Rumble strips to prevent wrong way driving

Evonik has developed a simple but effective concept to reduce the risk of wrong-way drivers. The company’s cold plastic, one-sided rumble strips have been developed following a string of incidents in Germany in which drivers have travelled in the wrong direction on stretches of high-speed autobahn. The marking system has undergone successful initial tests and the concept has been received well by German police, looking for a system to deal with the problem. There are around 75-80 crashes/ year in Germany
August 19, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
4009 Evonik has developed a simple but effective concept to reduce the risk of wrong-way drivers.

The company’s cold plastic, one-sided rumble strips have been developed following a string of incidents in Germany in which drivers have travelled in the wrong direction on stretches of high-speed autobahn. The marking system has undergone successful initial tests and the concept has been received well by German police, looking for a system to deal with the problem. There are around 75-80 crashes/ year in Germany alone resulting from drivers travelling in the wrong direction on the autobahn network.

The one-sided rumble strips are installed on the road surface within a 100cm wide by 2cm deep recessed groove across the lane. The specially shaped cold plastic coating features an uneven, rough bulge that gives potential wrong-way drivers both an audible and physical warning, alerting them of the hazard.

But drivers who are travelling in the correct direction will hardly notice the rumble strips and perceive them as no more than a slight bump in the road. Final trials are being carried out and the firm hopes to have the system ready for market shortly.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Curtains for speeders at Curtin University thanks to Actibump
    June 10, 2019
    Curtin University in Perth, Australia, is rolling out more Actibumps for slowing traffic after what is says has been a successful trial of four systems. “We expected the same effect as in Sweden,” said David Eskilsson, general manager at Edeva, the Actibump manufacturer based in Linkoping. “But the decrease in the percentage of speeding drivers from over 70% of all drivers in January to below 25% in October last year on the most difficult site has been better than even we expected.” In January 2018 Curtin
    Read More
  • Safety barrier protection for motorcyclists
    March 9, 2012
    Moves are being made to develop barrier protection for motorcyclists. Many public highway authorities take little note of motorcycle riders at present, considering them a small minority and assuming that any additional safety measures will be costly and provide little gain in saving lives. In spite of this narrow minded attitude, some manufacturers have recognised that niche opportunities exist to improve safety levels for powered two wheeler users through developing innovative new products. Italian barrier
    Read More
  • Emergent markets key for formwork sector growth
    May 21, 2014
    Central and south-east Europe are hotbeds for new highway infrastructure projects utilising cutting-edge formwork solutions, while a number of leading formwork manufacturers are also looking at emergent markets for growth. Guy Woodford reports Travelling between Hungary’s capital Budapest and Southern Dalmatia now takes less time thanks to the Pan-European Corridor Vc – European route 73. Numerous tunnels and bridges are erected along the 397km stretch of the European route 73 through Bosnia owing to the
    Read More
  • ERF invites Polish Road Congress’ perspective on Road Markings
    May 14, 2014
    On 5 March 2014, the Polish Road Congress organised a consultation seminar on road markings standards across the EU The conference followed the publication of the latest proposal by the ERF for an EU-wide intervention and maintenance policy for road markings, commonly known as 150x150. The proposed policy illustrates the ERF’s view that road markings should have a minimum width of 150mm for all roads, and their performance should not be allowed to drop below 150mcd/lux/m² (R3) in dry weather conditions a
    Read More

Highlighted Content