The British Motorcyclists Federation has written to Road Safety Minister Jim Fitzpatrick calling for an end to the installation of wire-rope (‘cheese-cutter’) safety barriers.
The letter was prompted by the recent death of a motorcyclist who was killed after colliding with a wire-rope safety fence on the A41 New Ferry bypass in Merseyside.
Pointing out that although the Highways Agency is well aware of the BMF’s concerns over the wire-rope safety fence (WRSF) type of vehicle restarint and now specifies other types of barrier, the de-trunking of large parts of the Highways Agency network now means that control is passed to local authorities where they often install wire-rope safety fences mainly for aesthetic reasons. If this continues, say the BMF, wire-rope safety fences will be installed on a growing part of our road network, so increasing the risk to motorcyclists.
In writing to the Minister , the BMF say that while local highway authorities maintain that wire-rope safety fences comply with the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB)TD19/06 and conform to EN 1317 (the European standard for barriers), EN 1317 does not currently test for motorcycle impacts. In addition to the hazards presented by the wire ropes themselves, the exposed vertical supporting posts can cause severe injury and even death to a motorcyclist.
Calling for the immediate issue of an Interim Advice Note against the use of wire-rope safety fences and that the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges is updated to reflect this advice, the BMF say this would quickly help establish a national standard for road barriers
Commenting, Chris Hodder, the BMF’s Government Relations Executive said:
“It seems perverse that a safety system has been designed which actually increases the likelihood of a fatality. Not only is the wire rope itself dangero us to motorcyclists, but its numerous upright support posts can also be lethal to riders. In the Netherlands and Norway such barriers have been outlawed following a spate of fatal accidents and moves are being made in many other UN ECE countries to remove them. We want the same to happen here.”