Challenge: re-design speed bumps. They should still induce drivers to slow down, but without making them drive over a bump. How do you do it? Answer after the jump.
You have to slow down to fit your wheels in the gap. But when you do, you ride through with no bump.
This works great for golf carts (the picture was taken on a golf course) but it could be modified to work for cars where the wheel base varies. You only need one narrow gap. The other gap can be wide enough so that most cars can fit through both.
Cheap Talk 
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August 7, 2009 at 11:19 am
David Pinto
When I was working in Amherst, MA a few years ago, the town widened the breakdown lanes on a main road to give bicycles more room. It turns out the narrower driving lane caused cars to slow down. So a painted funnel on the road might work just as well.
August 7, 2009 at 11:35 am
Lawrence M
just a warning since this recently happened to me and I should have known it was a law but common sense told me it was safe to do since the street was deserted. In fact I saw the cop sitting there and I still did it because I thought they intentionally made the speed bumps this way out of the kindness of their hearts:
The speed bump has two grooves. One on your side of the road and the other on the other side of the road. So if you drive in the middle of the road, you can drive through the grooves without going over the bump.
I mean I was still going way below the speed limit. I just wanted to avoid the discomfort of hitting the bump. Well next thing I know the cop pulls me over for failing to obey a highway sign. Apparently the painted lines on the road count as a highway sign. That in VA adds 2 pts to your license.
August 7, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Anshu
Where I live, they used to narrow the street with movable curbs and call it a “traffic calming measure”. The intention is the same as the speed bump pictured, you have to slow down to safely navigate the much narrower lane, lest you hit the hard curb and damage your wheels/vehicle.
I don’t see them around my part of the city anymore, though, as I guess people complained about them too much. Even in parking lots, you don’t see any speed bumps, just painted indications where you might encounter pedestrian traffic.
However, in a different suburb not more than 20 minutes away, speed bumps are everywhere. Their parking lots have speed bumps every 20 feet. I guess in my neighborhood we’ve demonstrated that we can drive with courtesy and care so punitive speed bumps aren’t needed, whereas the other suburbs are populated by neanderthals.
August 7, 2009 at 10:46 pm
Jeff's mom
Gee I wonder where this picture was taken? I seem to recall being on the same golf cart as the photographer. I had no idea why the photographer (and he knows who he is) wanted to take a picture of a speed-bump? I guess question was answered!
August 11, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Anthony
But you don’t have to slow down to fit through the gap. It becomes a test of skill to make it through the gap at the speed limit.
Incidentally, some cars have suspensions which make hitting a speed bump at the correct speed have very little impact on the driver and passengers; the correct speed is often faster than the posted limit.