Two recent fatal crashes in Australia prove that wire rope barriers (WRBs) are not only a danger to motorcyclists, but also other motorists, says a long-time campaigner against the structures.
Damien Codognotto says a fatal motorcycle crash in Perth during last weekend’s Christmas Toy Run and an SUV double fatal southwest of Brisbane last month could have been affected by WRBs.
He says the female rider died after hitting a WRB that appeared to fence off a run-off area.
“In my opinion, road authorities know how deadly WRB is and they know run-off areas save lives,” Damien says.
In the 4WD crash, the car was slung across the road on a causeway and into another wire rope barrier which failed to stop the car from plunging into Wyaralong Dam, drowning two children.
“If the Wyaralong Dam causeway had had properly anchored smooth concrete barriers instead of wire rope barriers, the children may have survived,” Damien says.
The auditor’s report found there was no evidence to support the claimed safety benefits for motorcyclists and scooter riders.
Damien says that if road authorities ad relevant ministers are not aware of the safety shortcomings of WRBs, “they should not be in their taxpayer-funded jobs”.
“Again, in my opinion, the CEO of the road authority and the Minister responsible for the road authority are guilty of manslaughter when someone dies on a WRB,” he says.
De also points out that police rarely identify barrier types in crash reports “so there is no way of knowing the real wire rope barrier toll”.
Committee member and Liberal MP for Western Victoria, Beverley McArthur, invited Motorcycle Safety Consultant John Nelson to make a submission on the perceived dangers of wire rope barriers, saying the remit of the committee is “very wide”.
She says a public submission “doesn’t need to be long, or detailed, or deal with all potential causes”.
Many submissions are “less than a page long, and detail a specific idea or experience”, she says.
“I encourage all Australian riders to make a submission no matter how small,” he says.
“Every submission will be read and considered. Be vocal and to the point. Silence and apathy does not achieve change.”
Inquiry remit
Beverly told John in an email that the inquiry will consider all areas of road safety, including existing ‘solutions’.
“There is an important opportunity to investigate the whole issue of wire rope barriers thoroughly,” she says.
“It would be helpful, however, if you could encourage anyone who feels strongly to write in and briefly explain their opposition.
“The more submissions we get to that effect, the better the chance we will have of making it a high profile part of the inquiry.
“I’d be grateful if you could pass this on to anyone who you know feels strongly about this.
“Having looked through the submissions to date, I only saw one which raised wire rope barriers, so I thought I would pass this on in the hope of stirring up some interest.”
John’s call for submissions on wire rope barriers follows his recent concerns about new wire rope barriers that will soon replace the current WRBs around Australia.
The BRIFEN MASH compliant cable barriers will supersede current NCHRP-350 systems that will be phased out from 30 September 2020 in NSW with other states set to follow.
Supplier Safe Direction say the Brifen system has been crash tested.
However, John says the new barrier type is primarily designed for cars and SUVs.
“Crash testing for motorcycles would not have been done, simply because the outcomes are already known,” says John who has also been a rider trainer and crash analyst.
John Nelson
“I was shocked to see the new WRB design and wonder how Brifen can create a barrier system that is even worse for motorcyclists impacting the barrier directly.
“The only scenario that is being touted by the road safety community is the out-of-control oncoming vehicle, and a rider is going past the site.
“Each time I challenge the pro-WRB community to show the research and evidence that WRB saves motorcyclists, they can’t, won’t and disappear.”
New design
New Safe Direction wire rope barriers
The new design is higher and the cable is spread over a wider area with less space at the bottom.
John says the original design meant riders were prone to going over the top and being injured by the cable and posts.
“The new design would keep a rider from going over the top and extrude a body through the cable and posts,” he says.
Many riders view wire rope barriers as “people slicers”.
“That’s because we have limited tank range so we stop more frequently, we generally monitor our fatigue better and we have to be alert to ride,” he says.
“The issue is with placing WRBs on curves.”
Wire rope barriers in Tassie on a gradual bend
Transport departments throughout Australia adhere to the standards published in the Austroads Guide to Road Design which do not permit wire rope barriers on curves of less than 200 metre radius.
Higher and “more dangerous” wire rope barriers (pictured) will soon replace the current WRBs around Australia.
The BRIFEN MASH compliant cable barriers will supersede current NCHRP-350 systems that will be phased out from 30 September 2020 in NSW with other states set to follow.
Shorter WRBs to be phased out
Supplier Safe Direction say the Brifen system has been crash tested.
“Crash testing for motorcycles would not have been done, simply because the outcomes are already known,” says John who has also been a rider trainer and crash analyst.
“I was shocked to see the new WRB design and wonder how Brifen can create a barrier system that is even worse for motorcyclists impacting the barrier directly.
“The only scenario that is being touted by the road safety community is the out-of-control oncoming vehicle, and a rider is going past the site.
“Each time I challenge the pro-WRB community to show the research and evidence that WRB saves motorcyclists, they can’t, won’t and disappear.”
New design
New Safe Direction wire rope barriers
The new design is higher and the cable is spread over a wider area with less space at the bottom.
John says the original design meant riders were prone to going over the top and being injured by the cable and posts.
“The new design would keep a rider from going over the top and extrude a body through the cable and posts,” he says.
Many riders view wire rope barriers as “people slicers”.
“That’s because we have limited tank range so we stop more frequently, we generally monitor our fatigue better and we have to be alert to ride,” he says.
“The issue is with placing WRBs on curves.”
Wire rope barriers in Tassie on a gradual bend
Transport departments throughout Australia adhere to the standards published in the Austroads Guide to Road Design which do not permit wire rope barriers on curves of less than 200 metre radius.
The road safety expert who advocates wire rope barriers, lower speed limits and mandatory hi-vis vests for riders, and alcohol interlocks and electronic rider aids on bikes has been honoured with a special award.
UNSW Sydney Professor Raphael Grzebieta has been honoured with the 2019 Kenneth A Stonex award in recognition of his lifetime contribution to reducing run-off-road injuries and transport deaths worldwide.
“In other words, any changes to current designs of road barriers will have almost no effect on reducing rider fatalities and serious injuries,” he says.
Prof honoured
The annual Stonex award was presented by the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Transportation Research Board’s (TRB’s) Roadside Safety Design Committee AFB20.
It honoured the Prof for “identifying the leading causes of roadside fatalities and injuries and developing mitigation techniques using full-scale crash testing and computer simulation”.
WRB supporter
The Professor says he has “long advocated for installing nation-wide wire-rope barriers”.
“When wire-rope barriers are installed with rumble strips on rural roads, there is an 80 to 90% reduction in fatalities and serious injuries,” he says. Sweden halved their fatalities when they installed these barrier systems in 2000.
“Victoria has now installed 1200km of wire-rope barriers on rural roads to reduce their rising fatality count in 2016. They just recorded their lowest ever road fatality count (in 2018).
“Other states and in particular NSW are still lagging behind terribly. They are simply not investing the same scale of money to have a real effect on deaths and serious injuries.”
Victoria’s road toll in 2018 was 214, compared with 259 in 2017 and 290 in 2016 when they started installing wire-rope barriers, he says.
The Prof says the barriers have been controversial with motorcyclists because of misinformation.
They have also supported a petition by widow Jan White, whose husband, Phil, aged 60, died when his bike unavoidably hit a dead kangaroo on a 110km/h slightly sweeping bend of the Calder Highway in Victoria on November 5, 2017.
Phil hit four support poles on the WRBs next to the road.
Prof Grzebieta helped launch a $1 million project examining motorcycle impacts into roadside barriers and how motorcyclists could be better protected in collisions, particularly with W-beam barriers.
“We disproved all of the myths promulgated by motorcyclists, providing strong support for continued installation of these lifesaving barrier systems,” he says.
“Sweden saw a 40 to 60% reduction in motorcycle fatalities.”
However, WRBs are banned in Belgium and Norway, not supported by the Netherlands government and have never been used in Germany or other European countries, except Poland, Iceland, Romania, Sweden and the UK to a lesser extent.
Speed freak
Professor Grzebieta also says the award recognises his research into the reduction of speed limits on highways, suburban and high pedestrian active streets.
“The speed limits throughout Australia, in particular NSW, WA and NT, are much too high,” he says.
“In NSW, the limit on parts of the Newell highway are 110km/h where there are no barriers installed. The speed should be reduced to the survivable limit of 80km/h unless median and roadside barriers have been installed.
“Also the speed limit in residential streets, the CBD and high pedestrian active areas should be 40km/h, preferably 30km/h, in line with best practise European countries that have half the Australian fatality rates,” he says.
“The Australian default speed limit for suburban roads is currently set at 50km/h.”
In a paper he co-wrote with his UNSW Sciences colleague Professor Jake Olivier, presented two weeks ago at the TRB’s annual meeting where Professor Grzebieta received his award, Professor Grzebieta said the reduced speed limits he proposed were commonly used by countries such as Sweden, Netherlands and the UK, which had the world’s lowest road fatality rates.