Comments on: Speedlinking 23 May 2008

By: Treadly and Me

Treadly and Me — Thu, 29 May 2008 12:35:35 +0000

Correction: it appears that these particular rumble strips are made from bursts of paint rather than plastic buttons. No less slippery though, apparently.

As for a similar strip installed then removed in Chandler Highway within a couple of days—what the heck is going on there?

By: Treadly and Me

Treadly and Me — Wed, 28 May 2008 05:46:41 +0000

Yep, I'll pay that. I didn't think of that, but I should have. I'm careful to avoid catseyes and those other little white plastic 'button' lane markers you often get at intersections—and what's a rumble strip but a line of those little buttons?

I wonder if a smooth edged bump (like a very low speed hump) along the edge of a bike lane wouldn't serve the same purpose without causing the same hazard to bikes?

By: Fritz

Fritz — Tue, 27 May 2008 23:02:29 +0000

Cyclists in the United States are generally opposed to rumble strips because they can cause problems for cyclists. The exception is if there is a demonstrated history of run-off-the-road accidents.

If the cyclist must leave the cycle lane for any reason, you have these bumps to contend with, and anything big enough to get a motorist's attention is enough to cause a wheel diversion crash for a cyclist.

A few years ago in Colorado I was passing another cyclist when the bike lane line I was riding on suddenly became a rumble strip that I didn't see until I was right on it. I had trucks passing to my left and a bicycle to my right; I hit the brakes to merge back right but still bent up both wheels and crashed pretty badly at about 30 mph.

By: Treadly and Me

Treadly and Me — Tue, 27 May 2008 06:02:21 +0000

Hmm, maybe. As protection for an individual cyclist, I think the rumble strips are useless—once a car has its wheel on the strip it's already too close. But the purpose of the rumble strip appears to be to improve "the communication to drivers about the bicycle space", presumably to make the bike lane a safe space overall. In this respect, I think they are worth trying.

By: hielke

hielke — Mon, 26 May 2008 11:24:08 +0000

I tried the rumble edge by car the other day -after making sure I wasn’t going to hit anyone. Should you be asleep as a driver and slowly wonder into the bikelane then yes, this rumble strip makes sense. But other than that, I don’t really see how it is (practically) different from a normal line or more helpful. As long as this doesn’t take up $$ that would otherwise be spend on say, repainting the median on the Gardener’s Creek path, I think its an ok gimmick. But knowing money doesn’t grow on trees it really looks like a look-we-are-doing-something-but-not-really initiative that has a significant opportunity cost.