3 October 2017 | Brussels, Belgium

On 21 September, the ERF, in cooperation with IRF and the TRB, organised the 5th European edition of the AFB 20 (2) Roadside Safety Committee on International Research Activities.  Co-chaired by Michael Dreznes and Francesca La Torre, the event gathered around 90 participants from industry, certification bodies, academia and road authorities.

The first session of the event was dedicated to new research initiatives linked to roadside safety including the durability of safety barriers, evaluation of soil conditions and provision of updated guidelines for roadside safety in European roads.

The second session focused on industry developments in roadside safety for both safety barriers and passive safety support structures.  It included, amongst others, numerical performance assessment of bridge anti-falling load systems and the development of passive safety cabinets based on EN 12767.

The event was concluded by a panel debate on ‘Transitioning standards into real-life performance’. The five panelists, representing road authorities, safety experts and industry, debated how current performances standards can be improved in order to ensure better reproducibility of results on the road.  In addition, the need for a more coherent approach for certification bodies was discussed to ensure a level playing field for the sector.