Why all the rumbling about rumble strips?

Those little bumpy patches in the road, used to alert drivers to an upcoming stop sign or traffic light, are a subject of controversy. The county’s highway engineer wants to phase them out, but a group of residents at Tuesday’s county board meeting wants to keep them, citing safety concerns.

Highway Engineer Sue Miller told the board they needed a consistent policy. Otherwise, having rumble strips in some places and not in others invites litigation if somebody has an accident where there are no strips, she said. Considering the expense of the strips and the fact that they are less useful in the winter, Miller recommended nixing them altogether.

The board, however, voted 3-2 to ignore her recommendation. They will be discussing the issue further, and may move toward more rumble strips. If they choose a consistent policy, it could mean rumble strips everywhere.

Safety is important, but it seems like a device designed to get drivers’ attention should not be needed at every intersection. Drivers are supposed to be paying attention already. If extra safety devices are really necessary, it makes more sense to use more signs or flashing lights, which work year-round and shouldn’t present the maintenance issues rumble strips do.

The best course, however, may be to leave intersections alone. Drivers cannot rely on built-in wake-up calls to keep them focused on driving, especially since what they can expect varies from county to county, anyway. Rumble strips have their place in some situations, and the risk of being sued because you aren’t consistent

seems like a weak excuse to get rid of them. Sometimes you have to do what makes sense without worrying about being sued. Why not keep the strips only in the places where they’re really needed? With funding already not measuring up to the county’s planned expenses, spending money to foolproof every intersection in the county isn’t the best use of taxpayer dollars.