Speed bumps are a class of traffic calming devices that use vertical deflection to slow motor-vehicle traffic in order to improve safety conditions. Variations include the speed hump, speed cushion, and speed table.
Speed bump and warning signs
A road sign "Humps for 1 mile" in Hertfordshire, England
Speed bump made of rubber
Speed hump made of asphalt
Traffic calming uses physical design and other measures to improve safety for motorists, car drivers, pedestrians and cyclists. It has become a tool to combat speeding and other unsafe behaviours of drivers in the neighbourhoods. It aims to encourage safer, more responsible driving and potentially reduce traffic flow. Urban planners and traffic engineers have many strategies for traffic calming, including narrowed roads and speed humps. Such measures are common in Australia and Europe, but less so in North America. Traffic calming is a calque of the German word Verkehrsberuhigung – the term's first published use in English was in 1985 by Carmen Hass-Klau.
Two traffic calming measures on a road in England: speed cushions (the two reddish pads in the road) and a curb extension (marked by the black posts and white stripes)
Signing indicating that a motorist is approaching traffic calming devices
Traffic calming roundabout and rainwater-harvesting infrastructure in Tucson, Arizona
Construction of polymer cement overlay to change asphalt to brick texture and colour to indicate a high-traffic pedestrian crossing
