Motorcycle crash barriers: risks and solutions

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Initially designed to avoid off the road and against collisions with four-wheeled vehicles, the guardrail, paradoxically, can be dangerous for motorcyclists.

Motorcycle crash barriers: risks and solutions

What is a crash barrier ?

Also called the safety rail, the slide is this barrier that is located along the traffic lane.. It aims to limit the severity of road accidents.

It comes in different forms. In concrete, steel, or wood, they vary according to the so-called “light” traffic, as on country country roads, or straight lines; or "heavy" traffic (motorways and national).

They are made of concrete, especially in the middle of the four-lanes as a central median, on bridges, interchanges or highways..

Deformable, they can also be metallic – as on motor circuits and along certain roads – or in wood, especially near a ravine, a crossing or a dangerous turn.

Safety barrier: what are the risks for bikers ?

Originally, road safety barriers were designed for four-wheel vehicles. But these road installations are dangerous for two-wheeler users.

Despite the wearing of compulsory motorcycle equipment, the rider exposes himself to sometimes fatal risks in the event of an impact against these barriers.

The spaced posts that support the structure are nicknamed the biker guillotine.

In fact, in the event of a fall following a traffic accident, the rider slides on the ground for several tens of meters depending on his speed, and risk of violently hitting a pole.

Real blades, these posts create physical damage that is sometimes fatal.

The rider can also be intercepted by the slide when sliding down – in this space of approximately 50 cm between the rail and the ground.

The shock can cause serious and irreversible injuries: broken spine, severed limb …

Bikers have been calling for the removal of these rails topped with posts for several decades..

Two-wheeler users, whose FEMA (Federation of European Motorcyclists Associations), are campaigning for the installation of solid concrete slides or walls with double slides.

The proposals made by the bikers

The world of motorcycles is mobilizing to provide solutions. The French Federation of Angry Bikers (FFMC) offers in particular line the steel barriers with low rails or guardrail rails.

The goal is to cancel this very dangerous space between the road and the barrier.

Considering that the specificity of two-wheeler driving is not sufficiently taken into account in the management and development of road infrastructure, the FFMC has made its demands to the European Committee for Standardization.

With a road network mainly designed for cars, the federation warns that the standard on guardrails (EN1317), designed for cars and trucks, ignores the serious dangers they pose to two-wheeled motor vehicles.

In 2015, two-wheeler enthusiasts organized a widely watched happening : the FFMC had positioned used tires around these posts to demonstrate the effectiveness of this simple and inexpensive protection.

While they were successful in raising public awareness, no public policy decisions were subsequently materialized.

The Roller System: the slide of the future ?

It’s a piece of equipment that comes straight from South Korea. Developed by ETI, the Roller-System works like a double roller slide : the space between the barrier and the road is reduced, and the posts are rounded.

Composed of 40-centimeter plastic rotating cylinders, the guardrail, less than one meter high, absorbs the shock, while redirecting the vehicle on the road, instead of suddenly stopping it.

The force absorbed by the slide is no longer concentrated on a single point and prevents cars – light vehicles or trucks – from rolling away.

Promising, innovation has not however never been tested on motorcycles and mopeds. The risk of bikers suffering this dramatic "guillotine effect" following a fall is still foreseeable.

While waiting to learn more about this road equipment, the departments are taking initiatives locally.

So in the fall of 2017, after counting several fatal accidents, the Vendee has equipped screen-motorcycle crash barriers at 19 sites.

These huge metal plates which are installed under the safety barrier allow fill the gap between the ground and the bottom of the slide.

Even if he it is difficult to quantify precisely the number of fatalities on the roads of France because of these barriers, equipping public roads with full barriers would limit accidents and fatalities.

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