New campaign shows life-saving barriers in action

Published date: 29 Jun 2018

A new Transport Accident Commission campaign starting this weekend will show the lifesaving capabilities of flexible safety barriers.

At the forefront of the campaign is footage of a controlled collision with a centreline barrier on a high-speed regional road, which replicates a common fatigue crash.

The campaign, Safety Barriers Save Lives, also features testimonials from two of the thousands of Victorians who have avoided serious crashes thanks to flexible safety barriers.

TAC Road Safety Director Samantha Cockfield joined VicRoads deputy CEO Robyn Seymour to launch the new public education campaign in Ballarat today.

A new television ad, voiced over by a real crash survivor, shows footage of a centre-line barrier absorbing the forces of a Ford Territory travelling at 90 km/h, preventing a head-on collision.

The vehicle, driven by a stunt driver, hits the barrier and slows by 32 km/h in six metres before the driver applies brakes, as if waking up from a micro sleep, and brings the vehicle to a safe and controlled stop.

Last year, 109 of the 155 people who died on Victorian rural roads were in vehicles that left their lane and crashed into roadside trees or poles, or another vehicle. Research shows flexible barriers reduce these types of crashes from happening by more than 85%.

Ms Cockfield said the campaign would create greater public awareness and understanding of barriers, and provide researchers with new insights into how barriers work in a common crash scenario.

“Showing the public footage of how these barriers work will help us continue to educate Victorians that zero lives lost is possible, which is what Towards Zero is all about,” Ms Cockfield said.

“Road safety experts viewed the barrier crash test in real time and have taken away crash data that will help refine barriers further, allowing them to be used more widely across the road system.”

Ms Seymour said it was important for all Victorians to see how flexible safety barriers work when mistakes happened on the roads.

“The lane departure crashes that these safety barriers prevent are the number one cause of death on regional Victorian roads.

“This footage shows exactly why we’re installing around 2,000km of flexible safety barriers across Victoria – because they save lives.”

For more information and to view the campaign, including the television commercial and insights from road safety experts.

Visit the Safety Barriers saves lives campaign on Towards Zero

Safety Barriers Save Lives