Study Details

Study Title: Safety Evaluation of Centerline Plus Shoulder Rumble Strips

Authors: Persaud et al.

Publication Date:JAN, 2015

Abstract: The combined application of centerline and shoulder rumble strips was selected for evaluation under the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Evaluation of Low-Cost Safety Improvements Pooled Fund Study. This strategy is intended to reduce the frequency of crashes by alerting drivers that they are about to leave the travelled lane. To date, this combination treatment has not been rigorously evaluated with a multi-state database. Geometric, traffic, and crash data were obtained at treated two-lane rural road locations in Kentucky, Missouri, and Pennsylvania. To account for potential selection bias and regression-to-the-mean, an Empirical Bayes (EB) before-after analysis was conducted, utilizing reference groups of untreated two-lane rural roads with similar characteristics to the treated sites. The analysis also controlled for changes in traffic volumes and time trends in crash counts unrelated to the treatment. The combined results for all states indicate statistically significant crash reductions for all crash types analyzed. The crash type with the smallest crash modification factor (CMF) (i.e., the greatest crash reduction) is head-on with a CMF of 0.632. Run-off-road and sideswipe-opposite-direction crashes have estimated CMFs of 0.742 and 0.767, respectively. For run-off-road, head-on and sideswipe-opposite direction crashes combined (i.e., lane departure crashes), the estimated CMF is 0.733. For all crash types combined, CMFs of 0.800 for all severities and 0.771 for fatal+injury were estimated. Benefit-cost (B/C) ratios were estimated to range from 28.2 to 67.7, depending on the treatment cost and service life assumption, which varied by state.

Study Citation: Lyon, Craig; Bhagwant Persaud; and Kimberly Eccles. "Safety Evaluation of Centerline Plus Shoulder Rumble Strips." Federal Highway Administration, Report FHWA-HRT-15-048 (June 2015).

Related Citations: 1) Persaud, B., C. Lyon, K. Eccles, and J. Soika. "Safety Evaluation of Centerline Plus Shoulder Rumble Strips". Presented at the 94th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Paper No. 15-4996, Washington, D.C. (2015). 2) Persaud, B., C. Lyon, K. Eccles, and J. Soika. "Safety Effectiveness of Centerline Plus Shoulder Rumble Strips on Two-Lane Rural Roads". Journal of Transportation Engineering, Vol. 142, No. 5, (2016).

Study Report: Download the Study Report Document


CMFs Associated With This Study

Category: Roadway

Countermeasure: Install centerline and shoulder rumble strips

CMF CRF(%)QualityCrash TypeCrash SeverityRoadway TypeArea Type
0.8205 StarsAllAllNot specifiedRural
0.77122.95 StarsAllK,A,B,CNot specifiedRural
0.74225.85 StarsRun off roadAllNot specifiedRural
0.63236.85 StarsHead onAllNot specifiedRural
0.76723.35 StarsSideswipeAllNot specifiedRural
0.84215.85 StarsAllAllNot specifiedRural
0.81218.85 StarsAllK,A,B,CNot specifiedRural
0.61338.75 StarsRun off roadAllNot specifiedRural
0.48524 StarsHead onAllNot specifiedRural
0.89110.94 StarsSideswipeAllNot specifiedRural
0.65334.75 StarsAllAllNot specifiedRural
0.55844.25 StarsAllK,A,B,CNot specifiedRural
0.75824.25 StarsRun off roadAllNot specifiedRural
0.50649.44 StarsHead onAllNot specifiedRural
0.62837.24 StarsSideswipeAllNot specifiedRural
0.9752.54 StarsAllAllNot specifiedRural
1.019-1.94 StarsAllK,A,B,CNot specifiedRural
0.9284 StarsRun off roadAllNot specifiedRural
1.021-2.14 StarsHead onAllNot specifiedRural
0.9079.34 StarsSideswipeAllNot specifiedRural
0.85114.94 StarsRun off roadAllNot specifiedRural
0.70229.85 StarsRun off roadAllNot specifiedRural
0.67932.15 StarsHead on,SideswipeAllNot specifiedRural
0.81718.34 StarsHead on,SideswipeAllNot specifiedRural