An Intelligent Speed Bump Uses Non-Newtonian Liquid (businessinsider.com)

turkeydance quotes Business Insider: A Spanish company has designed a speed bump that won't hinder slow drivers but will still stop motorists driving too fast. The speed bump is filled with a non-Newtonian liquid which changes viscosity when pressure is applied at high velocity. They've been installed in Villanueva de Tapia, Spain and there has also been interest from Israel and Germany.
There's a video on the site showing the speed bump in action.

Comments

Won't get wide acceptance

[russotto]

It's going to cost too much and not be durable enough. Regular speed bumps are extremely cheap and made of asphalt; slightly fancier ones are cheap and made of rubber and metal.

Also, if it doesn't hinder slow drivers, the people installing them won't be satisfied. Speed bumps are a tool installed by hateful people to make driving suck more; reducing the suck defeats the purpose.

Re:The speed bump does not possess intelligence

[msauve]

It's "intelligent" in the same way there are "smart" phones. In other pedantic news - the sun doesn't set, the horizon rises.

Re: That's clever

[guruevi]

People have known about the existence of the liquid as far back as the Egyptians. Fill a bag with water and flour or tapioca and it behaves the same way.

The problem with these designs which have been coming and going for decades and every other speed bump or road project with similar properties is the durability.

Roads are a pure hell hole of abrasion, it's why you don a hot as hell leather suit on a motorbike even in the middle of summer. Asphalt and concrete, which is a very durable, non-stretchy substance needs to be replaced every few years. Stretchy substances or even things that move ever so slightly like tiles, hell even bridge joints (or energy absorbing materials or solar freaking roadways) have the byproduct of encapsulating anything that fits in the folds/gaps which subsequently destroys it very quickly.