How Speed Bumps, Speed Humps and 

Parking Curbs Increase Pedestrian Safety

One of the biggest reasons that safety measures are considered in parking areas is to protect pedestrians.  Here are some of the measures that can be taken to increase safety for vehicles and drivers, as well as create a safer environment for pedestrians.

Installing parking curbs.  You may wander how installing a parking curb can be helpful to pedestrians.  Consider this, if parking curbs are installed at each parking location, vehicles can no longer drive across parking areas.  Instead, they are kept confined to the lanes that are designed for travel.  Therefore, people walking in between vehicles and around the curbs are no longer at risk.

In addition, installing parking curbs near a sidewalk can help increase safety.  Without a parking curb, a driver may use the sidewalk itself as the guide for stopping.  If a person happens to be walking on the sidewalk at the same time, serious injury could occur.  With a parking curb, vehicles are stopped at a safe distance away and potential hazards are avoided.

Installing speed bumps.  Installing these traffic control devices near storefront entrances and pedestrian cross-walks is a great way to reduce the risk of injury.  Many drivers will travel past storefronts without slowing at all.  Painting lines on the surface and installing stop signs may help, but these are devices easily ignored by speedy drivers.

Adding a speed bump at either side of an entrance where pedestrian traffic is heaviest will force drivers to almost stop as they approach this area.  This will make them more alert of the people walking nearby and hence reducing injury.

Installing speed humps.  While adding parking curbs to each parking spot in an area will confine drivers to the intended lanes, it does not limit their speed within those lanes.  That’s why installing speed humps can be so important.  While vehicles are traveling the lanes in between spaces, there are people all around walking to their vehicles.  Many are distracted by the packages they are carrying, or trying to pick their vehicle out of a line of several.  Pedestrians may not be as aware of an approaching vehicle and can step out into the lane of traffic.

Speed humps will help to slow the speed of vehicles traveling these lanes so again, the driver becomes more aware of the pedestrians moving around them.  Better awareness helps to keep people safe, and drivers focused on the environment.

Each of these devices adds it’s own level of protection and security for pedestrians.  Plus, each piece in and of itself offers protection as well.  The speed bump, speed hump and parking curb all offer reflective tape baked into the surface of the unit.  This reflective surface catches the eye of not only traffic, but of pedestrians.  This makes them easier to spot and easier to avoid or maneuver around.

Adding any one of these features will certainly help reduce the risk.  However installing all three provides a complete system to ensure the most safety for each pedestrian as well as for vehicles and drivers alike.