Safety barriers, 1st cause of death for motorcyclists?

In the summer of 2020, the European Commission announced its will to reach zero deaths on the roads by 2050 and has since published its roadmap for the period 2021-2030 presenting various measures to be followed to enable Member States to reach the set objectives.

The problem is that the whole plan has been prepared with a focus on the car and that other categories of users are little or not at all taken into account, starting with motorcyclists.

In fact, motorcycle deaths represent 10% of the deaths on Europe's roads.

The most blatant example is undoubtedly the will of the transport commission to promote the installation of safety barriers on European roads. The commission's document explains that "roads [...] with a central separation barrier ensure that driving errors do not necessarily have serious consequences".

So yes, a guardrail can prevent a head-on collision between two oncoming cars, but it can't stop a heavy goods vehicle, let alone a motorcyclist sliding on the asphalt after falling off his motorized two-wheeler.

Source: Road Safety Observatory.

Please note that the information given on obstacles in this report concerns contacts between the motorcycle and the obstacle, and not necessarily between the motorcyclist and the obstacle. They are therefore generally not sources of accidents! Only aggravating factors.

Not all roads are suitable for two-wheelers.

Riding a motorcycle is known to be much riskier than driving a car. Motorcyclists are less protected and two-wheelers are more vulnerable to loss of control or grip. At least 10% of motorcycle fatalities in Europe are caused by hitting a barrier, especially after a slip. All guardrails should be doubled in their lower part to limit the guillotine effect.

The problem is in the road infrastructures: they are above all designed for motorists by motorists. Obviously, this strategy does not satisfy the European motorcyclists who, through the European association FEMA, have responded to the Commission's plan by providing their expertise and suggestions to demand that 2-wheelers be taken into account in the establishment of road safety policies.

A regulatory framework in full evolution.

While waiting for a modification of the RNER decree imposing a NF058 certification for motorcyclists protection, it is allowed to use a road restraint system equipped with a motorcyclists protection (MPS). In this case, the whole system is CE marked with two types of crash tests to be performed: with a vehicle according to EN 1317-2 and then with a dummy meeting the requirements of the European experimental standard XP CEN/TS 1317-8.

SOLOSAR, a solution for all your installations.

SOLOSAR has long been offering motorcyclists protection that can be integrated under existing NF system. Since the introduction of CE marking, we are one of the few manufacturers to offer a CE marked and tested road restraint system with a motorcyclist protection. You can find all our systems on our website.