people.

-Doc