College Times

Issue date: 4/16/09 Section: Blogs

Media Credit: Ron Tarver

Officials in the small village of Navestock, about 25 miles northeast of London, are considering leaving the town's potholes as a way to stop speeders.

Why didn't our Valley's officials think of this brilliant idea?

Who needs speed bumps anyways? Or for that matter, who needs photo radar?

I mean, come on people, let's look at the bonuses here. It is a hell of a lot cheaper than speed cameras, and people are essentially given a choice to speed or not to speed. Basically they can either - a. ruin their car by driving to fast over the potholes or b. keep it slow and steady, and life is good.

Now, I can hear the complaints already…In fact, some of the residents in Navestock have already raised concerns. Some of them have said that they would prefer to have speed bumps installed, but the city councilor, Mike Parrish, believes that the potholes will serve as the same purpose.

"It seems potholes are good on our quiet little back roads," Parrish said in the AP article. "Not fixing those might save us time and cost and also be a traffic calming measure."

Supposedly the grand plan is to repair some roads to encourage use, while allowing other roads to age gracefully to serve as a deterrent.

And you know what? I think Councilor Parrish has a pretty good plan. I mean, speed bumps are essentially raised potholes, if that makes any sense. Okay, let's look at it this way. Yes, potholes could cause damage to vehicles, endanger motorists and maybe even cause a person to trip if he/she happens to be walking down the road, but couldn't the same things easily happen with a speed bump?

And it's not like the city is letting the entire road system go down the crapper - just the side roads where people should be driving slow to begin with.

But it seems that only myself and Councilor Parrish are able to see the benefits of this plan.

Former policeman Roy Tyzack is calling Parrish's idea "ludicrous."

"It will cause damage to vehicles as opposed to simply slowing them down," Tyzack said in the AP article. He also noted that with little street lighting in the rural area, people would have trouble seeing the potholes. "The thought of letting our roads deteriorate is very dangerous."

Okay, okay so maybe it is a little dangerous. But, where's the excitement in life without a little risk every once in a while?

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