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Architecture & Engineering


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June 5, 2009

Strange But True!

Q. To control speeders, today's traffic engineers use “speed bumps,” “speed humps” and even wider “speed tables,” all fancifully known as “sleeping policemen.” Are you up to speed on other traffic lingo?

A. A “mobile speed bump” is a car going at the speed limit and forcing others to do the same, a “speed cushion” has multiple small bumps with barely enough room between for a tire to fit, says Paul McFedries in IEEE Spectrum magazine. A “neck down” is a curb that extends into the street at an intersection. And in reckless-drivered New Delhi, natural “traffic-calming” cattle will often lounge right in the middle of the road.


 
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