Stronger crash barriers may be needed for heavier trucks

The European Road Federation (ERF) has voiced its concern that roadside barriers in Europe may have to be upgraded. Meanwhile the UK’s Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has called for roadside barriers to feature post protection so as to reduce the risk of injuries to motorcyclists. According to the ERF, the recent decision of the European Commission to allow cross-border movement of longer and heavier trucks, it is keen to raise awareness of the important implications such a move may have for road barr
November 26, 2012 Read time: 2 mins

The 1202 European Road Federation (ERF) has voiced its concern that roadside barriers in Europe may have to be upgraded. Meanwhile the UK’s 5125 Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has called for roadside barriers to feature post protection so as to reduce the risk of injuries to motorcyclists. According to the ERF, the recent decision of the 2465 European Commission to allow cross-border movement of longer and heavier trucks, it is keen to raise awareness of the important implications such a move may have for road barriers.


‘Road safety barriers are designed and tested according to the maximum weight of vehicles circulating on Europe’s roads. The current European Norm (EN 1317) allows for the testing of barriers considering the impact of vehicles up to a maximum of 38tonnes. We are concerned that, should heavier vehicles be allowed to circulate more widely on Europe’s roads, this may have serious implications on the ability of road barriers to protect drivers from their own human mistakes’ explains Christophe Nicodème, Director General of the ERF.


'We do not have an ideological opposition to heavier vehicles', explained Konstandinos Diamandouros, Head of Office of Office at ERF and responsible for the area of road restraint systems. ‘We simply believe that the introduction of heavier vehicles on selected routes should be accompanied by the necessary adaptations to the road infrastructure and this of course includes safety barriers.’


The IAM has repeated its calls for improvements to guardrail used along most British roads. It points out that these are designed to protect motorists inside trucks, cars or buses. For motorcyclists the barriers themselves pose a safety hazard, as a fallen rider can impact with the support posts causing serious injury or death. Technology does exist to deal with the issue such as fitting additional barrier sections or impact cushions, but these are not widely used across Europe and are only required as yet in Spain.

Highway & Network Management

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • ERIC 2016: What shape the ‘Smart Road’?
    February 7, 2017
    Optimism about the future of highways worldwide abounded at the inaugural European Road Infrastructure Conference (ERIC) in Leeds, UK. Around 500 delegates passed through the varied sessions during the three-day event at the Royal Armouries Museum in the northern English city of Leeds. They came away with many visions of what a motorway and road could look like. But what speakers at the event - co-organised by the Brussels-based European Union Road Federation (ERF) and the UK’s Road Safety Markings Associat
    Read More
  • IRF launches campaign to phase out deadly terminals
    June 14, 2012
    Road authorities and safety specialists worldwide recognise that the most dangerous part of a longitudinal barrier is the end. A crashworthy end treatment must be able to act both as a redirecting anchor and an impact cushion to errant motorists. The highway safety community has responded to this engineering challenge through continuous investment in innovation over the past 50 years. The resulting “crashworthy” terminals commercially available today reduce the deceleration and avoid ramping, rolling or pit
    Read More
  • Australia’s road safety problems are a cause for concern
    January 23, 2019
    The Australian Road Research Board (ARRB) has highlighted key problems with road safety. According to the ARRB, these issues must be addressed if Australia’s road casualty rate is to be reduced. Road death tolls are being reduced as he latest results show, but more work needs to be done. According to the ARRB, the road death tolls in Victoria dropped 20% for 2018 when compared with the previous year. This is a major improvement, showing the gains made by Victoria’s road agency VicRoads and the state’s Tr
    Read More
  • UK crashes caused by driver error says IAM
    October 9, 2015
    According to the UK’s Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), the biggest cause of crashes on UK roads is driver error. Figures from the Department of Transport show that in 2014 driver/rider error or reaction were cited as contributory factors in 74% of accidents, involving more than 117,000 casualties. Some 20,830 of these were in London alone.
    Read More

Highlighted Content