On the highways of America, a lot of things can damage your car. There are potholes, road debris, and other cars, of course. Any one of them can do damage to varying degrees. What about rumble strips, though? Are rumble strips bad for tires and your car? We’ll get into that here.

What Are Rumble Strips?

Imagine for a second that you’re driving your car on a nice summer day, heading to the beach. You get a phone call from your friend who’s meeting you there. They want to know if you remembered to bring the cooler. In the split second you take your eyes off the road to hit the talk button on the steering wheel, your car drifts. As you near the shoulder, a rumbling sound comes from the passenger-side tires, and the car begins to vibrate. That is the rumble strips. They were put there for exactly that reason—to warn distracted drivers that they’re heading off the road. When the road is being paved, the crew puts grooves in the road that will create an audible sound and physical vibration when a car drives over them.

Will They Damage the Tires?

Like speed bumps, rumble strips are traffic control devices. However, speed bumps are designed to slow you down, almost to a stop. If you hit a speed bump at the same speed you hit rumble strips, you’ll have damage. Rumble strips are there to alert you, not slow you down. So, no, rumble strips aren’t bad for tires. The only way they would damage the tires is if you drove on them at high speeds for thousands of miles. It would shorten the life of the tire, not to mention vibrate everything in the car to the point you shake every nut and bolt loose. For expert service and repair for damaged tires, come to RNR Tire Express tire shops in Chattanooga, TN.