The Iowa Department of Transportation is taking a safety tool that’s been used at stop signs and the side of the road to the center stage.
D-O-T district engineer John Selmer says they’re putting rumble strips on the centerline during the resurfacing of Highway 34 from Creston to Thayer in Union County. Selmer says other states have use the rumble strips along the centerline and the idea is to try and reduce sideswipe and head-on collision accidents.
Selmer says you may’ve seen rumble strips on the side of the interstate, or felt them as you’ve driven onto the side of the road. The strips will be eighteen inches wide by about seven inches long. The rumble strips do exactly what their name implies, they cause your car to rumble and make noise and wake you up if you start to cross the center line.
Selmer says they selected this particular stretch of highway for a reason. Selmer says this stretch of Highway 34 is pretty wide open and can lure drivers into a false sense of security where they aren’t paying attention. Selmer says there have been some fatal accidents on this stretch of road, and they hope to change that. Records show five major accidents with seven fatalities on that stretch of road in the last ten years.
Selmer says the D-O-T wants to hear what drivers think of the rumble strips, and you can leave your opinion on their website at:www.dot.iowa.gov. Selmer says some of the other states that have used the centerline rumble strips saw accidents reduced 25 percent. Selmer says the rumble strips will be installed on Highway 34 by the end of August.