Wire crash barriers on NI roads ‘a hazard to motorbike riders’ group tells department
An organisation representing motorcyclists has met with the Department for Infrastructure to try and convince the authorities that wire crash barriers are a hazard to riders.
The Motorcycle Action Group, which has around 120 members in Northern Ireland (and about 65,000 across the UK) said it met with official at the department – which controls the Province’s road – earlier this month.
It argues that whilst the wire rope barries are designed to safely stop cars careering off the carriageway, they are a potential deathtrap for bikers.
Martyn Boyd, Northern Ireland representative for the group said that the metal posts which hold the wires into the ground care very jagged and sharp, and the wires themselves can act like cheese-cutters when it comes to the flesh of riders.
He said whilst there are no recent examples of fatalities involving bikers and the crash barriers in Northern Ireland, there have been recorded incidents in GB and Europe.
He described the meeting with officials as “positive”, saying that “they understood and accepted our perspective”.
The group says its objective “remains a complete end to the use of wire rope crash barriers”.
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