In fact, research says they diminish safety.

Over time, day after day, people just get tired of them and they speed up between the bumps to make up for valuable lost time. To those otherwise inclined to ignore the speed limit, they pose a dare to take them at the highest speeds possible. Still other argue against their effectiveness because many drivers find them less jolting at higher, not lower, speeds.

We were astounded by the shear volume of research available on the Internet against speed bumps. We really wonder if members of the citizen's committee that pushed this through Kitsap County had computers.  Certainly our elected Kitsap County Commissioners have computers. Do they know how to use Google!

Evidence shows that safety for cyclists and pedestrians is put at risk because motorists are often tempted to drive around the bumps to avoid damage to their cars.  That's outrageous given that funds earmarked for pedestrian and cyclist safety were spent on the "speed tables."

Roadways, especially thoroughfares and emergency response routes, were meant to be flat, smooth, and safe.

We recommend that you read, "What they don't want you to know about 'speed humps'" by the Association of British Drivers.  It gives a very comprehensive list of what's wrong with speed bumps.

We also recommend that you read, "A Study on Speed Humps" conducted by Iowa State University's Center for Transportation Research and Education (CTRE). It gives a very well-balanced and thoughtful study of speed bumps. What we found most interesting is that they:

• Don't recommend that speed bumps be placed on roads used by emergency vehicles.
• That each bump needs to be well lit with street lights.
• That each bump be clearly and individually marked.
• And that bumps should NEVER be put on a curved roadway.

The City of Anaheim, California, has excellent information about speed bumps.  Check out "Speed Bumps and Speed Humps."

Campus Safety magazine says in, "Slowing Traffic:  A Fresh Look at an Old Problem" that most cities find speed bumps to be inappropriate for emergency vehicle routes.  They have other good insights, too.  A good read.

If you're concerned about emergency vehicle response times, encourage your local EMTs to read what the head of the London Ambulance Service has to say in this press release.  And maybe more alarming, read "Six Minutes to Live or Die" from USA Today.

We literally ran out of time and energy to put all the links we found describing the ineffectiveness of speed humps.  We strongly recommend that you spend a little time with any popular search engine and do some of your own research.  What little we found in favor of speed bumps really lacked legitimate data.  Advocates typically were trying to sell speed bumps and they were mostly suggesting their placement in private parking lots where pedestrian traffic is significant.

We find it ironic that if Hood Canal Drive had potholes that disrupted the normal flow of traffic to the same degree or even less of a degree than these "tables," residents everywhere would be howling to their County Commissioner to demand that they be repaired.

On the lighter side, we found lots of web pages that suggest that "traffic calming devices" attract the attention of skateboarders because they're apparently a whole lot of fun to jump.

So if you love to skateboard, do we have a hot spot for you! Just do a Google Map search for 35000 Hood Canal Drive, Hansville, WA.  You'll be in Skateboard Heaven!

We're just kidding, of course! This is, after all, a public thoroughfare.