open other end

There was a dead possum on my street this morning. I moved it from the middle of the road to the footpath and while it was cold, it wasn’t damp. That means it can’t have been dead for long when I left for work at 7:30, so some earlier commuter clearly hit it.

This is a quiet, suburban street. I’m not sure what everyone regards as acceptable driving practices, but for this to have happened means someone was either speeding, not paying attention or simply didn’t care enough to brake. While none of those are acceptable, I think the first is most likely and it leads me to start thinking about what means are available to deal with this. It’s a driver behaviour issue, and there’s nothing to say a pet or a child may not be next.

I’m somewhat loathe to suggest traffic calming and speed bumps – given that these inconvenience the majority of people who drive sensibly and represent potential drainage problems. Not to mention the kachunk-kachunk every time a car goes over a bump. Or the high-speed slalom that some people will engage in on a chicane.

Adding non-official but convincing lower speed limit signs may deter some, but if they’re already speeding there’s no real hope they’d consider speeding by less.

So I’m wondering how difficult, expensive and legal it would be to set up a fake police speed camera. I’m also wondering why the police don’t use them already, since they’d have to be cheaper than the real thing. Would a “Speed Camera in Use” sign work just as well?

Obviously a blue Mercedes van with the “Every K over is a killer” sticker on the side would probably do the trick, but that seems like a very expensive option to me. Perhaps a broken down, ex-police motorcycle that still has the livery? Simply leaving such a bike parked in front of my house may well have the desired effect.

The final option – spend a weekend in the front yard turning the hose on any vehicle going too fast – may prove unsustainable