Letters: May 20

Posted 5/20/15

Regarding the new speed cushions

Years ago, when I was a reporter covering Upper Southampton, Bucks County, residents of one neighborhood also had a speed problem. They too wanted speed humps. …

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Letters: May 20

Posted

Regarding the new speed cushions

Years ago, when I was a reporter covering Upper Southampton, Bucks County, residents of one neighborhood also had a speed problem. They too wanted speed humps. The town's traffic engineer rejected the idea because research at the time suggested that drivers actually sped up after crossing over the speed humps so they could make up for the valuable five or 10 seconds of time they "lost."

I would say that drivers might also suffer from what we who work on website design refer to as a "usability" problem. People expect to see and slow down for speed bumps on a long driveway into a business campus. They don't expect to see them on a residential street. They might slow down only at the last minute, even though the humps are marked, simply because they aren't used to seeing them in that setting.

Another possibility: Drivers might not slow down at all. In other words, they might be upon the speed humps before they can avoid hitting at least the first of the three while traveling at speed. If that's the case, neighbors might then have the experience of annoying noise when, for example, a small truck or panel van hits the bumps at speed.

If the humps are unmarked, I suspect that this unintended result is even more likely.

I could be wrong. I hope I am. I live a block away from East Evergreen, and it's a raceway. I'd wager that 50 percent of drivers (including buses) blow through the stop sign at East Evergreen and Anderson. (I'm not sure speed humps will solve that particular problem.)

Still, I'd love to see this concept work. Here's hoping.

Jeff Meade

Chestnut Hill

Thanks Streets Dept. for the speed cushions

Most people in Chestnut Hill have a story about speeding. Most people in Philadelphia have a story about speeding. But when you see speeding along commercial corridors or near busy transit stops or in area where children play, it is not only annoying – it can be dangerous.

On the east side of Chestnut Hill we have streets that accommodate two way traffic where the west side has used the trick of one-way streets to deflect traffic away.

I am very grateful to the Streets Department for putting these traffic calming devices and hope they can also look into the chaos that occurs at pickup and drop-off time at Jenks. I heard a WNYC story by Alex Goldmark from 2013 talking about safety at NYC public schools.

The numbers were jaw dropping: 1800 children where hit by cars at pickup and drop-off time in front of public schools in just one year. I've been researching the number here in Philadelphia but have yet gotten a reply, but I'm convinced we should do something at Jenks about the poor direction that parents get and try to find a solution before a child gets hit.

Bob Previdi

Chestnut Hill

Clinton Foundation influence peddling

In follow-up to Mr. Glen Watkins' comments in the May 14, 2015 Local, consider the following:

Hillary Clinton, while Secretary of State, was a cheerleader for Boeing Corporation. In Shanghai in May, 2010, she said, “Half the commercial jetliners operating in China are made by Boeing.”

In 2009, when touring a Boeing plant, she said, “We're delighted that a new Russian airline, Rossiya, is actively considering acquisition of Boeing aircraft, and this is a shameless pitch.”

In 2010, Boeing won a $3.7 billion contract with Russia.

Two months later, Boeing donated $900,000 to the Clinton Foundation.

In 2012, Boeing paid Bill Clinton $250,000 for a speech, approved by the State Dept. Ethics Dept. within days.

Tim Keating, Boeing's Chief Lobbyist and former Bill Clinton aide, has hosted a fundraiser for Ready for Hillary, a PAC. Coincidence? You decide.

Sharon M. Reiss

Mt. Airy

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