Rumble strips - do you hate them?

[tolbs17]

I'm guessing this is how rumble strips were made in the 50s-60s.

Probably not too far off from the truth.

And that design, The Fayetteville bypass (I-95) has them, and I-40 going to Wilmington.

[tolbs17]

On freeways, no. On non-freeways, especially along the fog line where cyclist are allowed, they should not be used. I feel they're more effective going across the road to alert drivers to large changes in the roadway (example, MA 2 at US 202 in Phillipston where the road goes from a 4-lane freeway to a Super-2).

Also Vermont should never use them after the debacle of putting one on VT 9 west of Brattleboro, where they couldn't remotely be bothered to make it line up with the double yellow line.

2-lane roads like US-17 (hard to see but they're there) have them on the shoulder.

Would you call this a "freeway"?

Whoever did that to 17 in the first link shouldn't be allowed to build a dollhouse, let alone a road. That is an embarrassment. The lack of shoulder, forcing a cyclist to drive far from the fog line should be implied liability on the designer/builder if a fatality occurs. It's frightening that with all the space down there they feel such a road needs to be 25 feet wide pavement end-to-end.

The second link, that is not a freeway and is really as bad as the first link.

Thank God in the northeast, in general, we don't build high-speed roads with grass 6 inches from the fog line. Most of the faster roads, in fact, have what's almost tantamount to a breakdown lane. If there is a rumble strip, it's on the left edge of that breakdown lane, with frequent gaps in it.

@SectorZ seems like more of these are STILL coming...


Are these good for just two-lane highways that are not divided?

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2021/2021-10-19-rumble-strips-installed-division-2.aspx

[allniter89]

Late a nite on a 2 lane road driving thru a forest I sometimes try to keep my right wheels on the fog line rumble stripe. My thinking is the noise might scare away any critters wanting to cross the road.
I bought a deer whistle yrs ago but I put it on backawards so it attracted the deer 2 me. 

Has anyone lived at an intersection where there are rubble strips? Does the noise bother u in the house? I'd imagine u get used to it & dont pay it any attention.

I live a few blocks from a rr track. We Very very seldom notice a train passing even in the wee hrs. There are road crossings 2 miles west & 5 miles east. If I listen I can hear the west crossing whistle on the west crossing & I can barely hear east crossing @ 5 miles.

[webny99]

I have no issues with rumble strips. They're a safety feature, and they're rarely an annoyance except when they need to be.. in which case that's a good thing!

[zachary_amaryllis]

they just widened some of the shoulders on sh-14 near where i live. they're now a whopping 2 feet wide. but, they rumble-stripped them, making it pretty annoying to dive-bomb the corners.

i get it, i'm not supposed to do that anyway. just sayin, though.

[tolbs17]

But I think it would be annoying when trying to pass the vehicle in front of you.

[renegade]

If a safety item is annoying to you, it means it's doing its job.

[hbelkins]

They aren't annoying for the brief period of time you're on them if you're passing.

[tolbs17]

These days when highways are resurfaced, rumble strips will be added to them as seen in this document: https://connect.ncdot.gov/letting/Division%202%20Letting/03-09-2022/DB00520%20PROPOSAL.pdf

Skip to page 41 for those details.

[skluth]

They're great. They help keep drivers in their lanes when the edge of the lane is difficult to see in inclement weather and make distracted drivers aware if something is coming up. Can't understand why anyone would have an issue with them.

[HighwayStar]

They're great. They help keep drivers in their lanes when the edge of the lane is difficult to see in inclement weather and make distracted drivers aware if something is coming up. Can't understand why anyone would have an issue with them.

Mainly because they are loud and not appropriate for use everywhere. Also they are a maintenance issue in areas with severe freeze thaw action.

[US 89]

Can't understand why anyone would have an issue with them.

Well, this was the OP's reason...

They wake you up and scare you!

I have zero issues with them. The only time I've ever found myself annoyed by them is when lanes get shifted for construction and the pre-existing rumble strips don't move, so you might be driving in them for a bit. But that's such a small price to pay compared to the crashes and injuries they help avoid and the lives they save. They've saved my butt more than once.

[skluth]

They're great. They help keep drivers in their lanes when the edge of the lane is difficult to see in inclement weather and make distracted drivers aware if something is coming up. Can't understand why anyone would have an issue with them.

Mainly because they are loud and not appropriate for use everywhere. Also they are a maintenance issue in areas with severe freeze thaw action.

They're supposed to be loud. That's the point. They wouldn't be effective if they weren't loud. If they don't belong in a specific location, it has nothing to do with whether something is good or bad.

I live in Palm Springs. We don't have freeze/thaw action. But I noticed more potholes caused by freeze/thaw cycles in the middle of the road and along pavement cracks than I ever saw around rumble strips back when I lived in the Midwest.

[skluth]

Can't understand why anyone would have an issue with them.

Well, this was the OP's reason...

They wake you up and scare you!

I have zero issues with them. The only time I've ever found myself annoyed by them is when lanes get shifted for construction and the pre-existing rumble strips don't move, so you might be driving in them for a bit. But that's such a small price to pay compared to the crashes and injuries they help avoid and the lives they save. They've saved my butt more than once.

OMG!! They woke him up. Oh, the humanity. Call the National Guard.

[HighwayStar]

They're great. They help keep drivers in their lanes when the edge of the lane is difficult to see in inclement weather and make distracted drivers aware if something is coming up. Can't understand why anyone would have an issue with them.

Mainly because they are loud and not appropriate for use everywhere. Also they are a maintenance issue in areas with severe freeze thaw action.

They're supposed to be loud. That's the point. They wouldn't be effective if they weren't loud. If they don't belong in a specific location, it has nothing to do with whether something is good or bad.

I live in Palm Springs. We don't have freeze/thaw action. But I noticed more potholes caused by freeze/thaw cycles in the middle of the road and along pavement cracks than I ever saw around rumble strips back when I lived in the Midwest.

Yes its fine for it to be loud for the driver, but what about people that live nearby? This is a bigger issue with the strips that are part of the lane, but even the ones on the side present some of this issue.

The Midwest is one thing, but in the mountain west I have seen rumble strips that were nothing more than a trough due to freeze thaw action and the effects of tire chains.

[MikieTimT]

Yes.  They make it more annoying to straighten curves, and on some of Arkansas' 2 lanes, make it impossible to ride a bicycle and not be completely in the travel lane as most of the shoulders are not what I would construe as wide compared to other states, if they exist at all.

[clong]

In Oklahoma, they're placed a foot or so to the outside of the lane line, so it's hard to notice them unless you're really starting drift out of the lane. Missouri puts them right on the line, which means it's easy to brush against them during normal lateral movement. That's kind of irritating.

States that put them on the line and sometimes veering inside the lines - don't care for these.
Just outside the line - very effective and still enough time to react

[hbelkins]

They're great. They help keep drivers in their lanes when the edge of the lane is difficult to see in inclement weather and make distracted drivers aware if something is coming up. Can't understand why anyone would have an issue with them.

Mainly because they are loud and not appropriate for use everywhere. Also they are a maintenance issue in areas with severe freeze thaw action.

Kentucky has been increasingly using "rumble stripes" -- sawed-in rumble strips over which the white edge line is painted -- on rural two-lane roads. I've noticed that they don't install the strips in what Massachusetts would call "thickly settled" areas where the speed limit drops from 55 to 45. KY 715 in the Rogers community in Wolfe County and KY 52 in the Elkatawa community of Breathitt County are two examples with which I'm very familiar.

[dlsterner]

They wake you up and scare you!

Then the rumble strips did their job.

Rumble strips are a safety measure, and as such, I have no issues with them - whether on the outside lines or on the center line.  If they save even one life by waking a drowsy driver, they are worth it.

[LilianaUwU]

I like rumble strips because they go BRRRRRR and that's funny.

[Rothman]

They're great. They help keep drivers in their lanes when the edge of the lane is difficult to see in inclement weather and make distracted drivers aware if something is coming up. Can't understand why anyone would have an issue with them.

Mainly because they are loud and not appropriate for use everywhere. Also they are a maintenance issue in areas with severe freeze thaw action.

They're supposed to be loud. That's the point. They wouldn't be effective if they weren't loud. If they don't belong in a specific location, it has nothing to do with whether something is good or bad.

I live in Palm Springs. We don't have freeze/thaw action. But I noticed more potholes caused by freeze/thaw cycles in the middle of the road and along pavement cracks than I ever saw around rumble strips back when I lived in the Midwest.

Yes its fine for it to be loud for the driver, but what about people that live nearby? This is a bigger issue with the strips that are part of the lane, but even the ones on the side present some of this issue.

The Midwest is one thing, but in the mountain west I have seen rumble strips that were nothing more than a trough due to freeze thaw action and the effects of tire chains.

NYSDOT's all for them and NY's got one heckuve freeze-thaw roller coaster every year.

I guess people just don't know how to drive in those areas where they bother residents.

Also wonder about the idea of thickly settled winding mountain roads where people would be driving on the strips all the time.

[HighwayStar]

They're great. They help keep drivers in their lanes when the edge of the lane is difficult to see in inclement weather and make distracted drivers aware if something is coming up. Can't understand why anyone would have an issue with them.

Mainly because they are loud and not appropriate for use everywhere. Also they are a maintenance issue in areas with severe freeze thaw action.

They're supposed to be loud. That's the point. They wouldn't be effective if they weren't loud. If they don't belong in a specific location, it has nothing to do with whether something is good or bad.

I live in Palm Springs. We don't have freeze/thaw action. But I noticed more potholes caused by freeze/thaw cycles in the middle of the road and along pavement cracks than I ever saw around rumble strips back when I lived in the Midwest.

Yes its fine for it to be loud for the driver, but what about people that live nearby? This is a bigger issue with the strips that are part of the lane, but even the ones on the side present some of this issue.

The Midwest is one thing, but in the mountain west I have seen rumble strips that were nothing more than a trough due to freeze thaw action and the effects of tire chains.

NYSDOT's all for them and NY's got one heckuve freeze-thaw roller coaster every year.

I guess people just don't know how to drive in those areas where they bother residents.

Also wonder about the idea of thickly settled winding mountain roads where people would be driving on the strips all the time.

Those two issues need not be in the same piece of road, that should be obvious. 

[Rothman]

They're great. They help keep drivers in their lanes when the edge of the lane is difficult to see in inclement weather and make distracted drivers aware if something is coming up. Can't understand why anyone would have an issue with them.

Mainly because they are loud and not appropriate for use everywhere. Also they are a maintenance issue in areas with severe freeze thaw action.

They're supposed to be loud. That's the point. They wouldn't be effective if they weren't loud. If they don't belong in a specific location, it has nothing to do with whether something is good or bad.

I live in Palm Springs. We don't have freeze/thaw action. But I noticed more potholes caused by freeze/thaw cycles in the middle of the road and along pavement cracks than I ever saw around rumble strips back when I lived in the Midwest.

Yes its fine for it to be loud for the driver, but what about people that live nearby? This is a bigger issue with the strips that are part of the lane, but even the ones on the side present some of this issue.

The Midwest is one thing, but in the mountain west I have seen rumble strips that were nothing more than a trough due to freeze thaw action and the effects of tire chains.

NYSDOT's all for them and NY's got one heckuve freeze-thaw roller coaster every year.

I guess people just don't know how to drive in those areas where they bother residents.

Also wonder about the idea of thickly settled winding mountain roads where people would be driving on the strips all the time.

Those two issues need not be in the same piece of road, that should be obvious. 

Given CARDs and SHARDs demonstrated success, my hyperbole was emphasizing how little a cost your concerns really represented.

[HighwayStar]

They're great. They help keep drivers in their lanes when the edge of the lane is difficult to see in inclement weather and make distracted drivers aware if something is coming up. Can't understand why anyone would have an issue with them.

Mainly because they are loud and not appropriate for use everywhere. Also they are a maintenance issue in areas with severe freeze thaw action.

They're supposed to be loud. That's the point. They wouldn't be effective if they weren't loud. If they don't belong in a specific location, it has nothing to do with whether something is good or bad.

I live in Palm Springs. We don't have freeze/thaw action. But I noticed more potholes caused by freeze/thaw cycles in the middle of the road and along pavement cracks than I ever saw around rumble strips back when I lived in the Midwest.

Yes its fine for it to be loud for the driver, but what about people that live nearby? This is a bigger issue with the strips that are part of the lane, but even the ones on the side present some of this issue.

The Midwest is one thing, but in the mountain west I have seen rumble strips that were nothing more than a trough due to freeze thaw action and the effects of tire chains.

NYSDOT's all for them and NY's got one heckuve freeze-thaw roller coaster every year.

I guess people just don't know how to drive in those areas where they bother residents.

Also wonder about the idea of thickly settled winding mountain roads where people would be driving on the strips all the time.

Those two issues need not be in the same piece of road, that should be obvious. 

Given CARDs and SHARDs demonstrated success, my hyperbole was emphasizing how little a cost your concerns really represented.

Its not a matter of cost, its a matter of tradeoffs. Noise in particular is a difficult tradeoff to assess.

[Rothman]

They're great. They help keep drivers in their lanes when the edge of the lane is difficult to see in inclement weather and make distracted drivers aware if something is coming up. Can't understand why anyone would have an issue with them.

Mainly because they are loud and not appropriate for use everywhere. Also they are a maintenance issue in areas with severe freeze thaw action.

They're supposed to be loud. That's the point. They wouldn't be effective if they weren't loud. If they don't belong in a specific location, it has nothing to do with whether something is good or bad.

I live in Palm Springs. We don't have freeze/thaw action. But I noticed more potholes caused by freeze/thaw cycles in the middle of the road and along pavement cracks than I ever saw around rumble strips back when I lived in the Midwest.

Yes its fine for it to be loud for the driver, but what about people that live nearby? This is a bigger issue with the strips that are part of the lane, but even the ones on the side present some of this issue.

The Midwest is one thing, but in the mountain west I have seen rumble strips that were nothing more than a trough due to freeze thaw action and the effects of tire chains.

NYSDOT's all for them and NY's got one heckuve freeze-thaw roller coaster every year.

I guess people just don't know how to drive in those areas where they bother residents.

Also wonder about the idea of thickly settled winding mountain roads where people would be driving on the strips all the time.

Those two issues need not be in the same piece of road, that should be obvious. 

Given CARDs and SHARDs demonstrated success, my hyperbole was emphasizing how little a cost your concerns really represented.

Its not a matter of cost, its a matter of tradeoffs. Noise in particular is a difficult tradeoff to assess.

Especially in cases where there's no one to hear it.

People can always complain if there's some noise issue due to living in an area where drivers can't stay in their lane (I mean. how frequent could the nosie even be? ).  But, saying that CARDs and SHARDs in particular shouldn't be installed at all because of noise is actually irresponsible given the prove safety benefits.