Green Speed Bumps Would Save Fuel, Lower Emissions

How can a speed bump lower the amount of gas drivers use, as well as tailpipe emissions? By being a fairly brilliant speed bump.

So-called “green” speed bumps, engineered by designers Jae-yun Kim and Jong-Su Lee, can sense a vehicle’s speed as it approaches. If the car is traveling at a steady, pre-determined speed, the bumps will flatten so the car can continue. If it’s going too fast, they will stay raised, warning the driver to slow down.

The goal is to get drivers moving at one low, consistent speed. You know how when you come to a stretch of speed bumps you sometimes speed up in between them, then slow down just as your car nears the behavior-adjusting bump? That is incredibly inefficient and economically and environmentally brain-dead.

The goal of the green speed bump is to reward drivers who are doing it right, essentially by incentivizing the speed-bump-encounter experience. Let’s hope we see them on roads soon.

World’s First Green Speed Bumps? (AutoblogGreen)