Bumps in the Road Aim to Slow Drivers in Cary

Instead of a voluntary approach, like speed limit signs, Cary decided to go after speeders where the rubber hits the road.

Speed humps, or speed tables, are popping up all over town. The idea is to force people to slow down.

"If you're going too fast they might jar your teeth, but I think they're great. I really enjoy them. You know, it keeps the traffic from speeding through our neighborhood." says resident Danny Jones.

A lot of people are pleased with Cary's traffic calming efforts, but some, who are not fully satisfied, say the effort is too calm.

One resident told WRAL that Cary has tried three different humps near his house. He says the current version is too short, and does not slow down some speeders.

Cary has seven sites targeted for speed hump construction. Some will be raised crosswalks, like one on Farmington Woods Road.

"The city is trying," says resident Tim Johnson. "People need to slow down, we need to have the hump re-engineered and maybe a little more attention from the police."

Traffic engineers say outsiders are causing most of the trouble.

"A lot of the traffic through here is foreign. It's not people who live in the neighborhood, but people cutting through to try to avoid traffic signals or congestion or on thing or another," says Cary traffic engineer Dale Privette. .

To speed up the effort to slow down drivers, Cary asks neighbors to pay 25 percent of the cost for speed humps. The payments are voluntary and the town has had no trouble collecting so far.

Some people say you cannot put a price on keeping the streets safer in your own neighborhood.