HYPERMILING UPDATE (WEEKEND ROAD TRIP EDITION)

22.6, but that incorporates most of last weekend's trip to see the kids' great-grandfather in Massachusetts, during which we discovered what a speed table is while driving through lovely West Hartford.

Me: "Hon? That sign says 'speed table'. What's a speed table?"

Her Awesomeness: "Beats me, but YOU TWO STOP POKING AT EACH OTHER RIGHT NOW. NO POKE. NO POKE."

Me: "Hey, thanks. That cleared everything right up for me about those speed ta--"

WHOMP.

A-ha, said my butt.

Because my speed table curiosity was still not sated and maybe yours isn't either, I found this here (PDF):

Speed humps and speed tables are both raised areas on the surface of roadways that are usually 3.7 to 4.3 meters (12 to 14 feet) long (measured along the travel direction of the street) and 7.6 to 10.2 centimeters (3-4 inches) high. (There are also much shorter humps, typically referred to as bumps, used at grocery stores and other locations where very low speeds are desired.) Usually they are installed in a series about 100-200 meters (300-600 feet) apart. The main differences between humps and speed tables are:

• The speed hump has a rounded top while the speed table is flat-topped.
• The speed hump is slightly shorter than the speed table.
• Tables frequently have two 1.8-meter (6-foot) ramps on each side. (Typical length of a speed table is 6.7 meters (22 feet) with a 3.0-meter (10-feet) flat section.)

Deep stuff, this. I don't know of any speed tables in New York, but I've come across the odd hump here and there.

Oh, stop snickering.