Rumble strips and paint stripes at a rural intersection‏

A common cause of traffic accidents at low-volume rural intersections is failure by drivers on the minor approaches to stop or slow down sufficiently, as warranted. The current experimental field study compared the effectiveness of transverse paint stripes, such as those developed by the U. K. Transport and Road Research Laboratory, and similarly placed rumble strips in inducing drivers to reduce speed and stop at intersections. The experiment was conducted on the two minor approaches to the same four-way rural low-volume intersection. A geometrically converging pattern of 38 paint stripes, each 60 cm (2 ft) wide, were laid out over a distance of 270 m (886 ft) of one leg, and a similar pattern of rumble strips, 12 to 15 mm ( one-half to 5/8 inc. ) high, was laid on the opposite leg. A before-and-after and a crossover (after a year) experimental design were used. Speeds were monitored at eight points on each leg along 420 m leading to the intersection for a total of over 2,500 lead vehicles. The main results and conclusions are outlined.