Speed Bump Controversy

Yeah, OP wimped out here as far as admitting who's driving philosophy was who's.

Which makes me think he was the one that was taking the speed bumps at 35 mph. Or at least that's what I'm betting on.

 

If it really is a rural area, then there shouldn't be much traffic. If there's nobody behind you, why not slow down and take the bump at 5 mph, then switch on EV mode and crawl up the hill? No waste of gas and safe for the suspension.

I would never take a speed bump at 35. Too much shock to the suspension and tires. I have a very bad railroad crossing I slow down to 3 mph for. I see cars go over at 50 or better all the time (it's in a 45 zone), but there are various parts of broken car debris laying around, and the pavement is deeply gouged from cars bottoming out. I can't even count the gouges there are so many.

To make a long story short, Take bumps slow!

 

We get such a huge variety here that you could never give a "standard" speed. Many local councils just slap down a rounded lump of concrete which are hideous for vehicles. The more traditional ones have a ramp up, a plateau, then a ramp down. There are also a few fake ones, where they have painted the road to look like a plateau style bump, but then you go over and discover it was nothing of the sort.

 

If I went 35mph over a speed bump in my c, I think it the suspension would break through the chassis and the wheels would pop off.

Not to mention my head would pop through the roof.

 

Going slow over a speed bump helps. It's physics.

The same way a bullet hitting you at say 1 mph will likely not even hurt you but at 500 mph, it will kill you.

 

Metaphor doesn't make any sense unless you are plowing the Prius into a wall at 1mph versus 500mph. A speed bump is a bump. With at a minimum 2 axes of forces for simplicity.

 

Increase the speed of any object, the force upon impact is higher. And yes, there is an impact to your tires/wheels and suspension with a speed bump. Increase the speed, and that impact will be more forceful.

 

I would be so in for the pix! I can just see you riding with your head sticking out of the roof, hahahahah!

 

OK so make a bullet at an angle and the analogy stands, A car striking a bump is the same as a bullet striking you at an angle; the more deviation from straight on the less impact but still a typical 45 slug at 700 fps (477 mph) at 45 degrees compared to 10 degrees will give you pause and of course the more damage. Liked the analogy.

 

Mythbusters did a segment on this. The faster you go the less impact is felt inside the car.

 

^ Did they do it with a trial-sized Prius?

---didn't think so.

It's pretty easy.
They put the speed bumps there for a reason.

I drive a Prius everyday, but I also drive things like SUV's, Motorcycles, and pickemuptrucks. I pretty much use the same strategy with all of them even though if I wanted to be a jerk, I could probably zip over the bumps in a pickup at much higher speeds than I might get away with on the bike or in the Prius.....but it doesn't matter in the end.

Every week, I hear from some Prius driver with hurt little feelings about how people with sports cars or pickup truck drivers think that they own the roads because they're bigger or have more horsepower. Somehow, for some people it's OK to "glide through" a stop sign, tailgate a truck or (in this case) try to defeat a speed bump in order to save some momentum at the bottom of a hill.

My thinking is that most Prius drivers are OK.
No better or worse than most of the other drivers on the roads, which means that we're all jerks about something at times.
Just like the BMW drivers, M/C riders, or 4x4's or Prius drivers.....you get the one-percenters who serve as ambassadors for the others in their group.
They stick out like a turd in a punch bowl, and if you're already in a somewhat unusual group of drivers (or riders) then you stick out that much more.....because Priuses look pretty much like Priuses, except maybe the C-model which looks more like an Aveo or a Yaris.
That's why I get a little more peeved at Prius drivers who think that driving on the roads is like some video game played in super-slow motion, or (worse!) because they're single handedly saving the whole planet because they drive a Prius that they're entitled to be a scofflaw.
I sometimes get peeved at other motorcyclists too for the same reason.
We're a small group comparatively speaking and when the world ascribes certain behavior to your group (fairly or unfairly) somebody will look at YOU and think: "There goes another one of those %^$#$%@#!! JERKS!!!"
Life is too short to worry about WHY they put in a speed bump or how to defeat it....and I really wouldn't want to have to explain to some grieving parent that I squashed their crumb-snatcher just because I was trying to save 0.00012 gallons of fuel.

---Juuuust Sayin!

 

oh, I also vote that the OP is probably the speed through the speed bump person.

 

I don't think speed bumps were meant to be driven over at 35 mph lol and don't really think that your C likes that feeling either....

I creep over them...

 

If you go over it fast enough you may even get some air, so at least there's that...

 

Coming from a country where speed bumps proliferate and have done for decades I'll add that you can take a speed bump quickly and you don't always feel it at 30 mph, BUT (capitals cos it's a big one) you'll end up with significant suspension repairs within months.

Take 'em slowly, don't smash your sump by going too fast and take it full on - don't drive half on and half off or you'll unduly stretch your suspension bushes which need expensive replacement.

 

Damn it! So close but so far from a definative answer on who the offender is. If I have to hold out much longer for the answer I may earn a whole $.04 in dividends before I gotta pay out on bets.

Mustang - Did said offender have a Y chromosome?

 

And what speed does the speed bump warning sign indicate?

 

Ah, the ones that eventually come detached and can hit cyclists and motorbikes? They're a lawsuit waiting to happen. Why do you think concrete/asphalt ones have been used here? The quick bolt on ones have been used but are mostly long gone now.

 

Interesting. Do you mean make sure both wheels go over the speed bump?

I've been having one wheel on and one wheel off the speed bump much of the time in the parking lot I parking in that has speed bumps.