Institute of Advanced Motorists u-turn on wire rope for UK roads

Recommendations for wire rope barriers on UK roads have been ditched after an MCN expose.

• See original story on wire rope

The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) had said it wanted the barriers – which recently sliced a rider in two in New Zealand – on our rural roads.  

They feature heavy wire suspended from exposed metal posts and are designed to deflect cars.

The IAM Motoring Trust said it was recommending the design to Government as centre barriers to prevent head-on collisions on single-carriageway roads.

The Trust admitted roads would be safer “apart from this one issue of making sure that the central barrier is as safe as possible for motorcyclists too”.

But in a turnaround, the Trust said last week it would “ensure that any barrier system proposed anywhere on our roads places the safety needs of motorcyclists at the top of the list”.

For the full story, see this week’s MCN, on sale on December 28, 2007.