The Australian state of Queensland is to follow Britain's role in helping reduce the number of injuries to motorcyclists involved in motorbike accidents with the use of flexible road signs.Called the - wait for it - 'bendy signs', the new flexible roadside furniture initiative was unveiled by Main Roads Minister Craig Wallace. The first of 76 signs to be installed along the Captain Cook Highway north of Cairns as part of a $20 million safety program.According to state statistics, motorcyclists are 30 times more likely to be killed on the roads; it's hoped the new bendy signs will reduce serious and fatal bike smashes. Speaking about the initiative, Minister Wallace said:"They're called bendy signs."Now, a lot of motorcyclists as you know use the Captain Cook Highway - if they do come off their bike and hit one of these signs they're a flexible sign so it doesn't crack their skull or ensure they have an injury."These are Australian first technology."Another part of the state's new safety initiative is to fit extra rails on corners to stop motorbike riders from sliding under the guardrail - something that can cause serious, even fatal, injury."It's about making the road and the roadside more forgiving for motorbike riders," he said.
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Britain is up there with the best when it comes to the installation and promotion of the use of "passive" street furniture.
Passive posts such as the "lattice" post are common place now as are hinged "keep left" bollards and flexible chevron boards.
We even have now got "passive" street light columns that shear at the base when a vehicle collides with them (although what damage a falling 12m steel column would cause is another issue lol).
And of course it was a British company that developed the Biker Mate aimed specifically at protecting flying motorcyclists against sudden stops!
Not to mention of course Britain's Road Safety Audit procedures which are amongst the best in the world. This is where a team of independent and experience highway and road safety engineers audit a design to look for things such as this.
I didn't realise that we had any passive road furniture, or there was even such a thing. Just shows you what good info you gain on here - hope I never have to test it out though.
![New Bendy Road Signs (Australia) - Forums [Biker Match]](/images/backgrounds/strips/8mobileLQ.jpg)
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