From the article:  “This is the type of accident we are trying to reduce,” Transportation project manager Jerry Moore said Monday.  Workers are not currently working with heavy equipment in the roadway but on adjacent property, so there is no reason to lower the speed limit, Moore said.

“My advice to people is, when you are driving through the project, pay attention to the road,” he said.

And from the “Reader Comments”, this comment, which describes that awful feeling when you are the last car stuck in a work zone queue:

From the article:

“Once they get inside that work zone, now we have workers, we have dads, we have brothers, we have fathers. We want those people to be able to go home at night just like everybody else,” DOT traffic engineer Randy Asman said.

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?

From the article:

RoadQuake 2 Temporary Portable Rumble Strips play a prominent role in the system.

Read on!

…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

From the article:

“The plans are being touted as one of the “largest, most aggressive construction seasons to date” with a price tag totaling about $2.3 billion.

ODOT will begin or continue construction of nearly 1,000 projects statewide.”

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:

“…45 percent of Texas highway contractors had motor vehicles crash into their work zones during the past year. This is higher than the national average of 38 percent.”

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.”