Can Concrete Save Lives on Highways

[Britpave photo]

YES IT CAN

CONCRETE CENTRAL HIGHWAY BARRIERS LIKE THIS ONE CAN PREVENT DEATHS

A British transport lobby group has claimed the number of deaths in a crash on the M5 Motorway in England could have been reduced if the central barrier was made of concrete instead of steel/

A recent tragic accident on the M5 killed a couple from Coventry in a crash near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.

A van which smashed through the metal central reservation steel barrier would have been stopped by a concrete one, Britpave said.

The UK Highways Agency said a programme to replace motorway steel barriers with concrete had been on-going since 2005.

Steve Elliot from Britpave said:

"Concrete barriers have been proven through tests to show they can stop a 13-tonne coach from crashing through.”

"What crashed through on the M5 was a lightweight VW van.”

"Steel barriers are unable to stop that, let alone lorry traffic. This is why we are lobbying for concrete barriers on the motorway because they can stop these tragic accidents happening."

In Malaysia, in view of the high death rate on Malaysia’s roads and highways, the authorities should look into the use of properly designed, tested and proven concrete barriers built in-situ on the central reservation to separate the traffic.

This is even more vital now, as due to the widening of highways by adding a third lane, there is often a very narrow central reservation and only flimsy steel crash barriers separating traffic travelling in opposite directions.

See the BBC news report HERE

For information about the British In-situ Concrete Paving Association (Britpave) click HERE

To learn more about concrete highway barriers HERE

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