Passively Safe Road Products

Passive Safety

There were around 25,000 fatalities on the roads in the 28 EU states in 2014 (the good news is that this number has been dropping). A significant proportion of these road accidents are a result of collisions with signs, signals, poles and other items of street furniture which can now be made passively safe, offering a real contribution in the reduction of personal injury to the occupants of vehicles involved in such accidents.

Safety barriers are traditionally used to prevent vehicles hitting objects such as larger signposts, lighting columns and traffic signal posts. However, these are expensive to install and maintain and are a hazard in themselves. Crash barriers may not be necessary where passively safe street furniture (tested to BS EN 12767) is employed. Passive safety street furniture is approved and supported by the Highways England, Scottish Executive, Welsh Assembly Government and the Department for Regional Development Northern Ireland.

The Ritherdon passive safety product range

Ritherdon has a growing range of crash friendly products that are either tested to EN 12767 themselves (such as the passively safe cabinet) or are particularly suited for use with passively safe products (e.g. the clamping mechanism of the Atlas Retention Socket avoids damage of softer, passively safe poles).