Biker-Mate; A Motorcyclist Crash Cushion for Roadside Objects

Accident statistics supplied by the UK Department for Transport show that in the 5 years between 2003 – 2007 there were 250 fatalities in motorcyclists colliding with traffic signs, signal poles, lighting columns and telegraph poles and a further 880 serious injuries.

Whilst road conditions, road design or excess speed may be contributory factors we believe an error of judgement, a vehicle malfunction or the wrong ticket in the atmospheric lottery should not lead to a potential death sentence for motorcyclists – but what can be done?

Passively safe structures to prevent serious and fatal injuries to motor car drivers have been available in Scandinavia for 25 years and in the UK since 1995 and there are now over a dozen manufacturers supplying passively safe (break away) sign posts, lighting columns and signal poles.

However, these passive products are designed specifically for car impacts and whilst the huge number of reported non injury road traffic accidents show that these products are extremely successful they do not provide any benefits to the most vulnerable of road users - motorcyclists.

Signpost Solutions, the company that introduced and spearheaded passively safe structures in the UK with the Lattix mast over 14 years ago have now picked up the baton for motorcyclists and introduced a crash cushion for roadside objects called Biker–Mate.

Biker-Mate, a conceptual idea by Alan Nicholas of Signpost Solutions is manufactured by ERS a division of Encocam Ltd. ERS worked closely with another division within Encocam called Cellbond who are the leading manufacturer of deformable crash test barriers and energy absorbers supplied to car manufacturers worldwide so the expertise to design and produce a mini crash cushion specifically for roadside street furniture was already on tap.

Although originally designed for attachment to quadrangular Lattix passively safe sign masts, it soon became clear that the Biker-Mate structure could be easily adapted for round posts, square posts – in fact almost any shape.

Nicholas comments “the current design which is an ‘L shaped’ construction for fitting to the post for ‘front on traffic flow’ impacts is the obvious use for the product but it could theoretically be deployed on any dangerous free standing roadside structure and there is no reason why in further developments a flat version cannot be designed for fitting to other vulnerable sites such as bridges, brick walls or even the most dangerous of roadside objects – trees”.

Biker-Mate is made up of several layers of pressload sections (imagine an egg carton made out of plastic) inside a polypropylene case which is fitted to the structure by special brackets and steel banding. The pressload layers are ultrasonically welded to ensure maximum interface connectivity which would be an important factor during impact.

Paul Tattersall , Engineering Manager at ERS explains the design process; “Biker-Mate took some significant clues from the automotive safety industry and its years if experience and technological research.

Head injury criteria ( HIC ) is a recognised injury measure for evaluating the severity of injury for pedestrians and vehicle occupants during an impact. It is also the same measure used to evaluate the effectiveness of motorcycle helmets. In short, the higher the HIC , the higher the chance of severe injury or death.

Specialised headform impactors representing the unprotected human head have been used for years; these can be fired at objects, produce readings and enable HIC to be measured. The same device was used to verify the performance of Biker-Mate.

The following results show significant improvement over the unprotected post/column which would almost certainly have resulted in serious or fatal injuries (in fact these results even exceeded the requirement for pedestrian head protection!)”.

Unprotected rigid steel posts/column 4500 – 10300 HIC

Motorcycle helmet (to meet ECE 22.05) 2400 HIC

Biker-Mate Energy absorber 500-1000 HIC

Tattersall concludes “static crush tests and dynamic impact tests were also used to predict the energy absorbing capacity of a modular unit. We found that Biker-Mate is capable of absorbing around 6000J of energy, equivalent to 100% absorption of a 75kg person travelling at over 45kph. This is a significant proportion of energy expected during most collisions taking into account road conditions, typical accident kinematics and typical braking prior to the accident etc”.

Biker-Mate is a patented design, has a large radius impact face, has no sharp edges, comes in modular form for stacking to any height, is extremely light and easy to install and can be fitted with any highly visible reflective material as the photographs (courtesy of Durham CC) show.

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SignPost Solutions Ltd | Unit 5 - Clarendon Drive | The Parkway | Tipton | DY4 0QA
TEL: + 44 (0) 121 506 4770 FAX: + 44 (0) 121 506 4771 E-MAIL: traffic@signfix.co.uk

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Signfix have supplied the Traffic Signs industry for over 25 years, firstly with their innovative sign fixing range which set the standard for all to follow.

The Sign Fixings range has been much copied over the years but still remains the most comprehensive and widely used product in the traffic sign industry.

Adding Sign Posts and signal poles to the company’s portfolio was an obvious route for Signfix and led to the company once again breaking new ground by being the first company to offer a Passive Safety product to the traffic sign market - Lattix.

However, Signfixings, Sign Posts and signal poles will remain as key structures within the groups product portfolio and are seen as the bedrock from which the Passive Safety movement developed.

To accommodate an MBO in 2003 Signfix became Signpost Solutions although the Signfix name remained as the brand name for the Signfixing range.

Signpost Solutions are now recognised as the market leader in all things related to traffic sign supports - signposts, Sign Fixings, signal poles and Passive Safety.

Passive Safety is now a regular consideration on all new road designs. It has been recognised as a key safety measure by the Highways Agency to assist in their well publicised 10 year accident reduction target.

Initially just encompassing traffic Sign Posts, Passive Safety has, within the last few years, been rolled out to include Lighting Columns, camera masts and in some instances Variable Message Signs and gantries.

Lattix was the first Passive Safety product installed in the UK and since the inaugural installation in 1995 Signpost Solutions have delivered over 7000 masts from which there has been in excess of 50 RTA’s involving the mast with no reported injuries.

Although considered to be a contradiction in terms, ‘Crash Friendly’ is the new nom de plume for Passively Safe street furniture such as Traffic Signs and Lighting Columns.

The expression ‘Crash Friendly’ evolved from a competition instigated by Ginny Clarke, the former head of safety at the Highways Agency. A number of similar descriptive phrases were entered but ‘Crash Friendly’ was chosen by a small committee of senior engineers from the Highways industry.

The unofficial web site for the industry, the ‘Passive Revolution’ followed up the decision by producing special Crash Friendly tape for fitting to such products that are not immediately recognised as being Crash Friendly or Passively Safe.

Passively Safe Signs were first introduced on the A4 in London by Signfix. The 1995 installation was followed a year later by the first Advance Direction Sign which was trialled in Cheshire by the County Council who were the first authority to realise the life saving potential of Passively Safe Signs.

However, this early success was short lived and although the Passive Safety product was well established in Scandinavia, the UK did not buy into the concept until the beginning of the new Millennium when Lattix Passively Safe Signs were installed on the prestigious A43 Towcester/Silverstone Bypass.

Since then there have been over 7000 Lattix masts installed with over 50 reported non injury accidents.

Lattix is now a regular sight on the UK Highway making the road much safer for the motoring public.

The success of Passively Safe Signs was instrumental in the HA adding Passively Safe Lighting Columns to the revised Advice Note TA89/05.

Passively Safe Lighting Columns are now being considered for many new Highway Schemes by the Highways Agency Managing Agent Contractors and are slowly coming to the attention of local and County street lighting engineers.

Passively Safe Lighting Columns offer similar safety benefits as signage with the added provision of High Energy potential on some types of construction such as KAPU poles.

High Energy (HE) poles are designed to deform on impact but will stop the vehicle rather than allow the vehicle to continue with relatively little retardation which is the hallmark of Non Energy products. HE poles are therefore suitable for any environment.

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Signfix - Having been established since the early 1970s we have a wealth of experience in providing high quality traffic posts, clips and banding for the Uk. Signfix systems is based on the success of the patented sign channel and sign fixing clips. Other products include cantilever systems and steel posts as well as off set brackets and hoop signs. Our services include installation of breakaway mounting systems and sign installation or even lattix and passive safety systems too. In addition we have knowledge of the passive revolution and passive safety. Our expert, friendly staff are always ready to answer your questions and enquiries. Feel free to contact us today.