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Rumble Strips South Grade Palomar

Sorry my friends...I have to rant on this....

If anything those will cause loss of traction if a bikes wheel touches those in a turn. We're not talking about a car. A motorcycle is totally different and if anything it will cause more deaths. It will result in more emergency calls. Think about it! Your in a turn and your wheel touches that area and your losing contact patch area....
C'mon!!! you mean to tell me you don't know when you touch the wall of death!

Oh wow! hear that? Oh! that's me crossing the yellow line! Thank goodness someone thought to put those rumble grooves on the center to tell me something I should already know and even cause me to lose traction and end up in on coming traffic as apposed to keeping my line and recovering.

I don't know any fast riders that I consider safe and reasonably sane that haven't made mistakes. This is going to be pretty unforgiving.
How can anyone with any engineering understanding say this is less than than creating loss of traction. By the way, riders have claimed that residents or someone has, at times, put oil on that grade and caused accidents involving motorcycles. You will comply or die. That's what this engineering is.

The insurance companies are going to have a ball with this! All of us will pay for this in our insurance rates. Not thought out well... Or maybe it has been and either way, I'm not surprised...

Be safe and most important...Be Loving!
 
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It sounds like a mixed blessing.

It's dangerous if your wheels hit it.

But then again, what the hell are you doing with your wheels on the double yellow? In a right hand turn, you shouldn't be anywhere near the double yellow once the turn has started. In a left turn, if your wheels are on the double yellow, then the rest of the motorcycle and your entire body are all in the oncoming lane.

It seems like you'd have to be riding like a complete squid before these rumble strips became a factor.

But the nice thing is, these work for cars as well. It may keep cagers from drifting over into the oncoming lane.

Fred
 
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I didn't even notice them last time we went up... I stay away from the double yellow anyway, and if it can help keep cagers/riders stay in their lane it's a good thing.
 
For what ever reason your wheel may hit the yellow rumble groove line, whether your a squid or an experienced rider avoiding a situation or you effed up. They make it more unsafe.
I don't want qualify why something should or shouldn't be hurtful to you and fully recognize that I have to be a responsible rider to myself and others.

The next time you ride a road like South Grade you should feel confident that even though you're a good rider and not a squid, you will maybe have to deal with the consequence of an irresponsible rider/squid who hit that rumble strip.

I'll never forget the day PowellB and I were running up the Grade and that guy came out in front of us. There's not much in the way of skill or experience that can guaranty you'll come out of a situation like that. He stood up so much out of that turn he was going to hit the guard rail on our side! He recovered on the shoulder! Plus or minus a 1/2 second or a few feet and we could have had a bad day or our last.

No thought, reasoning or emotion will change the physics of loosing contact patch. If cars were the only users it would be okay...Maybe it will save a life by notifying someone tuning their radio and across the line!

I'll still ride Pally as much as ever. Love that road rumble strip and all!
 
I see your reasoning Cliff, but it's difficult to bluntly say "it's bad for motorcyclists" when we have no basis for comparison... for me, I am more scared of a car going wide (radio example you used above) and hitting me in my lane going around a corner than me accidentally hitting the double yellow and loosing some traction (which I would loose on the painted line anyway)... In other words I see the rumble strips as an added safety feature, as it may wake a cager up before its too late...

That's the reason they added the rumble strips, because they thought it would actually improve safety for cagers AND motorcyclists. Let's see if the accident/fatality numbers are better next year! :)
 
I noticed them when I was there last week but only because I had just read an article in the paper about the installation.

Most good twisty roads in Cali either have the rumble strip, the double-yellow that is made entirely with the round/raised plastic pods (no paint), the raised plastic reflectors (and paint), or the subgrade reflectors. In all cases, crossing the double-yellow while leaning is a risky proposition.

Playing devils advocate, if you think this road is even more dangerous than before, and it might be, then maybe you should stay off it. [lame answer and easier said than done, I know] Although most of us like to go for a spirited ride on our sportbikes, our roads are really not intended for this.

Are most of the head-on collisions that take place on Polomar the result of fast driving/riding or the result of people falling asleep behind the wheel or driving drunk or something? If the latter, maybe this WILL help.

In any event, it sounds like on a bike you better keep it in your lane while turning or else. It also sounds like some people feel that the chance of someone lowsiding into them is now higher because of the rumble strips. If you can't live with that risk, don't ride the road.

Instead of rumble strips, what should they have done?

In a right hand turn, you shouldn't be anywhere near the double yellow once the turn has started.

GENERALLY, I'm damn near the yellow line on my right hand turns for 50+ percent of the turn....late apexing in an attempt to run a defensive line. But I still agree with the actual point you were making.
 
I agree time will tell us more whether this will be an advantage

I would say the majority of out of lane incidents/accidents are the bikes going out of their lane. You kind of have to visit that road every day of the week which I've done. The amount of riders especially on the weekend is phenomenal.
I think I can safely say the 66 or so turns in 6.8 miles or so doesn't bore people to sleep,hence drifting across the center line. Other distractions may occur. I was up at Mother's Kitchen one afternoon and there was a big group looking for some Honda tuner that went out of his lane and almost caught one of the riders.
Sometimes I stop and talk to Rick Clemson (photographer) and he tells me story after story of how these bikes crash. (Stop and chat with him. He's very cool people)
So the majority of accidents I believe are caused by bike riders. If the rumble strip gives you better traction than the painted center line, it's a good thing. I don't think it is. It will hold debri of all kinds.
I'm in defense of all riders, not just the perfect riders that never have or never will make a mistake.
If there was a choice, I'd rather have seen them leave the Grade as it was other than repaving.


As I said before, "I'll still ride Pally as much as ever. Love that road rumble strip and all!"
 
There have been rumble strips in the double yellows of a few main roads in my area for a year or two now. You hit them in a car you feel them. I've only ever hit them on the bike twice and the road is relativly straight. The first was pulling out of my grand parents drive way which wasn't bad and the other was passing some old lady doing 15mph under the speed limit through a big swooper and it was enough for me to not want to do it again but not take me out. I was going about 50mph that time and I could see any faster become a problem.
 
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