Thread: Ban wire barriers !!!!!

On my recent trip through Victoria and SA my son and i did notice mostly on "black spot roads" an extension to the ground of the regular crash barrier on corners. This extension did seem to be of a fairly light construction but you still would not want to hit it at any speed.
It is probably an improvement on several taught 16mm wires.
Im glad these things look scary it frightens my son enough to keep him off a bike.
I think the Red and Black posts with crosses along the sides of the road in SA are a nice touch.

Someone should talk to Clover Moore, Lord mayor of Sydney about all of this. You should point out the reduced environmental impact that bikes do over other forms of 4 wheeled transport.

She'll probably start installing motorcycle ways and close even more roads to parking and driving of cars and trucks.

I live at the bottom of the Gillies Highway in North Queensland.....200 something corners in 19km. Read, "kids in back with tummy ache" It has never had any barriers and accumulates quite a few fatalities, usually a few bikes a yr. Many more go off, but in some way survive....I know many stories from friends etc.

They are now upgrading and putting armco on all the drop off side corners. If they did the standard armco with posts with a gap under the railing it would definitely help with cars and help kill heaps of bikies. To counter this they are putting a second rail right round the bottom at ground level it is of lighter construction and flatter than the top armco rail but is still steel. Looks like if you hit it hard enough it would give between posts. I got out and had a bit more of a look. It is not an ideal solution but i genuinely think the whoever was responsible for this decision has made a real effort to think of the bike riders that ride this road. It seems the best solution ive seen of Aust roads so far....Of course there will be some who die hitting the barrier that would have survived the fall off the edge, just depends where and when and which trees you hit on the way down. At least its easier to find the bodies this way

Now all they have to do is stop the mill trucks using it and dropping mill mud on the corners. Read, "grease"

You're all better off than the rider in the tour de france who got punted into the barbed wire fence by a media car and got 30 stitches in his calf alone and finished the stage before getting it fixed.

Wire barriers are simply a way to reduce the impacts of car accidents which are the main form of accidents on the road. As a motorcyclist I believe that these "cheese cutters" are another example of the short sightedness of the government and road incident managers. As 4wd owners we should also be outraged at wire barriers as they have the potential to flip vehicles with high centres of gravity, rather than slowing them down. Think about that next time you see one!

In my mind they are a poor solution to the problem. Its similar to the problems of 'a' pillars in cars. Since new requirements for A pillar width (increase in size) have increased due to rollover requirements, which are relitively rare, incidents of pedestrians being hit by cars has gone up 300% due to reduced visibility of drivers. T bones and cyclist/motorcyclist accidents where cars are at fault have also increased. So by solving a relitively rare sitution of vehicle rollover, they have created a more serious situation. If anyone wants to argue this position take it up with mra and twowheels which gave me the data!

Ban wire rope barriers. They impinge on the safety of minority road user groups such as 4wds and motorcyclists!

Having recently done design work on a QLD highway, we prescribed large amounts of wire rope barrier. There are several reasons:

Cheaper to install (over large lengths)
Cheaper to repair
Easier to repair
You can't glance off it into other traffic
You can't drive through it to oncoming lanes or fall down drop offs
Also more aesthetically pleasing

There are limits to how tight a curve the barrier can go around while still being cost effective.

I reckon if you're gonna ride a bike (which I want to) it should be taken into account as a hazard, just like cars, road slipperyness, roadside objects, etc...

I have ridden motorcycles on and off-road for years.
I don't have an issue with the wire rope barrier concept, but I do with where I see them being used in many instances.

First rule: Unlike cars, motorcycles crash only in a roughly straight line, they do not spin out and go in another direction.
So: Do not put put wire rope barriers around the outside of bends where a bike and rider (if crashing) cannot fail to impact at 45-70degrees to the barrier (common sense tells me this slices the rider up a bit).

In Victoria the roads that have been funded specifically for motorcycle safety use the armco with a lower section that prevents a rider sliding underneath. But in many other places the lower cost has seen wire rope barriers installed in less than appropriate situations.

I have no issue with wire rope barriers being used to prevent large heavy vehicles (meaning cars and trucks) from crossing the centre of a divided road (freeway/highway) along the straight sections. These barriers are very effective for that purpose.

But they are not effective with trucks, vans and 4 wds!