The following article was written by Nick Carr and provides some information on the origin of Sleeping Policemen and other traffic calming products.

Sleeping Policemen

Sleeping Policemen or sleeping policeman is the term given to low profile ramps fitted across roads in order to slow traffic down. Throughout the English-speaking world they have differing names:

• Kipping Cops
• Speed Bumps
• Speed Ramps
• Road Hump
• Speed Breaker
• Judder Bar
• Ramp

The first recorded speed bump was installed in the United States, in the town of Chatham, New Jersey when a road crossing was raised five inches above the road level in order to stop cars from going too fast. The first recorded speed bump in Europe was in Delft in the Netherlands in 1970 and in the UK in the 1980s.

Modern speed ramps vary in height from approximately 2 inches to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimetres) and are typically 12 to 20 inches (30 to 50 centimetres) wide. Speed cushions or speed humps, on the other hand, are much wider, being between 10 and 14 feet (3 and 4.3 metres) wide. The location and traffic will determine the height of a speed ramp and corresponding speed reduction.

Speed ramps can be manufactured from recycled rubber or plastic or from asphalt. Those made from recycled plastic or rubber have the advantage that they can be coloured to give approaching drivers a warning of their presence and, since the colour is an integral part of the speed bump, it does not fade. High quality units are usually reinforced by the inclusion of a metal pole, running through their centre, which helps to align all the units together.

Most speed ramps are manufactured in sections with "end caps" that are fitted at each end of the bump. Thus it is easy to create a speed ramp that will fit across almost any road. Installation is simple and straightforward, and replacement of a damaged is made possible due to their modular construction.

Whatever they are called, whatever they are made of and how high and wide they are, speed ramps have a common feature: they help control and slow traffic down, making our car parks, school roads ways and residential roads a safer place for pedestrians.

You can read about the Vistaplan Streetware Speed Control Products and other Streetware Articles on other pages of this web site.