Crash Barriers are barriers used in road design , and are put in place to prevent vehicles from leaving the roadway and to improve road safety. They are commonly seen at sites where it may prove dangerous or even fatal if the vehicle accidentally left the roadway. Typical sites for crash barriers are bridge supports, mountain roads and median separators on multi-lane highways.
They are designed so that any vehicle hitting the barrier is steered back onto the roadway, and this is sometimes achieved by designing them so they break at impact allowing the barrier to deform and deflect the vehicle back onto the road.
Motorcycles are vulnerable to the barriers, and high vehicles such as Lorries and vehicles with a high centre of gravity, are vulnerable to going over some crash barriers. Better ones have been developed since the 1990s and these crash barriers can hold up and lead back vehicles of up to 40 tons.
Crash barriers may also be used to avoid any unnecessary damage to property. They can be used to protect building supports, walls, and can be used in factories to protect vulnerable equipment and valuable machinery by repelling and diverting wayward Lorries, forklift trucks, cars and factory sweepers.
Crash barriers installed into factories can offer the following advantages:
o Tested & certified to British Standard
o Highly visible
o Protect valuable equipment
o Little or no maintenance
o Strong durable and flexible
o High impact resistant
o Segregate and delineate vehicle traffic ways
There are many different types of crash barrier systems and they are all designed for the purpose of preventing vehicles from leaving the roadway, track or traffic lane, whether this is on the open road such as a motor-way, mountain track, inner city traffic lane, indoor factory traffic lane, or even around a race track.
The type of barrier used will depend on the type of traffic, for example a race track for motor-karting will generally install easily destructible barriers such as used automobile tyres. This type of simple barrier is extremely effective at absorbing shocks from collisions and can easily be re-constructed after the event.
Another type of barrier is the cable barrier, also very effective at deflecting collisions and reducing the impact on the driver due to the flexibility of the cables. This method of preventing vehicles from leaving the traffic lane or track can sometimes be seen at stock car racing circuits.