New Concept Design of Directional Rumble Strips for Deterring Wrong-Way Freeway Entries
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 144, Issue 5
Abstract
Drivers who make wrong-way entries onto freeways pose a serious risk to the safety of other motorists and themselves. As a new countermeasure to mitigate the wrong-way entry issue, directional rumble strips (DRSs) were designed to generate elevated noises and vibrations to warn against wrong-way drivers and a normal level of stimuli to slow down right-way traffic. Five conceptual designs were developed based on Department of Transportation (DOT) guidelines, existing transverse rumble strips implementations, and input from rumble strip vendors. A national survey and extensive field tests were performed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed configurations. Acoustic and tactile signatures of the DRSs were measured by a specially equipped passenger car under different speed categories. The results indicated that the tested patterns could provide similar sound and vibration levels in the wrong-way direction as the existing transverse rumble strips (61.8–80.0 dBA sound signals and 1.1–1.4 g vibrations). The statistical and comparative analyses identified three DRS configurations that could produce greater audible and tactile signals in the wrong-way direction than the right-way direction, thereby serving the purpose of alerting inattentive wrong-way drivers while offering good visual attentiveness and applicability.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The research described here was in support of the research project “Directional Rumble Strips for Reducing Wrong-Way Driving Freeway Entries” funded by the University Transportation Center (UTC) Region 5 through the University of Minnesota.
References
ADOT (Arizona Department of Transportation). (2014). “Signing and marking standard drawings.” ⟨http://www.azdot.gov/business/engineering-and-construction/traffic/signing-and-marking-standard-drawings/current⟩ (Dec. 22, 2015).
Bahar, G., Erwin, T., Mackay, M., Smiley, A., and Tighe, S. (2005). “Best practice guidelines for the design and application of transverse rumble strips.” Transportation Association of Canada, Ottawa.
Elefteriadou, L., et al. (2000). “Bicycle tolerable shoulder rumble strips.” Pennsylvania Dept. of Transportation, Harrisburg.
FHWA (Federal Highway Administration). (2012). “Safety evaluation of transverse rumble strips on approaches to stop-controlled intersections in rural areas.” J. Transp. Saf. Secur., 2(3), 261–278.
FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) Research and Technology. (2014). “Rumble strips.” ⟨http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/research/deployment/rumblestrips.cfm⟩ (Dec. 28, 2014).
Gardner, L. W., Rys, M. J., and Russell, E. (2007). “Comparison of football shaped rumble strips versus rectangular rumble strips.”, Dept. of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Kansas State Univ., Manhattan, KS.
Harwood, D. W. (1993). “Use of rumble strips to enhance safety.”, National Cooperative Highway Research Program, National Academy Press, Washington, DC.
Horowitz, A. J., and Notbohm, T. (2005). “Testing temporary work zone rumble strips.” Midwest Smart Work Zone Deployment Initiative ⟨⟩ (Mar. 4, 2005).
Lank, C., and Steinauer, B. (2011). “Increasing road safety by influencing drivers’ speed choice with sound and vibration.” Transp. Res. Rec., 2248, 45–52.
Liu, P., Huang, J., Wang, W., and Xu, C. (2011). “Effects of transverse rumble strips on safety of pedestrian crosswalks on rural roads in China.” Accid. Anal. Prev., 43(6), 1947–1954.
Meyer, E. (2003). “Guidelines for the application of removable rumble strips.”, Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS.
Miles, J. D., and Finley, M. D. (2007). “Factors that influence the effectiveness of rumble strip design.” Transp. Res. Rec., 2030, 1–9.
National Transportation Safety Board. (2012). Highway special investigation report: Wrong-way driving, Washington, DC.
Outcalt, W. (2001). “Bicycle-friendly rumble strips.”, Colorado Dept. of Transportation, Denver.
Russell, E. R., Rys, M. J., and Brin, T. S. (2003). “US experience with centerline rumble strips on two-lane roads: Pattern research and North American usage.” Proc., Mid-Continent Transportation Research Symp., Dept. of Civil Engineering, Kansas State Univ., Manhattan, KS.
TxDot (Texas Department of Transportation). (2006). “Standard sheets for edgeline, centerline and transverse rumble strips.” ⟨https://www.dot.state.tx.us/insdtdot/orgchart/cmd/cserve/standard/toc.htm⟩ (Oct. 15, 2014).
Walton, S., and Meyer, E. (2002). “The effect of rumble strip configuration on sound and vibration levels.” Inst. Transp. Eng. J., 72(12), 28.
Watts, G. R. (1977). “The development of rumble areas as a driver-alerting device.”, Transport and Road Research Laboratory, Crowthorne, U.K.
Yang, L., Zhou, H., and Zhu, L. (2017). “Operational effects of transverse rumble strips on approaches to high-speed intersections.” Transp. Res. Rec., 2602, 78–87.
Zhou, H., et al. (2012). “Investigation of contributing factors regarding wrong-way driving on freeways.” Illinois Center for Transportation, Urbana, IL.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
©2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 12, 2017
Accepted: Oct 6, 2017
Published online: Feb 19, 2018
Published in print: May 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Jul 19, 2018
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.