How is it that if a central crash barrier gets damaged by a collision and buckles and bends they immediatly put cones around it !!!!! Is this to warn approaching motorists not to have a crash into the barrier at this point as it is damaged. As if you can pick a piont to have an accident. This has perplexed me for a number of years and if you ask the people who put out the cones you get an answer 'Well it's damaged' Please think about the answer very carefully cos I don't think there is one apart from sticking a cone somewhere for 2-3 months untill repaired.
2006-12-12 10:28:33 · 11 answers · asked by metalmicky 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Safety
Sorry, have I missed something? It's obvious. When the barrier has been damaged, it can't be expected to save another car in another crash. So the cones are saying "We know you can't guarantee not to have an accident just here, but do try to avoid it if you can, 'cos we aren't in tip-top condition and may not be able to save you too"
Yeah?
2006-12-12 10:40:03 · answer #1 · answered by migdalski 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's because the barriers are no longer sitting flush and at the standard distance from the far right lane.
The cones are there as a highly visible marker and to ensure drivers don't accidentally straddle the white line and clip the steel that is sticking out further than it should be.
Imagine if the bent steel was sticking out 10 inches and a tired driver drifted a little right and clipped it. We could be talking about a major pile-up.
The cones also provide a marker for the motorway maintenance crew. It's usually the Police that put the cones there so the maintenance team need some way of easy identification.
Make sense?
2006-12-12 10:54:40 · answer #2 · answered by Cracker 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The cones are there to stop motorists entering the clean-up zone. When a car crashes into a barrier it leaves all sorts of small debris (glass, bits of metal, sharp shards of plastic etc.)which can get into your tyres or be thrown up into your wheel arch and can cause a puncture or a slight wheel imbalance and so probably another accident. If diesel has been spilt on to the road it causes loss of traction between asphalt and tyre. Because motorways are so busy clean up crews usually work between midnight and six in the morning, and that's when the cones get removed. I hate the phrase for your comfort and convenience but this time it really is.
2006-12-12 10:56:10 · answer #3 · answered by prakdrive 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What it sadly comes down to is money, the crash barriers cost a fortune to replace and then the road authority look at how much the contractors will charge and the econoimc loss that closing or reducing the flow of a motorway will cost, they they have assesors look at reclaiming these costs from the insurance of the car that hit it. In the mean time as you say there is no protection other than a plasitc cone to stop cars crossing the central reservation.
2006-12-12 10:50:05 · answer #4 · answered by rick_wenham 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When I had a crash and hit the central reservation it took out four of the steel uprights, the police sent out a motorway accident team who measured up the damage and then marked it so they could identify the area to be repaired. The damage then has to be paid for from the insurance of the party that damaged it.
I believe it's a way of identifying the area that has been damaged in the event of a dispute with the insurance company. It will also prevent the police being called out to arrange for repair of a section of barrier as it is a visual indication to other road users that the repair is in hand.
I later got a bill for the damage which I sent to my insurance!
The damage I did to the barrier was repaired 2 days later and it resulted in three lanes of the M11 being closed for about 5 hours! I was caught in the traffic but It gave me a smile when I saw it was me who caused the miles of tailback!
2006-12-12 10:40:25 · answer #5 · answered by Alan B 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
There is a lot more information about crash barriers on this website http://www.armcodirect.co.uk. These people actually install crash barriers so I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for on there...
2014-07-06 23:41:06 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Same as anything that needs repair isn't it? If a toilets out of order there's normally a note on the door. If there are repair works going on they're coned off, if workmen are excavating something, they're cordoned off. It's health and safety, it's a visual way of saying "this area is off limits (usually for a good reason)".
2006-12-12 21:45:48 · answer #7 · answered by Steven N 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because someone would crash and go through the barrier and if they survived they or their relatives or everyone else involved in the pile up would sue for millions as the crash barrier was not fit for purpose.
It is the way we go these days following the litigious Americans who sue for everything
2006-12-13 04:12:36 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's quite funny, I havn`t thought about that before, I`ll have to watch the answers you get!
2006-12-12 10:36:41 · answer #9 · answered by Tink 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ive often thought that!
2006-12-13 05:14:15 · answer #10 · answered by the mag 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋