Plastic signs save lives
Plastic road signs could save lives
With plastic so negatively and persistently in the news, it’s good to see that DEKRA (European vehicle safety experts) are putting plastic to very good use to save motorcycle riders lives in Germany. In the UK and throughout Europe, the majority of road signs are made from steel, which is very unforgiving for motorcycle riders involved in an accident. Regardless of the impact speed, a collision with a steel road sign will result in life changing injuries or worse for bikers.
A DEKRA crash-test video (see below) clearly demonstrates the difference in accident outcomes where a motorcycle rider collides with the new plastic road signs. In fact, the steel sign collision shown in the video would clearly have resulted in serious injury or death, whereas the same-speed collision with the DEKRA plastic sign would have been significantly less serious.
It is reported that these new safer signs are already installed in the Baden-Württemberg region of Germany, with plans pending to gradually replace steel signs more widely.
At the time of writing this article, no reports could be found regarding the use of these new signs on UK roads. That said, VideoBiker will be visiting Germany in 2019 and we are delighted to learn about this innovative new motorcycle safety measure.
In the above DEKRA video, both motorcycles were crashed at a speed of 60 km/h against two different curve marker sign systems. In both cases, the Hybrid III crash test dummy representing the rider was wearing full protective clothing.
