# Who invented speed bumps? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 7, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-speed-bumps/249116 "2004-06-07T16:48:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-speed-bumps/249116/21 "2004-06-08T21:54:09Z")
> [@Flander](#): > > I remember my dad telling me he used to pour gas on speed bumps do get rid of them. Does that even work? If they’re made of asphalt, yeah, but you’ll need a _lot_ of gasolene (unless, of course, you decide to _light_ the gasolene after pouring it on, in which case, you’ll need a quick escape route). Note: Destroying speed bumps, humps, and grinds is vandalism and is illegal, and considering the high price of gasolene these days, _not_ a “cheap date” activity at all. ---
**Author:** ![galt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@galt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galt)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-speed-bumps/249116/22 "2004-06-08T23:21:40Z")
> [@Really Not All That Bright](#): > > You mean cat eyes? Based on your description, I think I can safely say no, he doesn’t mean cat eyes. Botts dots are [bumps on the ground](http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/paffairs/about/botts.htm). It sounds like you’re talking about some kind of fitting for a headlight or lamppost. ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-speed-bumps/249116/23 "2004-06-08T23:24:40Z")
We are paying all those taxes for road building, maintenance and research. The bumps destroy our cars and make the ride much harsher. I am wondering if speed bumps are legal (or moral). ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-speed-bumps/249116/24 "2004-06-09T02:38:39Z")
When I was in high school. the administration had several of these speed bumps installed. These were the smaller, 12" wide by 6" high ones and were universally hated by all driving students. The morning of the first snow, the maintainance crew at the school accidentally plowed all of the bumps away and they couldn’t be reinstalled until the spring. There was much rejoicing. ---
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-speed-bumps/249116/25 "2004-06-09T03:10:52Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > Speed bumps are a primitive but effective device used for speed control in countries where policemen are sparse. It is very common to find them placed by local residents across dirt roads and the like way off in the williwags. I curse at them every time I drive in Brazil. > > I’ll try to remember to ask my wife if she remembers “queibra-molas” (spring busters) existing in her early childhood. It’s hard to believe that these weren’t being used in developing countries before the sixties to control speed deamons. Not sure how long they have been around here, but it is standard practice in response to complaints by residents to put them in residential streets if there is a problem with speeding traffic or traffic taking short cuts in large numbers. Police are not particularly sparse here. ---
**Author:** ![jastu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/43a26b/32.png) [@jastu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jastu)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-speed-bumps/249116/26 "2004-06-09T05:33:44Z")
According to [this](http://www.ci.turlock.ca.us/citydepartments/engineeringservices/trafficengineering/speedbumps.asp) article on speed bumps, traffic claming was implemented in UK and Australia before the 1970’s. They have certainly been around a long time in Australia. Almost every well travelled suburban side street in my home city has either speed bumps, humps, roundabouts or chicanes to slow traffic. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-speed-bumps/249116/27 "2004-06-09T07:02:21Z")
> [@Really Not All That Bright](#): > > You mean cat eyes? > > They were invented by a Mr. Percy Shaw of Halifax (UK) during WWII. During the German bombing campaign vehicles which could be out after curfew started being fitted with headlamp covers to reduce their visibility from the air; cat eyes were installed on roads in the south of England to make the covered lamps more effective. The original plant was in **Booth** stown, which might be where your story and mine converge… > > I don’t have a cite for that potted history- it’s what I was told in history class twelve-odd years ago, and I have a strong suspicion someone else will come along and debunk it in a minute. Here is some information on cat’s eyes. As you can see they were invented before WW2. :- [http://www.design-technology.info/inventors/page14.htm](http://www.design-technology.info/inventors/page14.htm) ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-speed-bumps/249116/28 "2004-06-09T08:27:02Z")
Some streets around here have not bumps, but dips. The primary purpose is to carry water across a street into a storm drain on the other side, but they are quite effective at slowing you down also. There is one that really needs to be redone though; it has such a sharp angle that my car can’t negotiate it without scraping the underside. I don’t usually need to drive there, at least. ---
**Author:** ![GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f1d935/32.png) [@GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GSV_Consolation_of_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-speed-bumps/249116/29 "2004-06-09T09:55:51Z")
I heard recently about a new variety of speed bump that drivers might be subjected to in the future. Basically the bump part is constructed from a very tough inflatable bladder connected to a special outlet valve. If you drive over it slowly, the air inside is let out of the valve and you get a nice smooth ride, as if there was no bump at all. If you drive over too fast, the valve doesn’t have time to let the air out and you get a nasty bump. The “bump activation speed” is configurable too. Dunno how the thing reinflates afterwards though. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-speed-bumps/249116/30 "2004-06-09T12:25:30Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Here in Panama, they are called _policias muertos_, or “dead policemen,” which I have always found pretty amusing. (Although this did lead to some quite macabre jokes during the Noriega years.) > > In Belize they are also called “sleeping policemen,” no doubt due to the British influence. Not to beat a dead horse, but they’re called “sleeping policemen” in Jamaica, too. (they also drive on the wrong side of the road there) ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-speed-bumps/249116/31 "2004-06-09T12:46:48Z")
All I know is that when I was in high school, we determined that if you drive over a speed bump (not the monster “speed humps,” just the regular bumps) at three times the speed they’re designed to slow you down to, you don’t feel them at all. Do I need to mention how fast we drove? ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-speed-bumps/249116/32 "2004-06-09T13:46:51Z")
> [@Eleusis](#): > > Not to beat a dead horse, but they’re called “sleeping policemen” in Jamaica, too. (they also drive on the wrong side of the road there) No they don’t . They drive on the left side of the road which is the correct side. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-speed-bumps/249116.md?page=1)