Rumble strip

Abstract: Single-vehicle run-off-the-road crashes result in about one-third of all highway fatalities and one-half million people injured annually, with a societal cost of $80 billion each year. Continuous shoulder rumble strips (CSRS) are one countermeasure used to address this significant safety problem. Data were analyzed for two states (California and Illinois) from the Highway Safety Information System to estimate the safety effects of CSRS on freeways. Before-and-after evaluations of CSRS projects with the use of different comparison groups were conducted. The results from the evaluations indicate that on average CSRS reduce single-vehicle run-off-the-road crashes by 18.3 percent on all freeways (without regard to urban/rural classification) and by 21.1 percent on rural freeways. Two types of potential adverse effects related to safety with CSRS were analyzed. The first type pertains to the crash risk that CSRS may present because of driver startle/panic responses. The second potential adverse effect of CSRS ...

Abstract: An embodiment of the present invention includes a device to alter transfer characteristics of a road departure warning installation installed on a road to a driver of a vehicle, including a rumble strip sensor to sense input from a rumble strip and an adjustable vehicle component in communication with the rumble strip sensor, the adjustable vehicle component configured to automatically adjust to increase an amount of input from the rumble strip sensed by the driver. Another embodiment of the present invention includes a device to estimate lateral displacement of a vehicle based on the location of a rumble strip installed on a road with respect to the vehicle, the device including a processor configured to receive four signals indicative of contact of a rumble strip with respective associated four tires of the vehicle and to estimate a lateral distance that the vehicle has traveled beyond the detected rumble strip.

Abstract: Approximately 40% of all 2004 fatal crashes were single-vehicle, run-off-the-road (SVROR) crashes. The problem was even more significant on two-lane rural roads, where shoulder rumble strips were an important treatment in the prevention of these crashes and have proved effective on freeways. However, no studies have evaluated the effectiveness of shoulder rumble strips in reducing SVROR crashes on two-lane rural highways. An empirical Bayes before-and-after study was performed to evaluate the safety-effectiveness of milled-in continuous shoulder rumble strips on two-lane rural highways in Minnesota. The treatment was installed at 23 treatment sites (183 mi). This study reports a 13% reduction in all SVROR crashes and an 18% reduction in injury-producing SVROR crashes after installation of this treatment.