Motoristi pred parlament

[ixs]

EC wants safer Crash Barriers

The Danger of Crash Barriers for Motorcyclists

Commissioner Loyola De Palacio wants actions in Spain and Europe

"The continuous work starts now to show very positive results. Finally, the European Commission admitted that crash barriers are very dangerous for motorcyclists. Now we start seeing adequate lateral protections for "every" road user. Besides, the sector is aware of the problematic and seems to be supporting our initiative. This feeling gives us energy to continue our work. From now on, let's open the throttle towards a design standard and the fitting of crash barrier protectors on European roads." This declaration from Mr Carlos Bautista Ojeda MEP followed a meeting held with the Vice-President for Transport and Energy last July.

This meeting was organised at the initiative of Mr Carlos Bautista in order to express the widespread concerns of motorcyclists about the danger of existing crash barriers. This was organised following a demonstration held last June in Madrid, and supported by thousands of riders, in protest against these dangerous devices.

In the course of the meeting, FEMA reminded the Commissioner of the project that had been undertaken by FEMA with the support of the European Commission in 1999 "Crash Barriers and Motorcyclists". The final report of this project proposes alternatives to existing devices that could be promoted in all countries of Europe.

Mrs De Palacio was concerned about the problem and assured that immediate actions would be advised to the Spanish authorities. A correspondence would also be sent to all Member States. FEMA offered its assistance in the drafting of these letters. On the European front, the Commissioner declared that a point referring to the need of improving the safety of crash barriers would be included in the EU Road Safety Programme 2002-2010. Another commitment made by Mrs De Palacio was that, during the Spanish Presidency of the European Union, particular attention would be given to the matter, by setting up a Working Group (WG) with all interested parties, including representatives of the European Commission, FEMA representing European Motorcyclists and the CEN (Committee of European Standardisation). One of the main objectives of this WG will be to define a crash barriers' standard in order to make them safer for all road users, motorcyclists included!

FEMA welcomes this commitment and sees it as a very good opportunity to continue with its work on making crash barriers safer for riders. Campaigns are already underway in Austria, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Portugal where FEMA's national organisations are promoting and fixing protectors to make crash barriers safer for riders.

FEMA is looking forward to the beginning of next year, when Spain will hold the EU Presidency, and to the co-operation with the European authorities to coordinate actions all over Europe.

ENDS

[ixs]

Motorcyclists and Safety Fences

The following is a supplement to the briefing on Wire Rope Safety Fences and reflects the latest developments on the subject. It is based upon a paper submitted to the Government Advisory Group on Motorcycling and the Highways Agency's National Road Users' Committee.

Dealings with the Highways Agency's contractors for the Dualling Scheme for the A43 near Silverstone indicated that not only did they not consider motorcycles when choosing the type and location of safety fence but when the hazard that exposed posts pose to riders was pointed out, they claimed that they were forbidden from considering any means of attenuation to protect riders. I was directed to "the Highways Agency in London." There are some who are concerned by the choice of Safety Line Wire Rope Safety Fence because it retains the lower cables by welded hooks and it is notable that this form of WRSF is to be used for the Dualling Scheme for the A11 near Snetterton as well. This is a departure from the only system of WRSF used previously by Brifen using crossed lower cables retained by plastic knock out pegs. The BMF's reservations are with the wider issue of all safety forms of safety fence using exposed posts be it wire rope safety fence (WRSF), tension corrugated beam (TCB) or open box beam (OBB).

It should be made clear that we do not expect all safety fence to be 'rider friendly' or fitted with attenuation; nor do we have a particular objection to WRSF over other forms of safety fence with exposed support posts. However, we are anxious that motorcyclists should be considered:

In the choice and location of vehicle restraints

In safety audits related to the use of vehicle restraints

In the testing of vehicle restraints in accordance with the relevant standard

By including testing of attenuators to protect motorcyclists from exposed posts in the standard

By developing attenuators and motorcyclist friendly vehicle restraints

The BMF's case is as follows:

1) Research in California, France and Germany has indicated that the usual accident scenario involving a motorcyclist with a vehicle restraint is that the rider initially loses control and falls from the machine sliding into the barrier or safety fence at a shallow angle. Where safety fence with exposed posts is employed, the greater forward speed of a rider leads to a collision with the post with serious and often fatal consequences. Extremities are readily amputated and major internal injuries caused. A similar collision with a featureless concrete barrier or an additional lower beam which covers the posts, results in a lower sideways impact with the momentum of the rider scrubbed off by contact with the barrier and road surface. If the rider is wearing adequate protective clothing, injuries should be minimised.

2) In 1999, the Federation of European Motorcyclists Associations produced its Crash Barrier Report for the European Commission. In this, accident scenarios, types of fence, attenuation devices and rider friendly forms of safety fence were considered. It even included criteria to assess areas of greatest risk i.e. corners where riders are most likely to lose control. In spite of making members of the Highways Agency aware of the report's existence, the BMF had never received any formal acknowledgement that anyone has read it let alone taken on board its recommendations.

3) Attenuation equipment includes additional lower beams and tubing to cover the posts as in France and expanded polystyrene impact attenuators which surround posts to absorb some of the impact as used in Germany and Austria. It has not been the intention in the FEMA Crash Barrier Report or the BMF to call for such equipment to be used on the whole network of safety fence but in areas of greatest risk as set out and recommended by FEMA in its report.

4) Safety fence is approved to EN 1317 by projecting cars of 900 kg and 1500 kg at 110 km/h at a 20 degree angle and trucks at a 15 degree angle. No testing is undertaken with motorcycles or dummies and there are no tests for attenuation equipment. We consider that both dummies and attenuators should be included in future tests of safety fencing to EN 1317.

5) In 1997, as a result of disagreements between the Transport Research Laboratory and the International Motorcycle Manufacturers' Association over the methodology of testing leg protectors and air bags, the International Standards Organisation (ISO) developed a standard for testing this equipment on motorcycles. It included a means of accurately projecting test motorcycles at test cars and a specification for a fully and internally instrumented dummy. This ISO standard could readily be adapted to test the effects of vehicle restraints and attenuators on motorcyclists.

6) In A New Deal for Transport, the Government introduced the New Approach To Appraisal (NATA) criteria. NATA is a set of criteria that all proposed transport/road schemes must meet. It covers economy, environment, safety, integration and accessibility. The safety criteria states that schemes must improve safety, reduce accidents and improve security. We are anxious that NATA safety criteria should apply to safety audits for new road schemes and improvement schemes applying to existing roads in which the motorcyclists are taken into account with regard to the use of safety fence.

7) The Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR) currently considers the value of a statistical life (VSOL) also sometimes called VPL as #1,144,900. In the case of a bereaved father taking legal action against the Government and the Highways Agency for the death of his son through what he considers to be an inappropriately placed and unattenuated section of safety fence, the cost is likely to be higher. There are also costs associated with non-fatal accidents particularly those where the rider is permanently disabled. Hence protecting riders from the exposed posts of safety fence in areas of greatest risk is considered to be cost effective in spite of the relatively low numbers of riders involved.

8) In dealing with the Highways Agency by correspondence and at its National Road Users' Committee, it has become apparent that they have adopted a callous attitude towards motorcyclists because of the relatively low numbers involved in collisions with vehicle restraints on English trunk roads and motorways. We were informed that "The review of statistics for the year 1995 indicated that motorcycle accidents accounted for only 4% of the impacts with safety fences but that these were only 0.07% of the total motorcycle accidents. Limiting the accident study to trunk roads reveals that approximately 3% of motorcycle injury accidents involved safety fences." It was admitted that the breakdown of severities is not known. Yet this has failed to take into account the increase in motorcycle usage and installation of safety fence since 1995 with the inevitable increase in risk. The Highways Agency had never fully acknowledged the existence of the FEMA Crash Barrier Report in spite of it having been e-mailed it to several members of the Agency. At the last National Road Users' Committee meeting, this omission was rectified with copies made available to delegates. At previous National Road User Committee meetings, although this has led to meetings with specialists in the Agency, the subject has received no consideration in depth. The Agency also claims that when tests involving safety fence with attenuators for motorcycles have been carried out, the attenuators have adversely affected the function of the fence in retaining errant vehicles.

9) The BMF has been made aware that the Highways Agency has undertaken a study of safety fence which has recently been completed. It is not clear whether this commenced prior to the Selby rail crash and was delayed pending the apportionment of blame or took place as a result. Nevertheless, our understanding was that it was conducted by a consultant, who was formerly an employee of the DoT Highways and Bridges Division. It was requested that the FEMA Crash Barrier Report was copied to him but no indication was given of whether this has been undertaken. The Agency questioned the value of doing so.

It has been claimed that the study concluded that there are no serious shortcomings in the existing safety barrier standards and their application to the nearside of major roads, but that road designers would benefit from a more detailed explanation of the derivation of the advice. It also recommends a clearer, more open procedure for updating the standards relating to safety barriers and the incorporation of the latest UK research and international experience. A revised safety barrier standard will be issued later this year but presumably, it will take no account of interactions with motorcyclists.

10) While England's Highways Agency has failed to consider the concerns of motorcyclists, a more positive attitude has been adopted in Norway and Sweden. With the increased use of safety fence which is predominantly WRSF as part of Vision Zero, riders became increasingly concerned about the hazard of exposed posts. As a result, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration has been working with riders organisation NMCU to develop a motorcyclist friendly form of safety fence. They have developed a wire rope safety fence in which four cables are secured to one side of the support posts above one another by knock out clamps. Each pair of cables is bonded together by a 'beam' of recycled plastic which covers the posts while adding little to the cost. Providing the lowest cable is less than 10 cm above the ground it is considered that fallen riders will be protected from the posts. Computer simulations have been positive to date and full testing to EN 1317 is anticipated later in the year. We hope that this will be commended to the Highways Agency, if this form of safety fence achieves EN approval.

See also Federation of European Motorcyclists Federations - Final Report of the Motorcyclists and Crash Barriers Project here

Trevor Magner

[ixs]

Federation of European Motorcyclists Federations - Final Report of the Motorcyclists and Crash Barriers Project LINK(tudi ta ki je na prvi strani te teme) ne dela! A ve morda kdo za kakšen drug link oz. ali ima to poročilo v elektronski obliki!

Tudi to zadevo bi namreč radi dali ministrstvu pa sedaj ni več linka......

[šoško]

Kapo dol vsem, ki ste toliko v zdevi in delate v korist vseh :OK:

tudi sam zbram podpise, upam da čim več. :D

..... :cry: tudi jz ne razumem motoristov, ki nočejo dati podpisov,.. :xx: ....izgovor !

kva pa norijo norci............haloooooooooo?!?!?!?, sej ne veš kva bi takemu rekel :slap:

Očitno, da vsi ne razumejo zadeve, zato le tako naprej, da se bo kej premaknilo v tej državi, sej imamo novo vodstvo upanje ostaja :kva2:

[MaraudeR]

FEMA - Final report of the Motorcyclists & Crash Barriers Project

http://fema.kaalium.com/crashbarrier/index.html

Australian Transport Safety Bureau - Motorcycle and Safety Barrier Crash-Testing: Feasibility Study

http://www.atsb.gov.au/road/pdf/mc_barrier_cr201.pdf

European Agenda for Motorcycle Safety

http://fema.kaalium.com/safety/

[MaraudeR]

bi prosil moderatorje, če lahko na prvi strani v prvem postu popravijo link "Federation of European Motorcyclists Federations - Final Report of the Motorcyclists and Crash Barriers Project" iz http://fema001.kaalium.com/crashbarrier/index.html na http://fema.kaalium.com/crashbarrier/index.html

Popravljeno Marec 10, 2005. Popravil MaraudeR

[ixs]

Predlagam, da se vsi zainteresirani motoristični aktivisti spet zberemo 22.3.2205(prvi torek po koncertu za reševalce na motorjih) in dorečemo kaj bomo poslali na pristojno ministrstvo!!!!

22.3.2005 ob 19:00 Clubhouse Firestarter Kolezija/Ljubljana-Vič

[hotschko]

Jaz bi lahko šel vprašat na Primorske Novice, če bi jih zanimalo kaj o tem objavit. Bolj problem je, kako naj se jim predstavim, kajti nisem član združenja MotoristiPredParlament .)

Pozdrav od Roberta

←

ti kar reči da si, ker smo itaq neformalno združenje ... .) ...

Pošlji jim priloženo objavo za javnost in pobaraj kogar pač poznaš, da objavi prispevek.

mmp___izjava_za_javnost.doc

[Erik]

Tudi jaz sem danes podpisal :yes: B)

[Robert]

ti kar reči da si, ker smo itaq neformalno združenje ... .) ...

Pošlji jim priloženo objavo za javnost in pobaraj kogar pač poznaš, da objavi prispevek.

←

Mama od ljube od brata :D ima zaradi svoje funkcije in raznih dejavnosti veliko opravka z novinarji, nekatere jih celo osebno pozna, zato upam, da se bo preko nje dalo kaj zmenit. Bom sporočil, ko bom kaj konkretnega izvedel.

Pozdrav od Roberta

Popravljeno Marec 10, 2005. Popravil Robert

[Jure007]

A ste Gustinčiču v Motosi kej poslal? Lahko bi se tudi tam objavlo kaj, v kolikor se že ni.

Do kdaj nej vam pošlemo tiste podpise? A je kašn rok za oddajo?

[ixs]

podpise oddajamo po 17.3.2004...zato čimprej na pošto!

[tato]

O.K V ponedeljek 14.3. bom jaz dal na pošto!

[Einherjar]

Letaki so pri tiskarju - upam, da jih najkasneje v pon. - torek dobim (da ne bom optimist in pricakoval prej).

[Tepko]

A mi da kdo list za podpisat, ker se mi ne da pošiljat svojga.. :rolleyes: :doze: :whistle:

[Einherjar]

A mi da kdo list za podpisat, ker se mi ne da pošiljat svojga..  :rolleyes:  :doze:  :whistle:

←

Povej iz kje si, pa se bo kdo javil z lokacijo, kje lahko podpises.

[Robert]

Mi je uspelo pridet v kontakt z novinarjem Ambrožem iz Primorskih Novic. Jutri ob 11h sva zmenjena, da se dobiva, da mu predstavim tematiko, za katero je zainteresiran, da se jo objavi. Mislim, da sem si sprintal vse, kar je na WEB straneh. Če kdo meni (od aktivnih aktivistov, Hotschko in kompani), da je potrebno še kaj poleg tistega, kar je na voljo že sedaj, nujno dodat, naj me prosim kontaktira. Moj mobi ima Hotschko.

Pozdrav od Roberta

[Tepko]

Povej iz kje si, pa se bo kdo javil z lokacijo, kje lahko podpises.

←

Iz lublane :huh: :D Sej mogoč lohk pridm tja do firestarters klubbhouse če majo tm za podpisat se kje :unsure:

[MaraudeR]

Kakšen dan nazaj sem podpisni list videl tudi pri HABATU (HMC) - če ga ni na pultu pa vprašaj prodajalca...

Drugače pa bodo podpisni listi v večjem številu tudi na "koncertu za nakup reševalnega motorja" 17.3.2005 - Gospodarsko razstavišče...

Popravljeno Marec 11, 2005. Popravil MaraudeR

[Einherjar]

Iz lublane  :huh:  :D Sej mogoč lohk pridm tja do firestarters klubbhouse če majo tm za podpisat se kje  :unsure:

←

Ja, sigurno bojo tudi pri nas kaki listi, ki se jih bo dalo dopolniti.

[Godfather]

Danes je v Primorskih novicah objavljen članek!!!!!!!!! :OK: :OK: :OK:

[ixs]

dej ga skenirat pa objavt.......

DRugače pa sem prejel že okoli 600 podpisov. Dejmo še mal stisniti do konca meseca, da jih res naberemo čimveč - pa potem zadevo pošljemo na ministrstvo!

[Godfather]

Evo članek :OK:

LP

Marko

[jezdec]

Krasno.

Vse pohvale vredno

[Einherjar]

Cestitke - zelo dober clanek...