Lower the speed limit if you are serious about increasing safety.
Almost everyone driving up there speeds.
Maybe rumble strips across the entire highway,
about every ten yards.
jimmy - 12 years ago
At the speed drivers are hitting those rumble strips, its almost too late. There are certainly more effective (and safe for ALL users of the road) methodologies to calm traffic and keep cars driving in the correct lanes. Let's use some current solutions for this current problem.
KEM AKOL - 12 years ago
Rumble strips are a bad idea...if we are worried about drivers becoming drowsy and veering off the road what would be wrong with something to keep them awake? I suggest rolls of bots dots (or rumble strips) running laterally across the car travel lane every 150 to 200 yards...just like they use to slow you down on some streets. That would not infringe on the cyclists, would keep the drivers awake...
Shoulder rumble strips only endanger cyclists and Caltrans has a legal responsibility to keep roads safe for ALL users. Their own stats show that there have been 18 cycling accidents on Highway 1 to every 1 car accident. You have to wonder why then they aren't providing any measures to improve cycling safety?! The myth that rumble strips might help protect cyclists is just an assumptive argument in trying to force us to accept them. There are zero stats that support this and if you think about how much ground a vehicle traveling at 50mph covers compared to a slow-moving cyclist, it's highly questionable if there would be time to even swerve to miss a cyclist. Never mind that struck-from-behinds are statistically the most rare of bicycle accidents. Shoulder rumble strips are a terrible idea except on cars-only highways. If Caltrans really cared about safety, instead of forcing bad projects on us, they would lower the speed limit out there, maintain the road the way it should be and get the CHP out there preventing distracted and drunk driving. It's such a no-brainer it's depressing they refuse to do it and instead insist of using 1960's "technology" to supposedly solve a 2012 problem. You would also hope Caltrans engineers would do their due diligence and study the problem and come up with real answers before jumping on the rumble-strip bandwagon but they show no signs of wanting to do that, which is perhaps even more depressing - especially since they're so willing to literally throw cyclists under the "bus" in the process. I predict many lawsuits in their future if these shoulder strips go in.
Marissa - 12 years ago
As I cyclist on this stretch of road, I also worry about the drivers wandering out of their lane (hitting cyclists, cars, people) as they text, change the radio, or do something else that takes their focus from the road. I know that when I drive, I don't count on rumble strips to keep me in the lane, but I also know that the world if full of motorists who don't drive like I do.
Rumble strips may be an annoyance for cyclists, but having them won't kill us. Meanwhile, installing them may actually save some lives. In my book, saving people trumps be annoyed.
At The Mtng - 12 years ago
The center rumble strips will be under the center line. The side ones will only be where there is a shoulder 5' or greater. These will be 6" of which 4" are under the white fog line. This is the beginning of the process. Caltrans is mandated to fix this area due to the number of accidents, run off the road, and fatalities. We need to all work together on this. I'm an advid cyclist and driver.
BC - 12 years ago
If they really want to make it safer,
they should drop the speed limit down to 40 mph,
and enforce it.
Almost all major accidents up there have been due
to cars and motorcycles speeding.
And, forget the rumble strips.
chris skulley - 12 years ago
Rumble strips will ruin a beautiful stretch of HWY 1 for cyclists. I don't count on rumble strips to keep me in a lane when I drive a car, I do that on my own as a responsible driver. As a cyclist who frequents HWY 1 because of the beautiful view and because most of the road has berms of decent width for safer cycling.
Lower the speed limit if you are serious about increasing safety.
Almost everyone driving up there speeds.
Maybe rumble strips across the entire highway,
about every ten yards.
At the speed drivers are hitting those rumble strips, its almost too late. There are certainly more effective (and safe for ALL users of the road) methodologies to calm traffic and keep cars driving in the correct lanes. Let's use some current solutions for this current problem.
Rumble strips are a bad idea...if we are worried about drivers becoming drowsy and veering off the road what would be wrong with something to keep them awake? I suggest rolls of bots dots (or rumble strips) running laterally across the car travel lane every 150 to 200 yards...just like they use to slow you down on some streets. That would not infringe on the cyclists, would keep the drivers awake...
Shoulder rumble strips only endanger cyclists and Caltrans has a legal responsibility to keep roads safe for ALL users. Their own stats show that there have been 18 cycling accidents on Highway 1 to every 1 car accident. You have to wonder why then they aren't providing any measures to improve cycling safety?! The myth that rumble strips might help protect cyclists is just an assumptive argument in trying to force us to accept them. There are zero stats that support this and if you think about how much ground a vehicle traveling at 50mph covers compared to a slow-moving cyclist, it's highly questionable if there would be time to even swerve to miss a cyclist. Never mind that struck-from-behinds are statistically the most rare of bicycle accidents. Shoulder rumble strips are a terrible idea except on cars-only highways. If Caltrans really cared about safety, instead of forcing bad projects on us, they would lower the speed limit out there, maintain the road the way it should be and get the CHP out there preventing distracted and drunk driving. It's such a no-brainer it's depressing they refuse to do it and instead insist of using 1960's "technology" to supposedly solve a 2012 problem. You would also hope Caltrans engineers would do their due diligence and study the problem and come up with real answers before jumping on the rumble-strip bandwagon but they show no signs of wanting to do that, which is perhaps even more depressing - especially since they're so willing to literally throw cyclists under the "bus" in the process. I predict many lawsuits in their future if these shoulder strips go in.
As I cyclist on this stretch of road, I also worry about the drivers wandering out of their lane (hitting cyclists, cars, people) as they text, change the radio, or do something else that takes their focus from the road. I know that when I drive, I don't count on rumble strips to keep me in the lane, but I also know that the world if full of motorists who don't drive like I do.
Rumble strips may be an annoyance for cyclists, but having them won't kill us. Meanwhile, installing them may actually save some lives. In my book, saving people trumps be annoyed.
The center rumble strips will be under the center line. The side ones will only be where there is a shoulder 5' or greater. These will be 6" of which 4" are under the white fog line. This is the beginning of the process. Caltrans is mandated to fix this area due to the number of accidents, run off the road, and fatalities. We need to all work together on this. I'm an advid cyclist and driver.
If they really want to make it safer,
they should drop the speed limit down to 40 mph,
and enforce it.
Almost all major accidents up there have been due
to cars and motorcycles speeding.
And, forget the rumble strips.
Rumble strips will ruin a beautiful stretch of HWY 1 for cyclists. I don't count on rumble strips to keep me in a lane when I drive a car, I do that on my own as a responsible driver. As a cyclist who frequents HWY 1 because of the beautiful view and because most of the road has berms of decent width for safer cycling.