N4 Crossover accident on Mullingar Bypass

L1011

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0407/rta.html

Going off the information to hand now it sounds as if a lorry has passed through the median on the Mullingar BP. From memory the barrier here is a standard grass / hedge / three-string wire barrier.

Makes you wonder if we wasted money on retrofitting wire barriers to DCs a few years ago...

Zoney

Sounds like a horrific accident. Not a good basis for starting academic discussion of the matter, but given the serious importance of these cental barriers, I'll just say that they almost may as well not exist for all the maintanance there is of them. They are not going to stop something if they are not only detensioned from past incidents but lying on the ground with the posts pulled up.

Hogzy

There may be alot more to it, Surely if the truck hits it at a more straight on angle its not going to work, after all its just a bit of wire. Iv never seen how they can be as effective as barriers or concrete!

murphaph

The picture on the RTE site shows the end of the bypass, the 2+1 undivided section, does it not?

Bluetonic

murphaph wrote: »

The picture on the RTE site shows the end of the bypass, the 2+1 undivided section, does it not?

The article has been updated 45 minutes ago, presumably to add the picture so I'd say the earlier posters didn't have that information.

L1011

Bluetonic wrote: »

The article has been updated 45 minutes ago, presumably to add the picture so I'd say the earlier posters didn't have that information.

Exactly.

Although my point about the wire barriers being useless still holds; they're not at fault here.

Cool Mo D

It's not just wire barriers that can allow crossovers - look at this accident.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw3odVTVNfA&feature=player_embedded

L1011

Thats Armco or similar by the looks of things? Theres a reason concrete is the only way to go... just unfortunate that whatever way you need to specify it in tenders allows Armco to be used like between Ballinasloe and Athlone on the M6.

Chris_5339762

They have specified that there will be no more armco on motorways, has to be concrete. The whole M6 Ballinasloe - Athlone section prompted that.

dowlingm

On Ontario highways you'll often see no divider - but they depress the ground in the median where there's enough room to put a "dip" which I guess captures the car such that it can't get back uphill to the far side. Narrow medians tend to be concrete.

ardmacha

Narrow medians tend to be concrete.

The so called Ontario Tall Walls

Carawaystick

crash on single carriageway?
This is only support for making dual carriageway, not any evidence of the effectiveness of barriers.