Run-off-road crashes represent, arguably, the largest single source of serious road trauma in Victoria and contribute significantly to the road toll in all states of Australia. Sweden, a world leader in road safety, has used flexible barriers to reduce the occurrence of fatalities on treated routes by up to 90 percent. Flexible barriers, therefore, appear to offer a cost-effective and viable solution to this major source of road trauma. This research-based paper presents findings of world's best practice in flexible barrier use and reports on opportunities to apply, in principle, the flexible barrier treatments employed in Sweden, along Victorian roads, in an attempt to substantially reduce the number of severe run-off-road and head-on crashes. (Author/publisher) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E210298.
Abstract