The Pearland accident attorneys at Denena & Points note that TxDOT recently recommended the placement of rumble strips as a safety precaution at the intersection of FM 93 and Old Highway 95 in the wake of a fatal Lowes truck – school bus crash.
What are rumble strips?
Our Pearland accident attorneys explain that rumble strips generally consist of milled grooves in the pavement or raised strips placed on a roadway. The purpose of rumble strips is to alert inattentive drivers that their vehicle is leaving their lane of travel or to alert drivers to a changing road condition such as an upcoming stop at a rural highway intersection. Contact with a rumble strip produces both noise and vibration in the vehicle to alert the driver. There are three primary uses for rumble strips:
What are the safety benefits of rumble strips?
Our Pearland accident attorneys point out some interesting accident statistics and studies on rumble strip effectiveness. The National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) undertook a comprehensive study on the use of rumble strips in reducing accident numbers. The study (Report 641, published in 2009) found that placement of rumble strips reduced fatal and injury-producing wrong way sideswipe and head-on wrecks by an average of 64% in urban areas and an average of 44% on rural roads.
This substantial reduction in crashes shows an enormous benefit from a safety feature that’s also relatively inexpensive to install. In this era of government budget deficits coupled with growing numbers of vehicles on the road, the reduction in accident numbers makes rumble strips an important safety measure to consider for roads and intersections with emerging crash trends.
About 20% of fatal crashes nationwide at areas other than intersection involve head-on crashes between 2 vehicles. 75% of these head-on fatal crashes occur on undivided two-lane roads like so many of our rural Texas highways. 30% of the victims are under the age of 25. 33% of head-on crashes on all types of roads occur when vehicles negotiate curves. (NCHRP Report 500, Vol. 4.)
The NHTSA attributes 80% of all crashes and 65% of near-crashes to some type of driver distraction. In 2008 alone, around 6,000 people died in crashes involving a distracted driver and more than 500,000 people received injuries. (http://www.distraction.gov/stats-and-facts). This makes the humble rumble strip, which alerts inattentive drivers through noise and vibrations upon contact, a critical safety feature in today’s driving environment.
See our Pearland accident attorneys’ post on the FM 93 and Old Highway 95 Lowes truck – school bus wreck to see the tragic losses that can result in the absence of rumble strips to alert drivers to upcoming changes in driving conditions.