The Washington Department of Transportation, in their quarterly report, says that serious injury and fatal car accidents have been reduced on roads and highways where rumble strips have been installed reports The Seattle Times. In fact, the DOT reports that these kinds of accidents dropped 57 percent on the highways and roads where the strips have been made.
Rumble strips are grooves or raised dots or pavement markers which alerts inattentive drivers that they are driving off of a highway or approaching a hazard. Rumble strips alert drivers with noise and vibration when motorists drive over them. They can be installed on the right (or outside shoulder) and on a divided highway, the are installed on the median side. The DOT has installed rumble strips into 2,000 miles of roads in the state and have plans to install 650 more miles with them.
State statistics show that 18% of all car accidents are single vehicle "run-off-the-road" and they account for 30% of all accident fatalities. In 2008, there were 522 car accident fatalities in Washington state which is the lowest number since 1955.
Bicyclists say that shoulder rumble strips can create a hazard for them unless they are installed with an unobstructed width of paved surface for the cyclist.
This information is provided by Seattle Car Accident Lawyer blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in car accidents and bicycle accidents and the family of those killed.