Study Details

Study Title: Examining the Safety Effect of Centerline Rumble Strips on Curves on Rural Two-Lane Roads

Authors: Babiceanu and Fontaine

Publication Date:JAN, 2018

Abstract: The Virginia Department of Transportation has installed centerline rumble strips on a number of rural two-lane roads to reduce head-on and opposite direction sideswipe crashes. This paper calculated crash modification factors (CMF) for installing centerline rumble strips by applying the empirical Bayes methodology, with a focus on evaluating the effectiveness by roadway curvature. Centerline rumble strips on curves with a design speed of less than or equal to 55 mph reduced total crashes by 25% (CMF 0.75) with a standard error (SE) of 0.14, significant at 90% confidence level and head-on, opposite direction sideswipe, and fixed object, off-road crashes by 42% (CMF 0.58, SE 0.16). Other analyses that examined the safety effect of centerline rumble strips as a function of curve design speed showed promising trends, but were inconclusive, likely due to small sample sizes. For tangents, a 37% decrease in total crashes (SE 0.10) and a 46% decrease in fatal and injury crashes (SE 0.11) were observed. When examining all roads irrespective of curvature, the study found a CMF of 0.93 for total crashes (SE 0.03), and a CMF of 0.65 for head-on and opposite direction sideswipe crashes (SE 0.09) for both total and fatal and injury severities. With the exception noted, all reductions were significant at 95% confidence level. CMFs for several other situations were produced that support the assertion that centerline rumble strips are a beneficial treatment for rural two-lane roads.

Study Citation: Babiceanu, S., and M. D. Fontaine. "Examining the Safety Effect of Centerline Rumble Strips on Curves on Rural Two-Lane Roads". Presented at the 97th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Paper No. 18-05020, Washington, D.C., (2018).


CMFs Associated With This Study

Category: Roadway

Countermeasure: Install centerline rumble strips

CMF CRF(%)QualityCrash TypeCrash SeverityRoadway TypeArea Type
0.9257.53 StarsAllAllNot specifiedRural
0.9970.33 StarsAllK,A,B,CNot specifiedRural
0.64635.43 StarsHead on,Multiple vehicle,SideswipeAllNot specifiedRural
0.65234.83 StarsHead on,Multiple vehicle,SideswipeK,A,B,CNot specifiedRural
0.75624.43 StarsFixed object,Run off roadAllNot specifiedRural
0.9247.63 StarsFixed object,Run off roadK,A,B,CNot specifiedRural

Countermeasure: Install centerline rumble strips (horizontal curves)

CMF CRF(%)QualityCrash TypeCrash SeverityRoadway TypeArea Type
0.9663.43 StarsAllAllNot specifiedRural
0.9089.23 StarsAllK,A,B,CNot specifiedRural
0.83216.82 StarsHead on,Multiple vehicle,SideswipeAllNot specifiedRural
0.9059.53 StarsFixed object,Run off roadAllNot specifiedRural
1.095-9.52 StarsFixed object,Run off roadK,A,B,CNot specifiedRural
1.01-13 StarsAllAllNot specifiedRural
0.9039.73 StarsAllK,A,B,CNot specifiedRural
0.9990.13 StarsFixed object,Run off roadAllNot specifiedRural
1.202-20.22 StarsFixed object,Run off roadK,A,B,CNot specifiedRural
0.74925.13 StarsAllAllNot specifiedRural
0.9282 StarsAllK,A,B,CNot specifiedRural
0.58423 StarsFixed object,Run off roadAllNot specifiedRural

Countermeasure: Install centerline rumble strips (tangents)

CMF CRF(%)QualityCrash TypeCrash SeverityRoadway TypeArea Type
0.9485.23 StarsAllAllNot specifiedRural
0.9960.43 StarsAllK,A,B,CNot specifiedRural
0.62937.13 StarsHead on,Multiple vehicle,SideswipeAllNot specifiedRural
0.54145.93 StarsHead on,Multiple vehicle,SideswipeK,A,B,CNot specifiedRural
0.74325.73 StarsFixed object,Run off roadAllNot specifiedRural
0.83616.43 StarsFixed object,Run off roadK,A,B,CNot specifiedRural