Fuerteventura To Install Special Crash Barriers To Protect Motorcyclists

These are the first installations of their type in the canaries and more will be added to the trickiest sections of Fuerteventura’s road network.

The Counsellor for Infrastructure and Planning of the Cabildo has begun to install, for the first time in the Canaries, systems that have been specifically designed for the protection of motorcyclists, in the road barriers. The installation is already almost finished in the stretch of the FV2 that connects Puerto del Rosario to the airport, which consists of some 1200 metres of barrier, “ we have started here as we could take advantage of the improvements that are being carried out, but we also appreciate that this stretch of road has the highest concentration of vehicles of all the road network on Fuerteventura, with 20,000 vehicles per day. In this section alone we have invested around 30,000 euros in the installation of this new system, and now, in line with the priorities agreed in the Plan de Seguridad, we want to continue for other points in the network, appreciating also the experience we can take from the construction of this first section.

Jesús León recorded that the demand for specific barriers is a one that motorcyclists have brought to the fore, not only here, but on all the roads of Spain, because the traditional barriers owing to their design and lack of height often cause more damage to the riders of motorcycles than would result from the accident. For that reason alone we have adopted a design that avoids trapping, and besides provides flexibility during impact.

The Cabildo of Fuerteventura has already completed the installation of this type of barrier in the central reservation of the FV 2 and has now begun to install them at the sides of this road. The design consists of a galvanized steel flap positioned under the standard barrier, with a profile that reduces damage during collision and a system that allows the barrier to flex during any impact.

The state regulations over the criteria for the employment of systems for the protection of motorcyclists, specify that they should be concentrated in those roads that combine rapid decelerations with sharp manoeuvres along the path of the vehicles. In these situations there is a significant increase in the probability that the rider will lose control of the motorcycle and an as a consequence fall off, and the rider will slide along the surface until they collide with the barrier or leave the road. The specific regulation is that roads with separate carriageways, such as this section of the FV2, have barriers are installed on the exterior side of curves with a radius of less than 400m.

Jesús León recorded that this investment “is going to be in keeping with the efforts we are making to improve the safety of our roads, and that it will result in a decrease in the accident rate, the number of people involved in fatal accidents which in the last four years has be reduced even though the number of vehicles on the road continues to increase.

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