Hi ! You might be wondering what these rumble strips are and how they are your problem. Rumble strips are those white colored plastic strips on the road which make your vehicle jump while you cross them. They are intended to provide tactile vibration for inattentive drivers in road junctions on highways.

The intended job is fine, the implementation is absurd and unscientific! Let me explain..

The rumble strips are meant to make you aware of your surroundings in high speed highways. They are of no use in tight city traffic, where you are very close to the vehicle in front of you, other than make your spine rumble.

How do these affect your life?

Most desk jobs involve prolonged sitting which leads to bad posture and back pains. Younger people with back pain has unfortunately become a common issue.

1. Rumble strips-especially the thick ones cause vertical movement of your spine bones, compressing your discs. Human body is not designed to take these jerks for a really long time. A lot of young people develop back and neck pains over a period of time when they use roads with these strips. People with pre-existing disc problems have a high risk of prolapse due to sudden jerks. Does the GHMC believe their lives are expendable?

2. Too frequent rumble strips make you decelerate and accelerate your vehicle frequently- burning more fuel and more time on an already jam-packed road with traffic.

3. Our vehicle's suspensions are designed to last a few years of wear and tear. These strips cause more wear and tear, leading to an increased maintenance cost.

4. The strips have a smooth surface, which reduces friction to the tyres. If you apply brakes while your vehicle travels on these strips, your vehicle may skid, leading to an accident. This is especially true for bikes and wet conditions.

5. Two-Wheeler handles get recoil and jerks while traversing the heavier rumble strips, which may cause the commuter to lose control.

6. Not all rumble strips are of uniform size and width. This means, the shock delivered to you varies at different rumble strips for the same speed. This is absurd to say the least.

7. GHMC should display the speed limits of each road and set up warning boards before each rumble strip. They don't!

8. Traffic calming measures need not torture-test our spines or cause injury to the road user. You need not punish people for using a road that they paid a huge road tax for!

9.  More and more rumble strips are being added each day unscientifically, which increase traffic congestion and both air and sound pollution , reducing the quality of life of city dwellers.

10. Most rumble strips are designed for a particular speed to ply on. The slowest and fastest vehicles both get huge jerks. The faster vehicles- yes. But why the slow moving commuter be punished?

11. Frequent braking will generate more brake dust from vehicles releasing metal particles into the atmosphere, worsening air pollution.

Imagine the plight of daily commuters who travel tens of kilometers per day on the roads of Hyderabad. From delivery boys to software professionals, all have to endure the micro-trauma to spine every single day. It is up to our government to instruct GHMC to work on a practical and safe alternative.

Possible Solutions:

1. Traffic education is the best longterm measure to counter accidents. Make schools and colleges your partners in imparting traffic education. The offices could have traffic education as part of their agenda annually. The knowledge imparted will help the employees as well as their children.

2. Companies can be encouraged to provide traffic education as part of their corporate social responsibility.

 

3. We are one of the most surveilled cities in the world. Use the cameras to identify and deal with repeat offenders.

 

4. Pedestrian operated signals should be increased and their use promoted.We are grateful for the ones already in place.

 

The intention behind the rumble strips is good, but implementation is unscientific to say the least. We appreciate the GHMC working on road safety, but rumble strips are not the solution for over-speeding. 

 

We request our honorable minister for municipal administration Sri K.T. Rama Rao garu and transport minister Sri P. Ajay garu to please direct GHMC to enable better changes.