Skip to main content

Report into passively safe lighting columns

Lighting columns and other roadside structures such as overhead gantries play an essential role in road safety, by improving night time visibility or giving information to drivers. However old generation units themselves pose a potential hazard as they can be impacted by vehicles departing the roadway and potentially with fatal results in the event of a high speed crash. This is why newer passively safe columns have been developed, which are designed to collapse in a controlled fashion when impacted, reduci
November 16, 2015 Read time: 1 min

Lighting columns and other roadside structures such as overhead gantries play an essential role in road safety, by improving night time visibility or giving information to drivers. However old generation units themselves pose a potential hazard as they can be impacted by vehicles departing the roadway and potentially with fatal results in the event of a high speed crash. This is why newer passively safe columns have been developed, which are designed to collapse in a controlled fashion when impacted, reducing the risk of death or injury to vehicle occupants.

This paper investigates some of the key issues for passively safe columns. Click here to view more.

Related Content

  • Effective demarcation boosts traffic safety
    July 29, 2015
    Effective demarcation can play a crucial role in boosting safety for road users. Good demarcation is vital on a road network to help ensure that drivers stay in the correct lanes and are warned of changes that lie in their path, for example. Road markings are hugely important and for those involved in maintenance, ensuring that these are visible at night and in poor weather can help maximise safety. New technology is on the market now that can help road authorities ensure that road markings meet requirement
  • India’s road to safety
    September 5, 2012
    India's growth rate is the envy of the world, and its infrastructure is rapidly improving, but its road safety record is the world's worst. Patrick Smith reports on a conference aimed at finding answers to the problems Ambling through the gardens and marble magnificence that is the Taj Mahal or gazing down on the city of Jaipur from the hilltop Jaigarh Fort is far removed from the world outside.
  • Wildlife road danger study
    October 12, 2016
    Progress is being made on a study being carried out in North America of the risk to road users from wildlife. The study is being carried out by Leonard Sielecki at the University of Victoria and covers Canada and the US. This investigates the risk to road users posed by animals entering the roadway and considers the benefits of technologies to warn drivers of such risks. According to Sielecki, over 500 people have so far responded, considerably in excess of the number expected. Of these respondents, around
  • Barrier innovations making roads safer
    February 21, 2013
    Developments in barrier technology continue to make roads safer for drivers - Mike Woof writes. Innovative new barrier technology is helping make roads safer for drivers. Key developments have been made in barrier design, helping ensure road and highway infrastructure is more passively safe. New barrier designs ensure that errant vehicles are redirected into the roadway, with reduced risks for occupants and also other road users. Continuously slipformed concrete barriers reinforced with steel are now widely