Firm Promotes Road Safety
By Tony Alabastro

Bandar Seri Begawan - Wire rope safety fences, which can stop a 10-tonne truck running at 50 kilometres per hour, are the most effective safety barriers on highways for saving lives, a technical seminar hosted by a local company revealed.

The technical seminar, hosted by HTG Services Sdn Bhd and Hills & Smith UK, was attended by consultant engineers and contractors with the government and private sectors, said Technical Manager Jesse Agustin Jr.

Mandy Inocentes of Wire Rope Corporation of the Philippines, the manufacturer of wire ropes for Southeast Asia, was also present.

Tony Everitt, Director for Varley & Gulliver Ltd and Graham Sharp, Director for Brifen, representing two Hill & Smith UK departments, conducted the technical seminar with a video presentation.

Local motorists have been told to slow down in the run-up to Hari RayaAidilfitri in three weeks time following the report of 50 road accidents in four days this week, news reports said.

A wire rope safety fence designed by Americans to arrest jets landing on an aircraft carrier can be used on the highway to save lives. More people die on the road than in airplane accidents, said Everitt.

"We have a solution that enables water, drifting sand, wildlife and melting snow drifts to escape but at the same time prevents cars and humans from leaving the road. The opportunities for Brifen are endless," Sharp said.

Everitt stressed the importance of safety and quality for road users in a presentation on new international road safety standards and compliant road safety technology systems introduced in major cities in the world.

"Calculated claims are not sufficient to prove safety. If one was to say that to ride an airplane, based on calculations, is safe, is it enough to ensure safety? Which would you prefer to fly aboard onto? Would you board an airplane with safety standards based on calculations or which emulated from other systems? Or would you board an airplane already proven through a series of tests?" he said.

To ensure and optimise safety for road users, he introduced systems compliant to international standards, adhere to proper designs and installation, and subjected to actual and thorough crash tests.

Testing of systems is vital to ensure and provide safety for the public, he said.

Everitt and Sharp also talked on bridge aluminium and steel parapets, steel beams and wire safety fences save lives on the highways. They also gave materials on crash tests and test conditions in the Middle East dessert, in the heat of summer in New South Wales, and on the brink of Icelantic winter.

Following threats from the criminal underworld, South Yorkshire Police protected their new four million pound police helicopter from being ramraided with Brifen wire rope.

They spoke of safety barriers to stop errant vehicles, whose occupants walk away from shaken but not injured, and with the least impact damage, likeno broken windows.

The multi-awarded Brifen Wire Rope Safety Fence system represents a significant development in road safety fence design, Sharp said.

The system is a flexible road safety barrier that dissipates or absorbs energy when hit by vehicles. International accident reports regularly indicate that even fully loaded 40-tonne articulated lorries have not crossed carriageways when striking central median barriers by Brifen, he said.

Brifen delivers reductions in maintenance and repair costs and it has made important and vital contributions to road safety with installations in more than 30 countries throughout the world such as the Middle East, Europe and Australia, Sharp said.

A division of Hill & Smith, Brifen is the forerunner and world's safety leader in the innovation of Wire Rope Safety Fence technologies.  -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

Click Here To Have Your Say On This Story

Brudirect.com News

Brunei's Fastest Growing Website with