Impact of Shoulder and Centerline Rumble Strips on Vehicle Lateral Position on Two-Lane Roadways

While previous research has shown that shoulder rumble strips (SRS) and centerline rumble strips (CRS) on two-lane, undivided roadways reduce targeted crashes, there are still questions about their impact on vehicle lateral placement (especially where lane widths are less than 12 ft). Recently, researchers designed and conducted a field study to investigate the impact of SRS and CRS on vehicle lateral placement on two-lane, undivided roadways with various lane and shoulder widths. At CRS-only sites and sites with both CRS and SRS on narrow shoulders (1- to 3-ft), drivers tend to position the center of their vehicle closer to the center of the travel lane than if the rumble strips were not there. In contrast, on roadways with larger shoulder widths (= 9 ft) neither of these rumble strip scenarios appears to practically affect the lateral position of vehicles in the travel lane. The effect of SRS located within 7 to 9 inches of the edgeline on the lateral position of vehicles in the travel lane was highly variable; thus, their impact was not as clear. Nevertheless, it does appear that SRS located near the edgeline may cause drivers to center their vehicles closer to the centerline in some cases. Researchers did find that SRS located further from the edgeline (35 inches) did not practically affect the lateral position of vehicles in the travel lane. Furthermore, it seems that the effect of SRS close to the edgeline on vehicle lateral placement can be mitigated by including CRS.

• 
• Corporate Authors:

  Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE)

  Washington, DC  United States 
• Authors:
  • Finley, Melisa D
• Conference:
  • ITE 2010 Annual Meeting and Exhibit
  • Location: Vancouver , Canada
  • Date: 2010-8-8 to 2010-8-11
• Publication Date: 2010

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: 14p
• Monograph Title: ITE 2010 Annual Meeting and Exhibit

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Center lines; Crashes; Edge lines; Highways; Lane distribution; Lane occupancy; Lateral placement; Road shoulders; Rumble strips; Two lane highways
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; I82: Accidents and Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01321684
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 30 2010 7:49AM