Motorcyclist Protection

In order to answer a request from the French authorities who wanted to consider and reduce the severity of accidents of motorcyclists hitting safety barriers, L.I.E.R. developed in 1998 a specific test procedure.

Since that period, every road restraint system must be tested following this test procedure when it is equipped with a motorcyclist protection system.

The procedure includes two tests, each involving the launch of a dummy fitted with measuring instrumentation from a sled in two different ways. The dummy is propelled towards the installed test item at 60 kph at a 30° angle and the two configurations are as follows.

For the first test, the dummy is on its back, head forwards, with its longitudinal axis parallel to the launch trajectory.

For the second test, the dummy is also on its back, but with its longitudinal axis parallel with the barrier.

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Performance and Acceptance Criteria

The following biomechanical criteria are applied for acceptance of the system:

-Head Impact Criterion (HIC)
-Neck compression criterion,
-Neck traction criterion,
-Neck shearing criterion.

One or more vehicle tests are added to the tests above to check that the overall system (new design or modified existing system) restrains a vehicle under the conditions required for certification.

When the motorcyclist protection system is added to an existing road safety system, the containment level must be unchanged, the only vehicle test to be performed being the test with the heaviest vehicle.

For a new design of safety barrier, the system must satisfy all the specifications from the European standards EN 1317-1 and 2