Impact of Double Centerline Rumble Strips (CLRS) on Driver Behavior

According to the NCHRP report 641 (2005) Centerline rumble strips (CLRS) effectively reduce head-on, sideswipe, and crossing-the-centerline crashes on two-lane rural highways by 44-46%. Benefits of using CLRS include alerting the inattentive drivers, offering visibility of lane markings, and providing a low-cost treatment to avoid crashes. Previous research suggests that a separation of 6” between the double rumble strips along the center of the road can prevent joint deterioration. In addition, the gap may alert the driver to allow sufficient time to correct lane encroachment. However, the effectiveness of such a gap between double CLRS to enforce safety has not been investigated. Furthermore, other factors may affect the effectiveness of double CLRS on surrogate safety measures, such as traffic density, visibility conditions, geometric design (crest curves), presence of shoulders (paved/unpaved), passing zones, etc. Therefore, the objective of this project is to investigate the impact of different double CLRS installation patterns on the behavior and safety of drivers. To achieve this objective, a driving simulator-based study will be designed to investigate the effect of the pattern of double CLRS on driving behavior using various surrogate safety measures such as lane position, speed, post lane encroachment time, and time-to-collision (TTC). These measures will be collected across segments installed with and without the double CLRS in a control condition without any distraction/inattentiveness and compared with the test conditions including a distracted driver using a driving simulator experiment. Based on the study findings, the final report will include recommendations for the systematic installation of double CLRS for safety enhancement.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $85,000.00
• Contract Numbers:

  RE-0906-01

  C2245

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Kansas Department of Transportation

  Eisenhower State Office Building
  700 SW Harrison Street
  Topeka, KS  United States  66603-3754
• Performing Organizations:

  University of Kansas Center for Research, Incorporated

  2291 Irving Hill Drive, Campus West
  Lawrence, KS  United States  66045
• Principal Investigators:

  Kondyli, Alexandra

• Start Date: 20240801
• Expected Completion Date: 20260630
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Center lines; Driving behavior; Driving simulators; Rumble strips; Rural highways; Two lane highways
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01976348
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Kansas Department of Transportation
• Contract Numbers: RE-0906-01, C2245
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jan 15 2026 12:52PM