# A thread about that thing you've recently noticed and wondered about (rumble strips and other items) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 22, 2026, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-about-that-thing-youve-recently-noticed-and-wondered-about-rumble-strips-and-other-items/1034078 "2026-10-22T21:43:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-about-that-thing-youve-recently-noticed-and-wondered-about-rumble-strips-and-other-items/1034078/21 "2026-10-23T22:31:48Z")
I totally see how all of these would be OK safety measures for cars, and possibly great ones for long-haul truckers. But I wonder how they affect motorcycles? I would think hitting a rumble strip of either sort would be pretty unpleasant. And those long grooves that the yellow reflectors are in - can their tires get stuck?! Surely the “turtles” would be deadly. Any riders here who can fill us in? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-about-that-thing-youve-recently-noticed-and-wondered-about-rumble-strips-and-other-items/1034078/22 "2026-10-23T22:32:48Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > Ah yes, driving by Braille. Until around the 1990s, the Illinois Tollway had series of in-lane rumble strips on the approaches to every toll plaza, to warn inattentive drivers that they would need to stop for the toll booth. We lived in suburban Chicago when I was a little kid, and we’d drive on the tollway in order to go up to Wisconsin, to visit family, every few months. One time, when I was 6 or 7, as we were approaching a toll plaza, and heard the telltale _brrrt brrrt brrrt_, I asked my father, “Why do they put those on the road?” His reply (dad was very quick-witted): “That’s so blind drivers know that they need to stop to pay the toll.” I nodded, satisfied with that answer. It took at least a year for me to think more about that, and start to wonder, “well, then, how do blind drivers know when a curve is coming up?” ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-about-that-thing-youve-recently-noticed-and-wondered-about-rumble-strips-and-other-items/1034078/23 "2026-10-23T23:18:46Z")
My dad spent close to 40 years as a transportation engineer for the state highway department in California (Caltrans), so I learned a lot about different kinds of delineation (striping, Bott’s Dots, reflectors, et al). As a kid, I had a collection of all sorts of new pavement markers. Those blue reflectors that are locators for fire hydrants? They’re not installed on the centerline. They’re actually just off center by a foot or so to indicate which side of the street the hydrant is located. The ‘crud’ on the bottom of markers that are ripped off the pavement isn’t really crud, it’s the asphalt. The epoxy Caltrans uses to stick the markers down is some hellaciously strong stuff, and when the marker gets ripped up, it actually pulls up some of the asphalt. Dad retired before the longitudinal rumble strips were ubiquitous, so I never got a chance to ask him how they were made. Sorry I couldn’t fight ignorance any better. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-about-that-thing-youve-recently-noticed-and-wondered-about-rumble-strips-and-other-items/1034078/24 "2026-10-24T11:37:02Z")
I’ve always wondered who/what determines what type of center line is needed (at various locations) for (generally) a two-lane road. Is there a minimum/maximum curve radius that demands a solid (do not pass) line, or the grade of a hill? I remember “suicide lames” which would have three lanes (on a two-way road) with dashed lines (OK to pass) separating them - allowing cars in both directions to pass, but head-on collisions were common. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-about-that-thing-youve-recently-noticed-and-wondered-about-rumble-strips-and-other-items/1034078.md?page=1)