Page 40 - TT mag Sept 2025 Digital Edition

ROAD SAFETY

Audio-tactile road markings

Transformative innovation

Dr. Nitin Nakhat, Managing Director, Pragati Pavetech Pvt. Ltd, is recognized as an authority in
pavement-marking innovation with more than two decades of global expertise. He has executed
projects across Asia, the Middle East and Africa and contributed to international knowledge
exchange, conference papers and technical collaborations. He shares this opinion piece with
TrafficInfratech.

ith nations like
India accelerating
the expansion
of expressways,
Warterial highways
and mountainous corridors,
the paradigm of road safety is
entering a more complex era.
Conventional painted lines offer
visual reference, yet on high-speed
or topographically challenging
routes, visual dependence
alone proves insufficient. Here,
audio-tactile road markings
(ATRM)—popularly termed rumble
strips or raised-profile markings—
emerge as a next-generation
safety intervention, engaging
drivers through both sound and
tactile sensation.
Expressways symbolize
efficiency, but they also incubate
vulnerabilities: driver drowsiness,
inattentiveness, and unintended
lane drift. International research
identifies these as critical
precursors to high-speed crashes.
ATRM counteracts these
risks by delivering dual sensory
cues—audible vibration and
steering-wheel feedback—triggered
the moment a vehicle departs
from its lane. Unlike signboards or
illumination, ATRM is independent
of visibility, performing reliably
during nighttime journeys or
adverse climatic conditions.
In India’s rapidly urbanizing
expressway ecosystem, this

40 SEPTEMBER 2025 • TrafficInfraTech • www.trafficinfratech.com