Drunk bumps, rumble strips, dangerous grooves

[paulh]

Our non-bike-friendly county has taken on a new procedure on some of the county roads we frequent. In the last month they've repaved some of the roads that have needed it for years. Great! Nice... we thought. Great riding for a few weeks. 18-24 inches of smooth asphalt to the right of the fog line. Then come to find on recent rides that they came through and gouged in really deep grooves about 8 inches long or more along the fog line. Rats! Some of these roads have modest hills that on the downhill you can hit 35 mph just coasting. I would think if you hit these deep gouges at speed you probably would be immediately thrown from the bike or just shaken so much you couldn't hold on.

I guess these are designed to keep the drunks on the road rather than "safely" crashing into the ditch on their own. Also to keep fast food eatin', cell phone talkin' and textin', make up applyin' drivers awake, alert and between the ditches.

Of course the county never asked anybody...like cyclists. And their usual mode is that by the time there's a public meeting on anything, they've already decided.

Question: has anyone ever sucessfully brought forth to the authorities that these things can be dangerous to cyclists? Any data from anywhere to support cyclists? Thanks!

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . to call the county supervisor--don't bother with the highway guy. Tell him how large a lawsuit he's likely to have on his hands the first time a cyclist gets hit by a car and injured or killed while riding in the traffic lane because they can't ride on the shoulder.

It would probably also help to look over your state's traffic laws so when he tells you that "all of you bicyclers" should be on the bike trails "where you belong" that your state's traffic laws clearly define bicycles as "vehicles" with all the rights to the roads that cars have.

Yeah, I'm in a mood. :butt:

BBD

[bironi]

Our non-bike-friendly county has taken on a new procedure on some of the county roads we frequent. In the last month they've repaved some of the roads that have needed it for years. Great! Nice... we thought. Great riding for a few weeks. 18-24 inches of smooth asphalt to the right of the fog line. Then come to find on recent rides that they came through and gouged in really deep grooves about 8 inches long or more along the fog line. Rats! Some of these roads have modest hills that on the downhill you can hit 35 mph just coasting. I would think if you hit these deep gouges at speed you probably would be immediately thrown from the bike or just shaken so much you couldn't hold on.

I guess these are designed to keep the drunks on the road rather than "safely" crashing into the ditch on their own. Also to keep fast food eatin', cell phone talkin' and textin', make up applyin' drivers awake, alert and between the ditches.

Of course the county never asked anybody...like cyclists. And their usual mode is that by the time there's a public meeting on anything, they've already decided.

Question: has anyone ever sucessfully brought forth to the authorities that these things can be dangerous to cyclists? Any data from anywhere to support cyclists? Thanks!

I know their organisation gave Washington State Department of Transportation feed back on rumble strips being added to Highway 2 in the Cascade Mountains. I'm sure they can give you some tips. I know Jan Heine was involved. Good luck.

[Blue Jays]

If the shoulder is unsafe, take the lane as long as needed.
If following motorists seem irate, point boldly to the rumble strips, they'll get the point.

[William]

Though I agree that these can be very dangerous for cyclists....I have to admit that they saved my arse once making a cross country run immediately after 9/11 to get home to my family since all commercial flights were grounded. The quite desert of Eastern Washington in the early pre-dawn hours of a long cross country drive combined with the continuous hum of the car can be a little too peaceful.......

RRRRRRRbumpada bumbada bumpada.....can snap you back awake in a heartbeat.


Tough call in hiway situations.



William

[RPS]

I would think if you hit these deep gouges at speed you probably would be immediately thrown from the bike or just shaken so much you couldn't hold on.I’d expect the opposite – the faster you go the less they’ll bounce most bikes. Unfortunately, if your bike just happens to hit the right frequency then it’s going to get very ugly instantly. I intentionally rode over some a while back and found that above 20 MPH they were not that bad – certainly much smoother than around 10 to 15 MPH. Admittedly I haven’t tried it at 35 MPH; but expect much depends on how close they are spaced.

As to getting the counties to listen, I don’t have experience with rumble strips, but can tell you that I went down after hitting a large speed bump the county was testing on the shoulder of a road over five years ago, and when I reported its location and attached pictures of the injuries they removed it immediately. Rumble strips are another matter. I don’t think we have much chance there. The best we can hope for is to request a wide-enough shoulder area to ride on the outside of the strip. A few of our roads in Texas are like that – with up to a car’s width to the outside of the rumble strips.

When the shoulder is wide enough, I actually feel safer due to the rumble strips because I figure it will keep cars on their side of the pavement. And if they come my way, I’ll at least hear it in advance.

[Chad Engle]

I think the rumble strips are a great idea. I'm certain no one will admit that they were "reminded" by these that they were a little off the road by them at one point or another.

The shoulder is not there to be driven on, it's for breakdowns. If the shoulder is wide enough to accomodate the rumble strips and leave room to ride a bicycle, then great.

I love them, in my mind they keep the drunk/cell phone/food eating/sleepy driver from hitting me when I'm riding on the shoulder.

My state is now installing them down the center line of two lane highways to keep people from crossing over into oncoming traffic.

Any idea how much it costs to build a shoulder? Ever complain about taxes?

It is impossible to build a shoulder on every road. Bicycles are vehicles and we have the legal right to ride on the road. That doesn't translate into every paved road shall have a shoulder wide enough to ride bicycles on.

A few more points, there is nothing safe about crashing into a ditch. Ditches contain trees, power poles, culverts, etc., and you cannot sue your county for knowlingly riding on a road with rumble strips, losing control of your bicycle and then crashing. It is called assumption of risk.

I'm not anti cyclist, I would love for every road to have a nice safe shoulder to ride on, unfortunately it just isn't feasible.

[chuckred]

I've riden over them at 20 - 40 mph - they really aren't that bad - I wouldn't want to stay in line with them for long, but to cross over, no big deal, really.

They've put them in the middle line of the lanes in some of the local canyons - the complaint now is that cars won't cross them to give cyclists extra room...

[OldDog]

A number of years back the State added the rumble strips to the shoulders of various highways in our town. Same deal, new pavement, nice shoulders, then a few weeks later the strips.

On behalf of our club, I contacted the supervisor via email of our highway engineering district, asking him about the rumble strips. I advised the strips forced bicyclists into the lane of travel, all the dangers, etc. He claimed the strips were necessary to prevent motorists from falling asleep and running off the road, cutting down the accident rate. I requested data to support the theory of drivers falling asleep. He could not provide any. We had a few more email exchanges, then a few weeks later the strips were paved over.

You need to prove the strips are more of a hazard to cyclists than a safety item to motorists. Good luck.

[Volant]

I agree with Old Dog and went through a similar process locally. However, as someone else stated, it came down to budget and the rumble strips remained. Bummer.

[RPS]

I agree with Old Dog and went through a similar process locally. However, as someone else stated, it came down to budget and the rumble strips remained. Bummer.But since they cost money to install, maybe the answer is to reach those making the decision before they install them, not after. How dumb would they appear to their boss if they spent the money to install them and then turned around and spent more to remove them?

[OldDog]

There has been debate over the past few years in different states as to their usefulness. Also as to the style of the cut, as some designs are useful to motorists while being a bit more cycling friendly. I forget where I was reading about it, maybe Bicycle USA. Are they still around? I was dealing with this back in , maybe 2000/2001. Yeah, it should be dealt with up front, but towns, counties, states, federal gov't, are'nt usally playing from the same deck.

[neverraced]

Rumble strips should be in the middle of the road. Drunk drives off the shoulder and he hurts only himself (and whoever is unlucky enough to be with him); drunk crosses the line and he becomes a murderer.

[Blue Jays]

/\/\ Rumble strips might help an inattentive driver. If they're truly drunk a little noise in the passenger compartment ain't going to snap them into sobriety.