Rumble strips - do you hate them?

[tolbs17]

They wake you up and scare you! They are not only on freeways, expressways and some boulevards have them too. NC 11 for example.

[ozarkman417]

I mean, that's kinda the point if the driver is asleep or is starting to do so. Nowadays most of the at grade expressways & freeways radiating out of Springfield MO have them.

[oscar]

They wake you up and scare you!

You shouldn't be driving while you're asleep, or starting to fall asleep. If you're a passenger, ask the driver to do a better job staying in the lane.

Besides, if the car has a "lane departure" alert system that hasn't been turned off (or is not working due to poor visibility), that will wake you up too. Indeed, one gripe about rumble strips is that they can throw off driver assist systems such as lane departure alerts. (Not that I share that gripe, just that it's out there as a reason to avoid low-tech alternatives like "Botts Dots" or other raised lane markers.)

[hbelkins]

Kentucky has started using sawed-in rumble strips (a/k/a rumble stripes) in two separate applications for resurfacing projects.

For wider roads, they are used on the center line. For older roads, they are used along the edge lines. They're called "rumble stripes" because the vertical walls of the sawed-in indentations allow the paint from the stripe to reflect better at night.

I have seen Michigan use two edge lines on interstates. Outside of the normal edge line, there's an edge line with sawed-in rumble strips.

[Max Rockatansky]

Do you make a habit of sleeping while driving? 

[tolbs17]

Do you make a habit of sleeping while driving?

No. I hardly ever drive. I don't even have a car. But I've seen MANY people have though.

[webny99]

Rumble strips aren't only used for when you stray out of your lane... here's some on mainline I-90 approaching the infamous 35 mph curve near downtown Cleveland.

[texaskdog]

I hate speed bumps.

[texaskdog]

Do you make a habit of sleeping while driving? 

Fell asleep driving home from my friend's house 30 years ago.  those woke me up.  I spun around.  should another car have been there on the road it would have been bad but I  didn't go off the road.

[interstatefan990]

They wake you up and scare you!

You shouldn't be driving while you're asleep, or starting to fall asleep. If you're a passenger, ask the driver to do a better job staying in the lane.

Besides, if the car has a "lane departure" alert system that hasn't been turned off (or is not working due to poor visibility), that will wake you up too. Indeed, one gripe about rumble strips is that they can throw off driver assist systems such as lane departure alerts. (Not that I share that gripe, just that it's out there as a reason to avoid low-tech alternatives like "Botts Dots" or other raised lane markers.)

Yeah. I mean, would you rather have the driver get into a serious accident, or simply allow them to be warned so they can correct themselves and maybe take the next exit? The list of today's drivers who do things they're not supposed to (aka sleepy/distracted driving) is very, very long.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

I remember PennDOT using rumble strips to warn drivers they were approaching a construction zone (70s & 80s). I remember them because they were make me cry as a kid (talking ages 3-7). Took another decade before I stopped noticing them.

In modern times, ODOT uses them along the shoulders of many highways in Ohio.

[rarnold]

Iowa used to use them at intersections with stop signs. They would be set up at 3 intervals before the stop. You always knew that a stop sign was coming, even if you missed the stop ahead sign or the actual stop sign.

[1995hoo]

I haven't been that way in a while, but Delaware used to have them on SB I-95 approaching the toll plaza. When we were kids, my brother called them "fart strips" because of the noise the tires made going over them.

I've seen some states using them on the center line on two-lane roads. I initially found that annoying. Then someone I know lost her father and brother when they were hit head-on on US-15 by a driver who drifted onto the wrong side of the road while going too fast, and that made me think maybe the annoyance isn't such a bad thing.

[JoePCool14]

No, I don't hate them. I actually think they're quite useful for calling attention to things drivers may not expect, like the end of a freeway or a stop sign after many miles of open road.

O'Hare Airport has them coming in on I-190. I think they might be a bit overused in this instance, but they're a good warning that the curves ahead are sharper than meets the eye and you need to slow down more than you might think.

[Rothman]

CARDs, SHARDs, rumble strips...like them all.

[Revive 755]

Iowa used to use them at intersections with stop signs. They would be set up at 3 intervals before the stop. You always knew that a stop sign was coming, even if you missed the stop ahead sign or the actual stop sign.

Illinois and Missouri will also use rumble strips prior to stop signs, though not as much as Iowa.  I think there are also a couple examples in Wisconsin.

As for use before construction zones, Illinois will do this on interstates.  It used to be done in Missouri occasionally.

[Scott5114]

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.

[Bruce]

WSDOT does an awful job of restriping, so it's handy to have feedback when you're drifting out of a lane you can't see at night or in the rain.

[ran4sh]

I don't. Although I had no idea there was such a thing as center-line rumble strips until the mid-00s when I encountered them on some 2-lane roads in Arizona. Until then I had only seen the edge-line type and the in-lane type that is used approaching stop signs. Georgia only recently started using center-line rumble strips.

[Big John]

There are other placements for rumble strips.  US8/WI47 near Rhinelander, WI has them directly on the centerline of the 2-lane highway.  https://goo.gl/maps/51Hhd3gLUKTqMBiV8 The DOT attempted to paint the centerline over this but it is hard to see when the paint and rumble occupy the same spots.

[jeffandnicole]

NJDOT has them on nearly every road under their jurisdiction, even in residential areas and passing zones.

[GaryV]

They are especially irritating in construction zones, when they shift your lane partly into the paved shoulder.  Sometimes they fill in the cavities with asphalt - this happens more often when you are crossing over the median to 2-way traffic on one side of the freeway - but sometimes you're bumping along for miles.

[Mr. Matté]

Yes, when used on surface roads at the fog line when it's a good bicycling road; the shoulders (if exist) don't get swept and they make it harder to move out of it if there is something ahead blocking the shoulder while riding. Otherwise (shoulders of freeways/expressways or all centerlines), it's fine.

[wanderer2575]

There are other placements for rumble strips.  US8/WI47 near Rhinelander, WI has them directly on the centerline of the 2-lane highway.  https://goo.gl/maps/51Hhd3gLUKTqMBiV8 The DOT attempted to paint the centerline over this but it is hard to see when the paint and rumble occupy the same spots.

You can't see the painted line when it's not there -- the example you linked is badly in need of restriping.  When the centerline is painted, it can be seen fine:  https://goo.gl/maps/AYh3cGTgUEF7uKUg8

Current practice for construction projects on Michigan trunklines is to put down three sets of temporary rumble strips across the lanes near the beginning of the work zone.  The spacing between the strips in each set is shorter with each consecutive set; I guess the intent is to make the rumble sound different with each set.  I think these are useless and not worth putting work crews at risk for putting them down and taking them back up.

[zachary_amaryllis]

the road i live on has them in places.. there's a sign that says 'grooved centerline next 16 miles" but it only goes about 7 or so.

if i'm by myself in the canyon, i tend to use the whole road if the visibility permits it (like, i don't cross the line on blind curves and such)

in the snow it can be annoying becase you can't see the centerline anyway, and the tracks in the snow show where everyone 'really' drives. even the snowplow favors the inside of curves, so to stay on the plowed part of the road, one has to take liberties with the centerline.