Speed bumps

Is it better to drive over speed bumps and railroad tracks at an angle or straight on?

I’m not certain about the angle, but don’t have the brakes applied as you cross the speed bumps or railroad tracks. It is better to roll over the bumps than bounce over them.

most important is go over them slow. one tire at a time, or two, I dont see what difference that makes. How wide is the crossing lane? you on a bike or in a car?

Railroad tracks it don’t matter. They’re recessed. Follow the roadway.

Speed bumps, the car doesn’t care as long as you go slow.
Do you like to wobble sideways like a Weeble or up & down?

It depends on the vehicle. My Mustang is lowered 2.5 inches from stock and I try to hit speed bumps at an angle to avoid scraping the undercarriage. But for rail road tracks, like mountainbike said, they are recessed, so it really doesn’t matter.

You should see the state of disrepair a lot of the crossing in my town are in. They may NORMALLY be recessed, but with the pot holes and what not, they aren’t

I was about to say the same thing - I cross 2 sets of tracks on the way to/from work. One is smooth, but a bit of a hill, so if you go even the speed limit (25 mph), you get an uncomfortable landing on the other side of the tracks.

The other is anything but smooth. The tracks sit probably 4 inches + proud of the road surface, which is pockmarked by potholes several inches deep.

That’s about the same condition the 6(!) speed bumps in the office parking lot are in… and don’t get me started on the sinkholes we’ve had open up in the parking lot proper.

Its no wonder I spend more on suspension repairs than everything else combined. :slight_smile:

In the 60’s and 70’s all the “low rider” guys I knew would use this technique over any type of bump.

On a motorcycle or bicycle, as straight on as possible, 90 degrees is optimal. In a car, your choice. If you are not going too fast, the car does not care what angle you use. Too fast and you are going to buck and scrape no matter what. Slow down.

Theoretically, as you approach a speed bump at an angle, you lengthen the time the wheel has to pass over the bump and decrease the severity of it’s impact at a given speed; similar to a boat taking a wave at speed. That’s not always practical so just slow down.