Our Harris County crash injury lawyers recently discussed the use of rumble strips as a means of preventing deadly accidents, particularly the frequent accidents where one vehicle crosses over a centerline and impacts another head-on. We referenced NCHRP (National Cooperative Highway Research Program) Report 641 that claims that centerline rumble strips greatly reduce the numbers of fatal and injury accidents.
The Report says that urban fatal and injury head-on and opposite direction (centerline) sideswipe wrecks were reduced by an average of 64%, while such accidents in rural areas were reduced by an average of 44%. Rumble strips as a safety measure cost relatively little for taxpayers. If they are as effective as claimed, they represent an effective safety measure that should be implemented more often in Texas.
Our Harris County crash injury lawyers note that many Texas roadways, even rural highways, are two-lane roads with nothing but a (sometimes faintly) painted centerline to separate them. News reports are filled with reports of fatal and injury head-on and sideswipe crashes caused when one vehicle veers over a centerline. Driver fatigue, distraction, and drunkenness are often to blame.
It may be that nothing could prevent the crashes caused by drunken drivers. But distracted and fatigued drivers might well be awakened in time to correct their courses once the noise and vibration from rumble strips invaded their vehicles.
Thursday night in NE Harris County at FM 1942 near Stables Lane, an eastbound pickup truck crossed the centerline and fatally impacted a motorcycle traveling in the opposite direction. The biker was fatally thrown 30 feet into a roadside ditch. The pickup also struck a car traveling behind the motorcycle. Harris County deputies are investigating whether alcohol was a factor in the fatal crash. If not, we wonder if rumble strips might have helped avert the accident.
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