Noise Pollution
November 20, 2006
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Posted by Aubrey Turner
I’m no fan of speed bumps, especially on public streets, but they’re not really too annoying since my Avalanche barely notices them. Apparently, though, some people are more annoyed than others.
Honk if you hate speed bumps!
A campaign by that name was launched several years ago by a Florida radio station after drivers complained about bumps in residential areas.
When they drove over speed bumps, drivers would honk to vengefully release noise pollution into the neighborhood. Apparently, the practice caught on, and residents began to think twice about petitioning city hall for the traffic-calming devices.
Since then, intermittent honking campaigns have been reported in other states. Last week, a reader admitted that he recently honked while driving on speed bumps in Dallas’ Park Cities area. “It was a huge stress reliever!” he reported.
To be consistent (see previous post), I could point out that speedbumps target both the law-breaker and the law-abiding regardless of innocence. 
Still, I can’t help but think that the type of person who would honk because of the speed bumps is also the same type that made the residents want to install them in the first place.
Categories: Random Ramblings
I usually don’t mind the gentle slopes they put on residential roads sometimes. For instance, Southwest Fort Worth has a number of residential areas with broad speed hills. They’re still a pretty good deterrent, and they’re clearly marked, and I don’t mind slowing for them at all. No one really needs to be zipping through residential roads.
The parking garage at work also has some reasonable speed hills.
I don’t much like the ones at my apartment complex, however, as they’re very tall and steep. I’ve seen more than a couple of cars scrape the front or the area just behind the front wheels even when going very slowly. I’m in the market for a sporty coupe or sedan, and have to take this into consideration.
No honking though.
A friend of mine used to have a lowered Honda with low-profile tires. You put the two of us in there (neither of us is small) and the speed bumps might as well have been mountains.
The street I live on in Keller is one of the few that has speed bumps, and thank God they are there. Even with them, the cars tend to speed down a street that is long and straight.