Fair call for a barrier but cheese grater?

[rwh]

Unfortunately, unless ...

Yes. Too hard. I know

Richard

[Pixie]

And then there was the much publicised (on KB) event a few months ago when a drunk driver crossed the centre-line of the road and hit a pack of motorcyclists and killed two.
A good chance a cheese-cutter would have prevented THAT event being as tragic as it was.

Balance grasshopper, balance....

That's where you are wrong.
Aside from the fact that that section of road will never have any barrier on it,a wire barrier is flexible and any vehicle colliding with it drags it several metres into the opposing lane.
There have been many head ons with a wire rope trapped between the two vehicles.

[NordieBoy]

Aside from the fact that that section of road will never have any barrier on it,a wire barrier is flexible and any vehicle colliding with it drags it several metres into the opposing lane.

And that is why the manufacturer says to have a 3m gap from the edge of the road to the wire.

In Nelson around the bypass it's a 1.5m gap each side of the centre line.

[Krusti]

Problem is that for every one of use who rides a bike as well as those who are sympathetic to our cause there are probably ten others who think that we are a bunch of idiot who deserve what they get!

It did not really sink home until I looked on the TM message board and saw the posts there....

At one stage there poor old crashe was backed into a corner trying to punch her way out!

The ten to one ratio may be a bit over the top but it sure looks that way at times.

[Marmoot]

Problem is that for every one of use who rides a bike as well as those who are sympathetic to our cause there are probably ten others who think that we are a bunch of idiot who deserve what they get!

It did not really sink home until I looked on the TM message board and saw the posts there....

At one stage there poor old crashe was backed into a corner trying to punch her way out!

The ten to one ratio may be a bit over the top but it sure looks that way at times.

It is such a sad world where people can, to their sick delight, use a tragic death to justify their presumptions and construct an argument with the sole purpose of cornering someone.

[scumdog]

That's where you are wrong.
Aside from the fact that that section of road will never have any barrier on it,a wire barrier is flexible and any vehicle colliding with it drags it several metres into the opposing lane.
There have been many head ons with a wire rope trapped between the two vehicles.

OK, I was wrong to quote a specific example BUT it was just to illustrate the ying-yang of wire barrier vs no barrier.

I agree, a concrete barrier would be a lot rider friendly (until it bounces you back into the path of the semi that you have just overtaken) than the wire one - but it is also (in most cases - which counts) better than none.

[RiderInBlack]

Let's face it, If we really wanted to stop head ons on Expressways/freeways/motorways we would have put the two directions farther apart as I have seen in USA. But we don't have the space or money to do so. This does not mean we couldn't try ta make the barriers we do use a lot safer.

The wire barriers could be modified to be safer. The Armco barriers are not much better than the present wires barriers for bikes. They also have dangerous gaps under them (which can trap a biker), and (as anyone who has hit them on Puke can tell ya) very unforgiving if ya hit them. The concrete barriers are unforgiving too, but at least ya have a chance of sliding down those.
If they just put a cover along the wire barriers so that riders don't get caught on the posts, wire barriers would be so much safer for all road users. At least they have some give.
But at the minimum, the present wire barriers need to be made a lot safer.

[bmz2]

Let's face it, If we really wanted to stop head ons on Expressways/freeways/motorways we would have put the two directions farther apart as I have seen in USA. But we don't have the space or money to do so. This does not mean we couldn't try ta make the barriers we do use a lot safer.

The wire barriers could be modified to be safer. The Armco barriers are not much better than the present wires barriers for bikes. They also have dangerous gaps under them (which can trap a biker), and (as anyone who has hit them on Puke can tell ya) very unforgiving if ya hit them. The concrete barriers are unforgiving too, but at least ya have a chance of sliding down those.
If they just put a cover along the wire barriers so that riders don't get caught on the posts, wire barriers would be so much safer for all road users. At least they have so give.
But at the minium, the present wire barriers need to be made a lot safer.

agree ,as i said before, what price do we place on human life, or should i say ,the clowns who sit and fall asleep in that grey building which is going to be rebuilt at the cost of millions , to loose a loveone to the road and you can see the money being spent in places where it does not need to be spent , your boold starts to boil,and your loveone that is a road toll number which is used only as a lever to gain money for roading , which does not go into safety but other parts of the transport system , it stinks, after 19 years of suffering with the loss of my child, i know that you still have to keep fighting for safer roads, i know that we need to spend money on the roads , but if the harbour bridge fall down tomorrow thet would find the money to replace it, so find the money and put safety first