Rumble strip

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The test rumble strips from the SNAP prjoect, just outside the western portal of the Rays Hill Tunnel on the Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike.
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The test rumble strips from the SNAP prjoect, just outside the western portal of the Rays Hill Tunnel on the Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike.
A rumble strip on U.S. Route 89 in Arizona.
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A rumble strip on U.S. Route 89 in Arizona.

Rumble strips are a road safety feature that alerts drivers both by causing a tactile vibration and the namesake audible rumbling. Occasionally they may be set horizontally across the road in groups as a traffic calming method to slow drivers down.


Rumble strips were 'officially' invented by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission in 1987 as a part of the Sonic Nap Alert Program (SNAP) after a survey from the 1980s revealed that the number one contributor to PA Turnpike accidents were DOR accidents, or Drift-Off-Road accidents. They had been used before this time, and were originally named "Charlie Strips" after the inventor's son Charlie drifted off the road one night and was killed[citation needed]. The first section of test roadway is located just east of Breezewood, PA, on a repaved section of the Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike. After their installation, the first five SNAP project roadways showed a 70% reduction in DOR accidents.

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