Remember how great that bit in the shining is when the kid drives along the corridor over wood then carpet, wood then carpet? Can't we have that effect on roads? More specifically if we had different spacing and depths of dimpled sections on roads we could create patches of percussive road. Various uses could be applied for these. Here's two but there must be more (gotta race off to the cinema) 1. Each county could have it's own little drum theme. As you cross the county line you hear, through driving over the varied bumps, the 'drum' motif of that county. Drive sedately and it has a plodding, calm welcome. Race along and it's almost a crazy drum roll, with cymbally bits, etc. "Yeah Kent!" These drum patterns would be played by majorettes, etc. at county fayres and so on.... perhaps. 2. Instead of adverts promoting safe driving using smashed eggs and wotnot we could merely have a funky drum theme tune. Then, when you're driving you would just drive so the tune sounded like you remembered it from all the radio ads and know that you were doing a safe speed. How much easier to judge a rhythm than a speed. Also the 'tune' might become a big hit and sell CDs thus generating further money for road safety causes, or perhaps to pay really big pop stars to come up with new 'drumming' tunes to make safe driving ever the more popular. Of course a few garage and house freaks are going to want to hear 240 beats per minute. Still, perhaps it's half baked.
-- weedy, Mar 13 2003

Road tunes http://www.guardian...rss&feed=technology
baked [Voice, Nov 15 2007]

Very similar to Road Tunes, above.
-- waugsqueke, Mar 13 2003


Damn, I did have a scout around. Must have missed it. The ignominy.
-- weedy, Mar 13 2003


But hooray for saying "ignominy!"
-- brenna, Mar 13 2003



random, halfbakery