Guidance on Design and Application of Rumble Strips

Many transportation agencies use shoulder rumble strips to address the problem of single-vehicle run-off-the-road crashes by alerting inattentive or drowsy motorists that their vehicles have drifted out of the travel lane. The application of rumble strips has expanded to include the installation of centerline rumble strips along the centerlines of undivided highways to reduce head-on and opposite-direction sideswipe crashes. Installing rumble strips along either the shoulder or centerline without considering the effect on other highway users (i.e., bicyclists and motorcyclists) may lead to unintended consequences. This research addresses a number of safety issues: (a) the safety effectiveness of shoulder rumble strips on different roadway types, (b) the safety effectiveness of shoulder rumble strip placement relative to the edgeline, (c) the safety effectiveness of centerline rumble strips on different roadway types, and (d) the safety effectiveness of centerline rumble strips along horizontal curves and tangents. The safety evaluations considered all severity levels (total crashes) and fatal and injury crashes. Statistical models for predicting noise levels in the passenger compartment of a vehicle for use in designing rumble strip patterns were also developed. The results of this research were combined with results from previous research to address important policy issues for transportation agencies to consider in the design and application of shoulder and centerline rumble strips.