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Rumble strips are in the news. It has been mentioned many times in this column that what ails this country’s roads is the lack of experts who have knowledge of building roads and managing traffic. Here we are into the 21st century and our “experts” are “experimenting” with rumble strips. These experiments were carried out in developed countries 50 years ago and conclusions arrived at, decisions made. After “experiments” in the developed countries, rumble strips were rejected by the police, fire brigade and ambulances. Reason: They destabilise vehicles, resulting in accidents. They cannot be crossed by two-wheelers or three-wheelers. Nor can hand-drawn carts or animal-drawn carts cross them. We are trying, yes trying, to introduce 20th century technology into a country barely out of the bullock-cart age. They cause mechanical damage to the vehicles. The sudden and severe jolting at speed can also cause physical damage to car occupants, especially to children who could be thrown around.
The only time a rumble strip is helpful is when they are on the side of the road. They are tapered. The first one the car wheel runs over could be only 20-30 cm wide. They get wider gradually, enough to accommodate the width of the tyre. These rumble strips are on the off-side of the road. The reason is if a car leaves the road and has an accident it is referred to as a run-off-the-road (R.O.R.) crash. R.O.R. crashes account for 70 per cent of fatal single vehicle crashes. We read about cars and buses who run-off-the-road and hit a tree or over turn. This is referred to as a “one-car crash”. R.O.R. crashes occur due to inattentiveness on the part of the driver, like falling asleep, over-reaction, day dreaming, fatigue, talking on the phone, smoking, use of drugs or alcohol. This is where the rumble strips on the off-side are helpful. Running over them causes a tactile vibration and an audible rumbling (now you know why they are called rumble strips), which is transmitted through the wheels into the car body. Everyone is alerted. This will jolt the driver into action who can then take appropriate corrective action. If there are any adverse effects due to these rumble strips, they are far less than running off-the-road and coming to grief. However, the effectiveness of an offside rumble strip is largely dependent on a wide stable shoulder for recovery. A wide and firm shoulder is more often than not missing on Indian roads. This wide shoulder is referred to as the recovery zone and is a must. Often on Indian roads, where the tarmac ends the shoulder is soft, loose gravel, eroded by water run-off and the “edge-drop” may be deep. In such a case the vehicle tyre will sink into a soft shoulder and it will destabilise the vehicle. This is referred to as “vehicle tripping”. If the shoulder is much lower, there is every chance of the vehicle flipping over. Extensive research has shown that the only advantage a rumble strip has is for single one-car crashes. It is not helpful as a traffic- management aid. This happens when a driver in the left hand lane slowly drifts to the left i.e. begins to leave the road and hits the rumble strips. This alerts the driver, who, most likely in panic, throws the steering wheel to the right to bring the car back onto the road. If the driver has over-reacted, chances are he has, panic does that, the car will swerve to the extreme right of the road, into oncoming traffic. Here again the result of the rumble strip has been negative. Rumble strips are also known as “sleeper lines” (to wake up sleeping drivers). An alternative is ‘audible strips’. These are lines cut into the tarmac. They don't bounce the car, they just make a noise. Will they have an impact? Of course not! Just like red lights and zebra crossings are ignored, ‘audible strips’ too will be ignored. Speed breakers also serve little purpose. The need of the hour is to curb the driver who lacks discipline. Before looking for a solution, identify the problem. The problem is the devil-may-care driver. Stricter laws that will be a deterrent is the answer. Happy motoring !
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good motoring
