Ladies and gentlemen, three guesses what our New Year’s resolution is this January?
Lose weight? Stop biting our fingernails? Spend less money down the pub?
Nah! Our New Year’s resolution is to make the major roads in Britain a safer place for motorists by increasing awareness of cross-over solutions. Our mantra hasn’t changed and we’ll keep banging the drum until politicians finally get the message. 2008 saw dozens of horrific accidents where cars, trucks and lorries ploughed through inadequate steel central reservations and seriously injured, or killed oncoming motorists.
Although the Highways Agency have agreed that Concrete Step Barrier is a much safer alternative to steel barrier, they have only agreed to replace materials once steel has reached the end of it’s ‘shelf life’. Therefore, if steel is demolished in an accident or degrades beyond safety standards (a loose term), then concrete will come to the rescue. This is solely due to the lack of funds available to the Highways agency, although reports in February 2008 claimed that the government raked in £32 billion pounds in road tax in 2007 and only £8 billion of it was spent on improving and maintaining the road network.
So why are we so persistent and adamant that Britain needs Concrete Step Barrier? Well, the most important reason is it’s safety characteristics. These barriers save lives by eliminating the possibility of a cross-over incident. We would like to add 100% guaranteed. Nothing in life is 100% guaranteed but concrete barrier gets as close as humanly possible. If this wasn’t enough, it requires little maintenance which keeps anxious repair workers off the motorway and saves endless amounts of cash. But these reasons are just the hors d’oeuvre.
Whether you ride a motorcycle, drive a car, a van, a truck or a coach; the new concrete step barrier is a major development that offers you a whole range of important and life saving benefits.
Benefits that include:
- Concrete does not damage vehicles as much as steel
- Concrete barriers rarely, if ever, require repair after a crash. (By contrast, repairing steel barriers involves closing a road/lane for repairs to be carried out, with workers being put at risk on the road)
- They work equally well with heavier vehicles
- Only one concrete barrier is needed in the central reservation to serve both sides of the road
- There is no headlight dazzle through the barrier
- They need less space as they don’t ‘deform’ like steel barriers
The concrete barrier has a characteristic stepped profile that has been shown by testing and computer simulation to reduce the injury to vehicle occupants compared to flat-fronted rigid barriers. The step is designed to limit minor vehicle contact to the base of the barrier and the vehicle tyres. Such slight impact, in most cases, allows the vehicle to continue undamaged on its journey. This system has also been extensively tested to the European safety barrier standard EN1317 and shown to contain all vehicles, including 4x4s, pick up trucks and light vans up to 13.5 tonnes – including most buses and coaches.
Such significant research begs motorists to ask the question “Why does steel keep being used when it is ineffectual and so expensive to maintain?” Does the steel industry have a man on the inside?
So, for now we’ll leave you with your own personal New Year’s resolutions and we sincerely wish you the best of luck with them. And we hope you’ll do the same for us! Happy New Year!!!