From the article and news report:

“I didn’t like it,” she said.  “It’s rough; it’s loud; it can be real irritating.”

This from a driver, about her experience driving over RoadQuake 2 Temporary Portable Rumble Strips. 

The driver meant her comments as complaint; to us, it’s high compliment.   The product did its job.  RoadQuake 2 alerted her to an upcoming construction work zone.

We certainly do not intend to irritate the American driver.  Heaven knows they are irritated enough already.  But compare a little irritation to this fact, from the same news report: 

“Texas has more accidents in work zones than any other state — 17,000 last year, which killed 134 people.  Most of the fatalities are drivers, not highway workers.”

We vote for loud and irritating over injured or dead.  How about you?

That’s an astounding number.  

And frightening.  Here’s why….from the article:

“But all that construction means that about 1,500 workers will be on the roads each day, and concerns are rising about their safety.”

From the article:

“The problem is big. The Cohen Children’s Medical Center, which is in New Hyde Park, NY, has released data indicating that more than 3,000 teens die annually from distracted driving. That, the story said, compares to 2,700 who die from drinking and driving. The story said that distracted drivers are 23 times more likely to crash than those with both eyes on the road.”

…to publicize their newest safety feature, the end-of-queue warning system. Our RoadQuake 2 Temporary Portable Rumble Strip is a crucial part of that system; we were delighted to be included in the media event. 

Thanks, TxDOT!

TxDOT Facebook Page, end-of-queue warning system

“High-tech work zone system debuts on I-35″, Waco Tribune, May 3, 2013

“TxDOT Paris debuts portable rumble strips”, eparistexas.com, May 3, 2013

“TxDOT unveils high-tech warning system on I-35 Work Zone”, Hill Country News, May 2, 2013

In an effort to increase road safety, especially in construction zones, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) announced it will mandate the use of temporary portable rumble strips, like RoadQuake 2 temporary portable rumble strips, in highway work zones beginning in May. 

In 2012, there were 90,378 crashes related to distracted driving in Texas, causing 18,468 serious injuries and 453 deaths, according to a recent TxDOT report.

By mandating the use of temporary portable rumble strips, such as RoadQuake 2 temporary portable rumble strips by Plastic Safety Systems, Inc., TxDOT is hoping to cut down on those alarming figures.

RoadQuake 2 strips alert potentially distracted drivers to changing road conditions. The strips cover an entire lane of traffic and can be set up in minutes. At 13 inches wide and less than an inch thick, the strips generate the same level of sound and vibration as those that are milled into the road.

A variety of media outlets recently covered TxDOT’s decision to protect workers and drivers by mandating the use of the temporary portable rumble strips:  

 TXDOT uses new tool to catch motorists’ attention (KTBS-TV, April 2, 2013)

 TxDOT to install ‘rumble strips’ to increase safety in roadwork zones (The Eagle of Bryan, Texas, March 29, 2013)

 Rumble Strips Coming to Work Zones in Bryan (KBTX-TV, March 28, 2013)

 New TxDOT Safety Measures (The Hillsboro Reporter)

 Texas Rumble Strips (SafeMotorist.com)

 Lower speeds, rumble strips coming to I-35 work zones (The Baylor Lariat, Feb. 22, 2013)                                        

 Interested in purchasing RoadQuake 2 temporary portable rumble strips for a highway construction project? Contact your regional Plastic Safety Systems sales representative.

 From the article: 

“During each drive, researchers measured how long it took drivers to navigate the course and respond to a light that came on randomly. They found that response times were “significantly delayed” when texting, regardless of the method used.”

The National Safety Council produced the graphic on the immediate left.  (It is part of the article we’ve linked, too.)  In it, The NHS recounts and then discredits 4 myths of  the use of cell phones while driving.

From the editorial:

“The Ohio Department of Transportation is alarmed by the increase in deaths in highway construction zones around the state. There were eight such deaths — both drivers and construction workers — in 2009 but twice that number in 2011.

This year, as a pilot project, ODOT will try to reduce the risks by using variable speed limit signs in construction zones for 10 projects spanning 11 counties (Stark isn’t one of them) while workers are present.”

From the article:

“While PennDOT officials work to make roadways safer, they are battling an “epidemic” of distracted driving.  That’s how Rick Mason, District 3 publicrelations officer, described the problem, much of it focused on texting while driving.”

We have a product that could really help, at least in work zones. 

We’ve tried for a couple years to have PennDOT approve our newest work zone traffic safety countermeasure, our RoadQuake 2 Temporary Portable Rumble Strip.  Designed to reduce accidents and save lives, our temporary portable rumble strip alerts drivers to changing road conditions.  Like a work zone.

They have yet to approve, much less mandate the use of RoadQuake 2 on their highways.  We suspect they haven’t approved RoadQuake 2 yet because we are the only company making a temporary portable rumble strip, and they probably don’t want to approve or specify a sole-source product. 

Well, if our suspicions are correct, we say:  tell that to the families of those drivers, passengers and workers who were killed in work zone accidents in Pennsylvania.   

‘

From the article:

“According to the panel members, although it will take some time to perfect, firms have fundamentally figured out the technical solutions needed for self-driving cars, while the legal and political obstacles also seem surmountable.”

We have 2 responses:

1.)  We welcome technology that saves lives. 

Until such time as it arrives, states should mandate RoadQuake 2 Rumble Strips in work zones.  Most work zone accidents kill drivers, not workers. Most are due to distracted or careless driving.  We must reduce accidents and save lives now.

2.)  In 2025, God willing, we’re going back in time. We’re going to buy a 1963 See-the-USA-in-a-Chevrolet Impala Rally Super Sport, a ragtop, with silver exterior and red pinstripes, red interior, purring 327, dual exhaust, AM radio, and a stick on the column. 

Then we’re hitting the road to see if there’s any great wide open left.  Wherever I go, you’ll know me.  I’ll be the one driving my own car.