Norway is removing wire rope barriers from a six-kilometre stretch of road near the capital of Oslo in a win for motorcyclist safety.
Riders have long regarded the roadside barriers as a danger.
The Norwegian move follows a win for UK riders in August when The Motorcycle Action Group gained the support of the Northern Ireland Department for Infrastructure who accepted that wire rope crash barriers were effective for larger vehicles, but posed a hazard to motorcyclists’ safety.
It also follows a recent Victorian Auditor General’s report that slammed claims about the safety and cost effectiveness of wire rope barriers.
The auditor’s report found there was no evidence to support the claimed safety benefits for motorcyclists and scooter riders.
It also found Victoria’s WRB rollout was almost $100m over budget, over time and under-maintained.
Australian rider groups have long called for the rollout of wire rope barriers to be halted.
In the wake of the Norwegian move, Motorcycle Riders Association of Australia spokesman Damien Codognotto has written to Victorian MPs calling for the barriers to be removed.
He says wire rope barriers are a deadly threat to bicycle, scooter and motorcycle riders.
“They say there’s no evidence to suggest wire rope barriers are more hazardous than other roadside, or centre-of-road treatments, which is why they are used all over the world, he says.
“Victorians road users know wire rope barriers are very dangerous. Victorians who ride overseas know that no country uses as much wire rope barrier as Victoria. Some countries have banned it. Some are pulling it out. Some are not replacing it.”
He disputes claims that wire rope barrier saves lives in the majority of car crash incidents.
The MRAA has called for a search of video and photo sources including Youtube, dashcam.com and media libraries for images of crashes involving wire rope barriers to see how many perform as promoted by Road Safety Victoria, formerly VicRoads.