chatter bump

n. a small depression in a roadbed, usually occurring in series and creating a corrugated or rippled surface. Subjects: English, Automobiles & Transportation

Editorial Note: This term is usually plural. Chatter bumps can occur naturally but they are often simulated at automobile testing courses.

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Citations: 1934 Wall Street Journal (16) (Jan. 8) “Your New Car Must Have All For of These Features” (in advert.): Buick’s big Air Cushion Tires smooth away road irregularities; swallow the chatter-bumps, just as Knee-Action Wheels absorb the big jars and bumps. 1969 David Chute @ Highland, Mich. Vidette-Messenger (Valparaiso, Ind.) (July 30) “Hoped Fashion To Be Her Field, But She Designs Roads” p. 10: One of her most unusual assignments was to build a road with all the wrong bankings. She created a four-mile nightmare of incorrectly canted curves, chatter bumps, potholes and a hundred other hazards found on rural highways. It’s [sic] use was to test the handling qualities of cars under the worst possible conditions. 1986 Robert T. Host @ East Liberty, Ohio Columbus Business Journal (Ohio) (Nov. 1) “TRC Draws the Auto World to Central Ohio” vol. 9, no. 11, p. 1: The bump course is used primarily for suspension and structural durability evaluation. It has four test sections consisting of resonance bumps, impact bumps, chatter bumps and inverted chuck holes. 1998 James Schefter All Corvettes Are Red (Jan. 1) p. 297: Running over the Chatter Bumps was teeth jarring to a driver and shook the car and its parts unmercifully. 2003 Howard J. Elmer Toronto Star (Can.) (Oct. 11) “Dishing the dirt on safe winter driving” p. G24: At the other end of the mud course was also a sharp left-hand turn with simulated chatter bumps on the pavement. 2006 Steven Hepker Citizen-Patriot (Jackson, Mich.) (Feb. 11) “Condition of county road to factor in wrongful-death suit”: A key issue is what the suit calls “chatter bumps,” which rural drivers refer to as washboards.

Posted 20 Feb 06 | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Reader comments:

This sounds British. I know in the US these are called Rumble Strips.

by Jeffrey 21 Feb 06, 0922 GMT

It’s not explicitly British. All the citations above and most of the uses I found were North American. Also, I don’t believe “rumble strips” are the same things, which is why the editorial note specifies that “chatter bumps” occur naturally (which “rumble strips” do not) and that “chatter bumps” are created artificially for testing purposes of automobiles (which “rumble strips” are not, as far as I can tell).

by Grant Barrett 21 Feb 06, 0940 GMT