Cheese Cutter Barrier Protest Ride

[Jim Young]

#2240

I don't know if anyone is interested but Kiwibikers are planning a protest ride against these wire rope barriers after the death of the young lad last week.I know speed was involved but in reading a lot of the posts and what is happening overseas with banning these barriers it has given me food for thought on their dangers to motorcyclists.Evidently it you hit one at 40km/hr you are quite likely to be history.Riding back along the motorway last Sunday after the club ride, I kept as far away from them as I could and will in future treat them with a lot of respect.Details of the protest ride so far are :-Cheesecutter protest ride Saturday 3rd NovemberAssembly at 12:00PM for a 1PM departureAt this point we are still organizing the route for the ride. When this is finalized, this post will be updated with the details. But it will happen at the above day/time and we're letting everyoine know this now so you can schedule your time.

[peter.trub]

#8590

I have been told that in Europe Armco barriers all require 2 levels of steel. This is to stop bikers from getting smashed too bits when they slide under the top rail and hit the wooden uprights.Cheese cutters dont exist!!!OSH, yes that thing they ram into us, requires hazards to be eliminated, isolated, or minimised. In that order!! Signage warning of a slippery surface caused by crap road repairs is "minimising"Cheesecutters create a hazard, but what the heck, with all these terrorists running around all we have time for is to focus on speedingIts not about revenue you know its about road safety... yeah right.

[Anonymous]

#8591

I have been told that in Europe Armco barriers all require 2 levels of steel. This is to stop bikers from getting smashed too bits when they slide under the top rail and hit the wooden uprights.Cheese cutters dont exist!!!OSH, yes that thing they ram into us, requires hazards to be eliminated, isolated, or minimised. In that order!! Signage warning of a slippery surface caused by crap road repairs is "minimising"Cheesecutters create a hazard, but what the heck, with all these terrorists running around all we have time for is to focus on speedingIts not about revenue you know its about road safety... yeah right.

I was in Canada last month and the new steel barriers have two as well and no wire barriers.I wrote to LSTA some months ago about the wire barriers and they where not interested.All transit are interested in is saving money, all you have to do is look at the bad state of most of our roads.

[Anonymous]

#8592

Motorcycle Friendly Crash Barriershttp://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/actionnetwork/G1424

[Anonymous]

#8593

You'll be happy to know that I campaigned for concrete barriers on my project, and won!  There was talk of installing wire rope for awhile due to a perceived cost savings, but it proved to be insignificant compared to other factors.Yay!

[Anonymous]

#8594

Concern over wire rope crash barriers sparks EU review A FULL-SCALE review of central wire rope barriers on motorways and dualcarriageways has been ordered by the EU following mounting concerns over crashes involving motorcycles.The wire barriers are in place on many Irish dualcarriageways and have been dubbed “cheese cutters” because of their potential to cause massive trauma to motorcycle riders who collide with them.The EU has now asked its standards committee, which draws up technical specifications for the industry, to review the use of such barriers.The Ministry for Transport in the Netherlands ordered the removal of the wire ropes as a result of mounting casualties.The National Roads Authority (NRA) said yesterday that they looked forward to the review and would implement any changes in standards if they were required.An NRA spokesperson said that all barriers on dual-carriageways and motorways had both positive and negative points.A concrete barrier was better at taking the impact at locations where it was necessary to prevent vehicles going into oncoming traffic.Wire rope barriers were used where the central median was larger and the rope was able to absorb the energy of the car.“Yes, they (rope barriers) are an issue for motorcyclists. But any barrier is an issue for motorcyclists, “ added the NRA spokesperson.Fine Gael MEP Jim Higgins said wire barriers had already been banned in a number of EU countries including Britain, Norway, Austria and the Netherlands on safety grounds.“Research has shown that motorcycle users were extremely vulnerable to having limbs severed and in many cases sustaining fatal injuries when striking either the wire ropes themselves or the supporting metal spikes, “ he added.While the technical review recommendations had to be awaited, there was no reason why Ireland could not follow the example of other countries and remove the wire ropes, he added.

[Anonymous]

#8595

The kiwibiker forum has a huge amount of info. Thanks Jim.In Europe they've installed moto tub on these barriers as well as the steel barrier with the wooden posts.It seems to me that all clubs should be individually taking this issue on. And that collectively motorcyclists should be lobbying for either;- new installation of wire barriers to be ceased immediately until a solution is found- if moto tub on the wire barriers is the soltuion then all existing barriers should be fitted as a priority- if moto tub is a solution it should also be fitted to the older steel barrier with the wooden posts below as in the photo below- if moto tub is not a solution the cheese cutters (wire barriers) should be removed- motorcycle clubs while working individually should lobby for the same or similar outcomesthe article in stuff where the GM of Network Operations for Transit says these barriers are no more dangerous according to "research" is interesting. You need to read the specific "research" he refers to and locate "other research".http://www.stuff.co.nz/4192789a11.html

[Stuart Burns]

#8596

I find it particularly annoying that the press are hinting that the poor bugger who died 'may have been travelling at up to 150kph'If these barriers can cut you in half at (maybe)150k's, they're not going to do you much good at 100k's either!

[Dave Ross]

#8597

These barriers look a lot safer, and would be a good use for recycled plastic.

[Anonymous]

#8598

Alex, it looks like the black tubes are clip ons to the existing wooden posts and would also make a great addition to the cheese cutters.

[peter.trub]

#8599

In Germany a number of motorcycle clubs funded the purchase of a polystyrene block that was fitted to the support post on Arnco barriers by thier members. I have tried to find some more info on this but was unsuccessful 🙁 There is an outfit in Australia http://www.ingalcivil.com.au/ who make a protector that can be fitted to the cheese cutter post. You only get sliced  😮 not sliced and diced.  😀 A small step forward

[Anonymous]

#8600

Oh yes – cheese cuttersI bet hitting a tree at speed does a fair amount of damage.Ban all trees!In fact, my bike wants to fall over all the time, pretty dangeres if you ask me. Ban all Bikes, especially BMWs. Cheers Luigi

[janejohnstewart]

#8601

The Moto Tub system is a new one on me … probably 'cos, thankfully, cheese cutter barriers are a thing of the past in the where I've done most of my driving/riding.As a short term solution they can only be to the good, but the long term answer is to get rid of the wire barriers.However, just a thought ... if the wire barrier can be demonstrated to be dangerous, as was the case in Europe, then don't OSH have a responsibility to act in the matter?

[Renato Heneine Gualberto]

#8602

I don't know if anyone is interested but Kiwibikers are planning a protest ride against these wire rope barriers after the death of the young lad last week.I know speed was involved but in reading a lot of the posts and what is happening overseas with banning these barriers it has given me food for thought on their dangers to motorcyclists.Evidently it you hit one at 40km/hr you are quite likely to be history.Riding back along the motorway last Sunday after the club ride, I kept as far away from them as I could and will in future treat them with a lot of respect.Details of the protest ride so far are :-Cheesecutter protest ride Saturday 3rd NovemberAssembly at 12:00PM for a 1PM departureAt this point we are still organizing the route for the ride. When this is finalized, this post will be updated with the details. But it will happen at the above day/time and we're letting everyoine know this now so you can schedule your time.

Details of when the ride departs:Meet Ramarama Motorway Offramp From south-bound lane of southern motorway,turn left off Ramarama off-ramp to meeting pointMeet 12 Noon – Depart 1pm Destination – Auckland DomainPlease wear a Red Arm BandCheersStu

[Renato Heneine Gualberto]

#8603

Flyers for protest and one with some reasons why. Please distribute widely as we want a great turnout for the first one.More information and updates on http://www.kiwibiker.co.nzcheersStu

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