What are the black wire like things that go on the ground across the road?

Question

They are black and rubber looking. (They definetely are not telephone wires) I saw about 10 on different various roads. You drive over them. Someone said they see how fast you are driving but I'm not sure.

Answer 1

I can tell you exactly what they are. They count vehicles the first set of tires triger the counter to on and it tallies the rear tires as they go across. They have nothing to do with the speed of a vehicle. My uncle puts a lot of them across roads they just want to check to see how much traffic travels on certain roads. It helps the highway departments decide on weather they need stop signs or traffic lights in certain areas.

Answer 2

These wires are connected to a box that is counting cars that drive on that particular road. This helps the county government analyze traffic flow and whether improvements need to be made.

Answer 3

yes they count the traffic and speeds everyone is traveling...
then if traffic is always flowing too fast you'll see police or troopers sitting there waiting to write you a speeding ticket.

and the one down there saying they weigh the vehicles and determine how thick the pavement should be??
where did you come up with that....there is absolutely noooo way they can measure the weight of vehicles, they can tell how many axles it has as to what type of vehicles are traveling the road,,,and how thick the pavement should be is done by construction standards...don't answer things you know nothing about !

Answer 4

It can be for speed (because your tires would hit at measurable intervals) but it can also be to measure traffic on a road. Often times the DOT will try to measure the traffic to determine if there is a need for a new street light or stop sign or any number of things.

Answer 5

They are traffic indicators to count traffic and some even count weights of vehicles. The data is stored and used to establish reasoning for installing traffic lights, stop signs, or how thick the pavement should be based on use.

Answer 6

As so many people have already said, they count traffic. If you see what looks like a small black box at the end of the cable it is definitely a counter...

Answer 7

Those are traffic cables that counts how many vehicles use the road and the average speed.

Answer 8

Most of them just count the number of vehicles on the road to determine how many vehicles are using that road..

Answer 9

They are things to count how many cars go on that road. Also, they could be to determine whether to turn the light green or not.

Answer 10

I know what that wires for! It's automatic triger for traffic lights, so the cars will move a lot faster, for example if on one side no cars that wires can tell to traffic lights that no cars on one side so it can skip it and dont worry about it, lol, but thats what it's for!