Surface Preparation Technologies, Inc.

		GOVERNMENT


	Shoulder Rumble Strips
		Cut Specifications
		Layout: Continuous vs. Skip
		Traffic Protection
		Offset from the Edgeline
		Clean-Up Specifications
		Depth and Width Tolerances
		Fog Seal

	Centerline and Secondary Road Rumble Strips
		Secondary Roads
		Centerline Rumble Strips
		Full Lane Rumble Strips

	Project Designs and Specifications
		Retrofit vs. Resurfacing
		Cost Control
		Traffic Protection
		Clean-Up Specifications
		TRB Paper

	Bicycles and Rumble Strips
		Bicycle-Friendly Policies
		Bicycle-Friendly: Alaska

	Research and Publications
		Trucks and Rumble Strips
		Drift-Off: The Road Crashes
		Gallup Poll on Drowsy Driving
		Rumble Strip Effectiveness
		Cost and Benefits

	Useful Links
		State DOT Agencies

	About SPT
		About SPT
		Officers
		SPT History

Photo Gallery

Video Gallery

	Contractor Section

	Home

Research and Publications

Drowsy Driving, How big is the problem?

"a national problem...One in four Americans didn't get enough sleep last night."
-- Wake Up America: A National Sleep Alert Report of the National Commission on Sleep Disorders Research.

In every state, 40-60% of all traffic accidents with determined causes are a direct or partial result of drift-off. Nationwide, drift-off is the number one factor in both non-alcohol and alcohol-related highway accidents (SOURCE: NHTSA and state DOT reports).

The annual costs of motor vehicle accidents in the United States are staggering. Just in accidents involving an injury or fatality, the costs rose to nearly $170 billion annually in 1993. And these costs do not account for the loss in quality of life for such accidents.

One-third of motorists have fallen asleep behind the wheel.
12% of motorists who have fallen asleep have had an accident as a result.
Over half of American motorists drive when they are too tired to get behind the wheel.
23% percent of adults know someone who experienced a fall-asleep crash within the past year.

Factors contributing to injury and fatality accidents

Highways across the country have begun to re-examine factors contributing to injury and fatality accidents. Consistently, one message has become clear: every highway has a problem with run-off accidents.


Top related factors in highway accidents involving a fatality for 1993. Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.		Costs of unintentional injuries by class. Source: Accident Facts, 1993 Edition, National Safety Council.
Click here for printable version of illustration.		Click here for printable version of illustration.

Before and After: Rumble Strip Effectiveness

Before & After: Rumble Strip Effectiveness

"Once this gets known, it's not going to be a matter of "Should we or shouldn't we?" You're negligent if you don't do it."
-- Neal E. Wood, P.E. (retired) Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, co-designer of the 7" milled rumble strip.

Since the 1950's, highway authorities have experimented with different types of shoulder texturing with mixed success in reducing drift-off accidents. In 1989, however, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission introduced the 7-inch milled continuous shoulder rumble strip. Since then, this design has become a definitive solution in combating the drowsy or inattentive driver.

As the drowsy driver begins to drift off the road he passes onto the rumble strips and is alerted with noise and vibration, putting him safely back onto the road.

Drift-off Accident Reduction

In 1994, the International, Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association presented the Pennsylvania Turnpike with the IBTTA Innovation Award for their use of the 7-inch milled shoulder rumble strip.

"...patrons had to travel more than half a billion miles to result in a single fatality. A key aspect of the Mass Pike's overall turnpike public safety program included the installation of "rumble strips" along the breakdown lanes of the turnpike. According to highway safety statistics compiled by the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA), the Mass Pike now operates one of the safest toll highways in the nation."
-- Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, Press Release

Documentation Downloads

The Effectiveness and Use of Continuous Shoulder Rumble Strips
Kerry Perrillo, Highway Engineer Federal Highway Administration Albany, New York, August 1998

	Download PDF - For a printable version of this file click here Adobe Acrobat required. To keep a copy of this brochure on your computer, click the diskette icon in Adobe Acrobat.

Shoulder Rumble Strip Effectiveness: Drift-Off-Road Accident Reductions on the Pennsylvania Turnpike
John J. Hickey, Jr., Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission TRB Research Record 1573

	Download PDF - For a printable version of this file click here Adobe Acrobat required. To keep a copy of this brochure on your computer, click the diskette icon in Adobe Acrobat.

Shoulder Rumble Strips: A Method to Alert "Drifting" Drivers
Neal E. Wood, P.E., Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (Retired) TRB No. 940312 January 1994

	Download PDF - For a printable version of this file click here Adobe Acrobat required. To keep a copy of this brochure on your computer, click the diskette icon in Adobe Acrobat.