CLARK COUNTY, Ohio (WDTN) — Following a fatal school bus crash on State Route 41 in August, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) has begun installing an additional safety feature to the roadway.
On Monday, Nov. 13, ODOT began the installation of centerline rumble stripes on State Route 41 from North Hampton to Miller Road to accompany the edge line rumble stripes.
This comes after a child was killed in a crash involving a school bus on Aug. 22. A minivan traveling in the opposite direction of the bus reportedly went left of center and into the path of the bus.
Matt Bruning, ODOT press secretary, said a parent of one of the children on the bus approached a township trustee, inquiring about how safety could be improved in that area. The trustee then went to ODOT, leading to an engineering analysis of the road and the eventual installation of the rumble stripes.
“What those rumble stripes do is it will vibrate your car when you hit them to alert you that you’re leaving your lane,” said Bruning.
“They’re not going to prevent a crash, but they’re certainly going to lower the risk of a crash and that’s what we’re trying to do. At the end of the day, the driver still has to pay attention, still has to focus on the road ahead and know where they are on that roadway and this is just another tool to help them.”
Bruning reported that the project will cost $10,000 in total, which he described as “relatively low cost.”
