G
gonk
Guest
The NRA ("No Rest Areas") is already notorious for refusing to allow service stations on motorways, with the result that it is possible to drive from Portlaoise to Dundalk without passing anywhere one can refuel or get a coffee and take a break.
Uniquely in Europe, it also resisted installing barriers as a standard on the central reservations of dual carriageways and motorways. Only after a number of deaths and an even greater number of near misses did it concede there was nothing special about Irish conditions which meant such barriers are not needed here.
It then set about retrofitting wire rope and post barriers to a large number of roads, despite protests from motorcycling groups that these presented a severe hazard to motorcyclists.
From a report in today's (Sep 19) Irish Times:
The European Commission has launched a review of the use of wire rope crash barriers such as those currently being installed on Irish motorways and dual carriageways.
The Commission has asked the European Committee for Standardisation, which draws up technical specifications for industry, to review the use of such barriers, a Commission spokeswoman confirmed yesterday.
The review was prompted by concern over the effects the wire ropes and poles have in a collision, particularly with motorcyclists.
The installation of such barriers has now been banned in a number of European countries - including Britain, Austria, Norway and the Netherlands - on safety grounds.
However, the National Roads Authority (NRA) is currently installing the wire rope barriers on all major roads where the central median is 15 metres or less.
[broken link removed]
How long before the NRA accepts that this type of barrier is not fit for purpose, that it has wasted our money and placed road users lives at risk by installing them, and replaces them?
Uniquely in Europe, it also resisted installing barriers as a standard on the central reservations of dual carriageways and motorways. Only after a number of deaths and an even greater number of near misses did it concede there was nothing special about Irish conditions which meant such barriers are not needed here.
It then set about retrofitting wire rope and post barriers to a large number of roads, despite protests from motorcycling groups that these presented a severe hazard to motorcyclists.
From a report in today's (Sep 19) Irish Times:
The European Commission has launched a review of the use of wire rope crash barriers such as those currently being installed on Irish motorways and dual carriageways.
The Commission has asked the European Committee for Standardisation, which draws up technical specifications for industry, to review the use of such barriers, a Commission spokeswoman confirmed yesterday.
The review was prompted by concern over the effects the wire ropes and poles have in a collision, particularly with motorcyclists.
The installation of such barriers has now been banned in a number of European countries - including Britain, Austria, Norway and the Netherlands - on safety grounds.
However, the National Roads Authority (NRA) is currently installing the wire rope barriers on all major roads where the central median is 15 metres or less.
[broken link removed]
How long before the NRA accepts that this type of barrier is not fit for purpose, that it has wasted our money and placed road users lives at risk by installing them, and replaces them?