RUMBLE STRIPS' EFFECTS ON SPEED CONTROL AND ENVIRONMENT

Rumble strips are series of lateral bands of surface treatment designed to cause intermittent noise within vehicles driving over them for reducing vehicle speed mainly on access roads in residential areas. Although rumble strips have been applied and now accepted commonly in Europe, they are rarely found in Japan. This is due to ignorance of the design and usage of rumble strips. In this paper, speed control effects were studied experimentally and their noise and vibration levels were measured using nine rumble strips with different materials and shapes. It was found that the height and the interval of lateral bands are the major determinants of speed control effects and that the higher the bands are, the larger the noise and vibration levels are. Rumble strips must be, hence, carefully introduced in residential areas.