Ben's Sign

Each year Department for Transport publishes ‘Reported Road Casualties Great Britain’ (formerly ‘Road Accidents Great Britain – the Casualty Report’). It is an impressive document compiled from Police STATS19 data and provides full and comprehensive details of the who, what, when and sometimes the why and how accidents occurred during that reported year.

It is also an extremely valuable report which is seized upon, quite rightly, by lobbyists and action groups, keen to highlight a specific danger, influence decision makers or even to drive legislation but no matter what the figure, high, medium or low it is still just a number on a page – cold and clinical, without a hint of what lies behind it so just for once here is the background to a single statistic and the effect it had and will always have on the family, friends and loved ones left behind.

Ben was a good lad, he did well at school and he had set his mind on becoming a mechanic so to get an apprenticeship in his chosen profession was a dream come true. Born and bred in Durham, Ben was part of a tight knit, loving family, Mum Jill, Dad Brian and younger brother Sam. Ben also had a long standing girlfriend, Kate, one of the loves of his life – the other being his Citroen Saxo VTR.

Ben used his new found skills as an apprentice mechanic to keep his motor in perfect condition and was proud to drive the roads in County Durham along with his mates displaying his car, his pride and joy. Ben was considered a good driver, not flash or dangerous and had no convictions, he just loved driving and the freedom it gave him but on Sunday 14^th December 2003 Ben was involved in an accident on his way back home to his family.

Ben was only 17 when he died and agonisingly just 200m from his home. Brian and Jill were alerted to the collision by Ben’s friend and rushed the short distance to the scene of the crash. It is impossible to imagine the horror and grief that they felt that night and the utter hopelessness as they took in the scene right before their eyes. From baby to toddler, youth to young man, a brief envelope of life lost in an instant, their lives altered forever.

Ben had crashed into a road traffic sign and although the emergency services had got to the accident within minutes he died at the scene as a result of his injuries. No one knows or will ever know what caused Ben to leave the road; it could have been a stray dog or cat or simply the road conditions but clearly a single miscalculation or misjudgement cost Ben his life but what can be done to limit such tragedies?

In Sweden they have a concept called ‘Zero Vision’ and their philosophy is ‘the road traffic systems should take account of human fallibility and minimise both the opportunities for errors and the harm done when they occur’. In other word they believe that occurrences such as Ben’s accident will always happen but the unfortunate individual involved should not have to pay with his life.

Durham have embraced this concept and actively seek to replace street furniture that they consider potentially hazardous when and wherever possible but obviously depending upon funds.

Ben’s sign is now passively safe along with many dozens of others in the county and records show that they work perfectly and consistently with four passively safe lighting columns hit and another five Lattix masts; potentially nine lives saved.

Nationally, Lattix passive masts have been involved in 137 non injury accidents and other passive structures have also been successful when hit so as passive safety continues to grow in all aspects of street furniture so will the reduction in single vehicle fatalities and serious injuries.

All of this will help the Department of Transport reach their on going casualty reduction targets but there are still many thousands of signs in the UK similar to Ben’s sign, in steel or even concrete but all totally unforgiving and all should be considered for removal sooner rather than later to stop Ben’s story being repeated again and again.

Jill, Brian, Sam and Kate pass Ben’s sign every day. It is not just a sign that gives directions; it is also a monument to ‘a good lad’ who had a great future. It is also a constant and heartbreaking reminder of a lost son, brother and loving boyfriend – Ben Ellison.

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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.