Abstract
Transverse rumble strips are common practice to alert drivers by engaging their auditory and tactile senses in addition to visual senses by traffic signals. However, continuous exposure to noise and vibration by transverse rumble strips often results in diminished effectiveness and erratic behaviors, leading to additional safety challenges. In response, demand-responsive transverse rumble strips were developed as traffic safety countermeasures that reduce unnecessary noise and vibration associated with transverse rumble strips by incorporating active control of the rumble strips. Rather than staying static, demand-responsive transverse rumble strips are activated based on the presence of pedestrians, at predesignated times, or in response to abrupt changes in traffic flow. To evaluate the effectiveness of demand-responsive transverse rumble strips, the research team assessed noise and vibration data, both inside the vehicles and on the roadside, for various types of vehicles traveling at different speeds. The test data indicate that demand-responsive transverse rumble strips produced noticeable in-vehicle noise and vibration that could alert drivers to downstream events. Furthermore, demand-responsive transverse rumble strips generated sufficient noise to alert roadside pedestrians to vehicle presence but at low enough level to be considered as acceptable for a residential neighborhood use. Accordingly, demand-responsive transverse rumble strips could address the challenges that static transverse rumble strips face, by providing a design with relatively limited noise while enhancing safety.
Highlights
Crashes at intersections have been one of the most significant challenges in traffic management
The current study developed a prototype of demand-responsive transverse rumble strips (DRTRS) with appropriate dimensions to cause both sufficient in-vehicle noise and vibration to regain the attention of the drivers and be mostly congruent with jurisdictional practice as well
While the increase in in-vehicle noise varied with vehicle speed and type, such variations seemed reasonable because each test scenario had a unique dynamic interaction between the test vehicle and DRTRS due to differences in engines, suspension mechanisms, sizes of car components, and test parameters
Summary
Crashes at intersections have been one of the most significant challenges in traffic management. According to the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS),[1] pedestrian–vehicle crashes were responsible for 17,551 pedestrian fatalities nationwide during the 2015–2017 period, which is approximately 16% of total traffic fatalities The number of these crashes has increased in the United States over the past several years due to various factors (e.g. distraction, fatigue, dizziness, and low visibility).[2] Of these factors, distracted driving has become a significant concern over the years, accounting. While visual signals are some of the most common approaches to alert drivers to the need to slow down, pay attention, or stop, their effectiveness is limited by factors such as distractions, fatigue, and/or low visibility In response to these challenges, several traffic safety countermeasures that focus on enhancing the safety of pedestrians have been developed.[5] For example, the use of transverse rumble strips (TRS) has increased at intersections with high crash potential. TRS allow the mechanisms that typically engage the acoustic and haptic senses to regain drivers’ attention in response to a downstream event, prompting them to take preventive action.[6,7,14] A study[6] shows that a change of 2.5–4.25 ms[22] in invehicle vibrations could sufficiently stimulate the haptic sense of drivers
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