Speed bumps
As suggested by the previous post, the primary means of speed regulation seems to be the unmarked speed bump. In Delhi they have them every few hundred meters. On the highway to Jaipur it was every few kms. As might be imagined, higher/steeper bumps require slowing down more, so these are used on side roads and in neighborhoods. Similarly, shallow bumps are used on main roads and highways to regulate higher speed traffic. Some of the bumps are camouflaged as crosswalks, which makes the bump hard to see; I imagine this improves the effectiveness of both.
I actually think widespread speed regulation by unmarked bump is a genius idea, and should be implemented in the States. I’m serious. Think about it, such a system would eliminate the need for many traffic police, whose tickets are the most candy-ass way a government can raise revenue. Those personnel can be diverted to real law enforcement and/or counter-terrorism efforts. In addition, speed bumps are almost perfectly progressive, since the cost of damage done to a to a given car which hits it too fast would scale with the price of the car, and the speed at which it was hit.
One obvious downside is that on well-known roads individuals would “game the system” by speeding up and slowing down appropriately. But the same is true right now of speed traps—the locals all know where they tend to be, and at least with bumps everyone is forced to slow down in those places.
One reason it might not work is that different cars have different ground clearances, and so experience different levels of pain for the same bump at the same speed. Namely, what is a 35mph speed bump for an old Carolla might be a 65 mph speed bump for an SUV. I don’t know of an argument to contradict this, save for the empirical evidence that it clearly works for the Indians. Land Rovers and Jettas all end up traveling about the same speed here, without obvious intervention from the police.
I actually think widespread speed regulation by unmarked bump is a genius idea, and should be implemented in the States. I’m serious. Think about it, such a system would eliminate the need for many traffic police, whose tickets are the most candy-ass way a government can raise revenue. Those personnel can be diverted to real law enforcement and/or counter-terrorism efforts. In addition, speed bumps are almost perfectly progressive, since the cost of damage done to a to a given car which hits it too fast would scale with the price of the car, and the speed at which it was hit.
One obvious downside is that on well-known roads individuals would “game the system” by speeding up and slowing down appropriately. But the same is true right now of speed traps—the locals all know where they tend to be, and at least with bumps everyone is forced to slow down in those places.
One reason it might not work is that different cars have different ground clearances, and so experience different levels of pain for the same bump at the same speed. Namely, what is a 35mph speed bump for an old Carolla might be a 65 mph speed bump for an SUV. I don’t know of an argument to contradict this, save for the empirical evidence that it clearly works for the Indians. Land Rovers and Jettas all end up traveling about the same speed here, without obvious intervention from the police.
posted by Linton at 5:59 AM
2 Comments:
Hello, just stumbled across your blog through the whole "next blog" thing, very nice, it's always interesting to see how a non-native views this country :) Just a few clarifications though (coz I can never resist putting in my own two cents, but you can totally ignore this if you want to) a) Mahatma Gandhi was called Bapu because it means 'father'. He's also known as the Father of the Nation b) the "bandanas" they give you at a gurudawara is because entering there with your head uncovered is a sign of disrespect to the Guru Granth Saheb, the holy book they worship. It's like going into a temple barefoot. That's why most Sikhs have turbans and the women wear their salwar kameezes with dupattas that they cna cover their heads with, even in front of elders.
But very cool blog. I will be back! :)
Hi em,
Thanks for your comments, I've made some updates as appropriate. Please keep reading and feel free to write more. I'm always curious to see the perspective of people who might actually know what is going on around me...
Linton
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