Nice to see the classic KB stupidity is alive and well.
There is NO issue with having safety barriers between lanes.
There IS issues with having the most dangerous and least effective option available that is usually installed incorrectly as the no1 choice though....
Drew for Prime Minister!
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www.prospeedmc.com for parts ex U.S.A ( He's a Kiwi! )
at the end of the day it's the sudden stop which kills you, not the barrier itself, and we can sit and argue under what circustances, what angles, what speeds, what road conditions, what model bikes with what clearance will allow you to survive an accident with either a concrete wall or a wire rope barrier all day, but i'm not going to because I have better things to do than compare 50 million variables
F=ma that is all that counts in an accident.
Can I scream?
Wrong, the WRB's will slice you up & you will die from blood loss.
WRB's are a hazard, they have a deflection on them that allows a car to go up to 6 metres into the oncoming lane.
WRB's do not stop heavy vechiles such as trucks, this was proven when a Smith & davies truck went through a WRB on the southern motorway & took out a couple of cars then came to rest in some trees
That there has been only one death doesn't alter the fact that there are better alternatives than WRB's.
I see the fatalists are still alive and well....
One death (in NZ) may not show a pattern, but it doesn't take more than a few brain cells to work out that hitting an unbreakable wire, that directs a body into a series of slightly blunt knives isn't going to have a good outcome.
Yes, big hurty things coming the other way might be stopped from plowing into a biker - we know that has happened too. Smooth concrete will achieve the same thing, and only one strike is needed to make the concrete the cheaper option. Not to mention being 'safer' for us .
Bikers don't nod off and/or tend to drift sideways on straight roads. But corners are where things can go bad. For any number of reasons, many of which are nothing to do with rider error. Unless a rider can be faulted for riding into a diesel slick, say. In which case, Armco posts have exactly the same outcome as WRB, for us. That has happened plenty of times, with fatal consequences. At least with Armco there is a chance if one hits it above the exposed posts.
So - the best argument put forward by the fatalists is - you're safe from the opposing traffic - usually - and don't hit a WRB yourself.
That reasoning would justify the safety device that is a steel spike in the centre of a car's steering wheel.
Do you realise how many holes there could be if people would just take the time to take the dirt out of them?
I have seen this reason from a British car safety engineer/researcher, but it was link to the perception of danger. Argument was that cars are so comfortable and isolating that the drivers don't realise the danger they are in. I don't think this is an issue for riders, we might 'miss' seeing the oil spill as mistake happen but we are looking and aware.
WRB are a danger as the cut you up unnecessarily, they have also been shown to flip cars when safer barriers wouldn't have.
One I particularly dislike is on SH3 to Wanganui is a wide grass run off leading to a farm fence, half way between the road and fences is a WRB, why? Why reduce the run off with an obstruction? What a waste of money.
"Bikers don't nod off and/or tend to drift sideways on straight roads" Quote from above post,
Oh yes they do. Just ask me!!!
" Rule books are for the Guidance of the Wise, and the Obedience of Fools"
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