First Euro standard for motorcycle friendly crash barriers

Crash barriers will have to meet minimum safety requirements for motorcyclists for the first time ever, the European standards committee has voted.

The European Committee for Standardisation voted on Friday to “develop a European Standard which reduces the impact severity of motorcyclist collisions with safety barriers.”

Current standards will be amended to contain “provisions for the evaluation of the performance of safety barriers under impact by a powered two-wheeled vehicle rider sliding along the ground,” according to the Federation of European Motorcyclists’ Associations.

FEMA’s General Secretary Aline Delhaye said the new standard was “soon to be agreed upon”.

She added: “Road authorities throughout Europe will now have no excuse not to install motorcyclist protective devices where necessary to avoid motorcyclists from being killed or injured when they impact the supporting poles of safety barriers.”