Is This the Motorcycle-Friendly Guardrail of the Future?

Jan 31st 2017 | Posted by Mike Werner

Is This the Motorcycle-Friendly Guardrail of the Future?

Most guardrails alongside roads are deadly for motorcycle riders. With large and a high space from the ground up, bikers that has been ejected from their motorcycle stands a big chance at best of serious injuries when hitting the pylons holding up the crash barrier, or at worst, being decapitated (which apparently happens more regularly than what you might think).

The response from many governments is to place a barrier low on the ground preventing the biker from sliding through. It does work, and it’s better than nothing, but not the best solution. Until now….

The South Korean company ETI have come up with a solution that could very well be a much better crash barrier that any current one in existence today. And it not only works great for cars and trucks but should be safer for us bikers.

They call it the Roller System, and there’s a good reason to call it this:

It is because the crash barrier consists of plastic “wheels” that can turn on their axles. They form a long series of turning barrels (and since they are painted florescent yellow, they are also much batter visible).

What this means is that when a vehicle (or a human being like a biker) hits the barrier it causing the wheels to spin, passing the vehicle or biker from wheel to wheel, dissipating its energy to the next wheel.

It’s obviously going to hurt when you hit one of these barriers, but it’s not a hard and unmovable object you are going to hit like a metal rail.

Have a look at the video below. Unfortunately, you’ll not see a motorcycle hitting the guard rail, but the principle remains the same.

A biker that is sliding along the ground towards the barrier will not get decapitated, and if hitting it at an (even) slight angle, will result in sliding alongside the barrier.

So, what do you think? Would this work for us bikers?

Source: ETI