- Homebuilt speed bump lasted less than an hour before police shut it down.
- Speeding complaints may be real, but speed bumps don’t get installed on vibes.
- If speed is the issue, road design often matters more than enforcement.
Plenty of us have witnessed a reckless driver rocketing down a residential street and thought something akin to “I wish somebody would slow them down.” One man in Lincoln Park, Michigan, just south of Detroit, decided to do something about it.
One sleepy Sunday afternoon, he used his own hard-earned cash to install an asphalt speed bump on his road. Evidently, it survived for less than an hour, but the case has plenty of folks talking days later.
According to WDIV, that man is Dale Wells. He lives on Moran Ave, where he says that people speed constantly. “It’s dangerous,” Wells said. “They run through that stop sign like crazy, especially at 10 o’clock at night. They see no lights and just keep going.” To that end, Wells began construction of his speed bump at around 6 p.m. on Sunday. Police arrived minutes later to tell him to destroy it.
More: Speed Limits Are Outdated, And We All Know It
He says he’s frustrated by the situation as he’s called the police several times but beyond that, the original report lacks a lot of detail. For example, it doesn’t mention how fast the speed limit is on Moran Ave. A quick Google Maps search shows us that it’s 25-30 mph, but we’re still missing plenty of information.
Is the road unusually wide? How far apart are intersections? Are there parked cars narrowing the roadway? Bike lanes? Trees? Crosswalks? Existing traffic-calming measures? Even more importantly: has anyone collected actual speed data? That’s not nitpicking. Traffic engineers generally don’t start with feelings; they start with measurements. Lincoln Park’s own process appears to recognize this, requiring complaints followed by traffic studies before considering infrastructure changes.
Road Design Speaks Louder Than Signs
Frankly, Wells might very well be onto something, just not with a vigilante speed bump. Transportation research has repeatedly found that road design heavily influences driver behavior. Wide, straight roads with long sightlines naturally encourage higher speeds, often regardless of posted limits. Put another way, drivers frequently respond to what a road feels like more than what signs tell them.
A tight road with low visibility might have a speed limit of 80 mph, but because of road conditions, drivers likely won’t even reach half of that. If speeding truly is happening on Moran Avenue, infrastructure changes like curb extensions, chicanes, lane narrowing, raised crossings, legal speed humps, or redesigned intersections would be far more effective than occasional police enforcement.
Wells might have identified the right kind of solution while choosing perhaps the worst possible way to execute his grand plan.
The Neighborhood Still Wants Its Bumps
According to residents on the road, they hope the city will ultimately approve speed bumps. Between now and then, we all now know the kind that isn’t allowed to pop up without prior approval.
