Imagine that it is late at night. You’re on the road coming back from a business trip and you weren’t afforded an adequate amount of sleep. The radio isn’t doing the job and you feel yourself getting more and more drowsy as the minutes pass. Suddenly, your car veers off to the side of the road and you are jolted awake by a loud vibrating hum. You are alert and awake now that you’ve been audibly warned that your car was veering off of the road. What you just encountered are known as rumble strips, and they may have just saved your life!
Rumble strips create noise and vibration inside the vehicle which alerts the driver as they cross a centerline or edge line. This alert is often strong enough to grab the attention of a distracted, drowsy or sleeping driver. Once alerted, the driver can quickly regain control of their vehicle and return to the road safely. Rumble strips can also alert drivers when conditions such as rain, fog, snow, or dust limit and reduce visibility.
A rumble strip can also become a “rumble stripe” when an edge line or centerline pavement marking is placed on it. The profile and reflectivity of the marking within the rumble strip provides added nighttime visibility, particularly under dark, wet conditions. The movement of traffic tends to keep the rumble strip from filling with water, which causes the portion of the pavement marking on the back of the rumble strip to act as a reflector, sending light back to the vehicle. In colder climates, recessing reflectors inside the rumble stripe or groove can protect them from damage by snow plows and other equipment.
In a world in which highway driving requires your full attention, rumble strips have become absolutely crucial to the safety of all drivers.
The Rumble Hog RH7500 is a multi-purpose machine. It can grind pavement markings, cut grooves for in-laid pavement markings and cut rumble strips and plunge cuts.
Subscribe to the Hog Blog
Get all of the latest updates from Hog!