Skip to main content

Gamba aims to keep motorcyclists safe

Motorcyclists are one of the most vulnerable groups of road users. Their lack of protection from accident impacts puts them at particular risk.
April 6, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Motorcyclists are one of the most vulnerable groups of road users. Their lack of protection from accident impacts puts them at particular risk.


And while many modern crash barriers work well in redirecting vehicles back along the median, rather than crossing the central reservation and causing head-on crashes, these barriers do not work well with motorcyclists, says 8398 Gamba Safety.

Hitting a barrier’s support or metal edge can cause severe injuries, even death.

The Italian company is launching a new system that can replace or upgrade existing barriers and greatly reduce the impact force involved.

It consists of a sliding cable barrier system that is placed in front of existing barriers. Unlike most cable-based restraint systems, the Gamba Sliding Coated Cable Barrier (GSCCBS) does not have pre-tensioned cables. Instead, the cables have a certain amount of ‘give’.

This means, says Gamba, that the cables absorb up to 80% of the impact force, dissipating it along the cable and into the ground. Additionally, a net or special cloth fixed horizontally along the base of the barrier ‘catches’ motorcyclists, rather than bouncing them back into the traffic stream.

The cables have a steel core, surrounded by several layers of woven polyester and Kevlar. Even if the central cable snaps under the impact, the layers of fabric prevent any debris being scattered along the roadway.

Gamba Safety’s new system has been launched in co-operation with ANAS, Italy’s Roads and Highways Agency, which has just received €2 million to upgrade existing barriers.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Does enforcement merit a place in the EU's ITS action Plan?
    February 3, 2012
    Colin Wilson, IBI Group, looks at the implications for enforcement of the European Commission's new Action Plan for the Deployment of ITS in Europe
  • Road safety charity calls for ban on hands-free phones in vehicles
    June 8, 2016
    Following new research from psychologists at the University of Sussex, road safety charity Brake has renewed its calls for the UK government to look again at the laws around driving and mobile phone use. The study, published in the Transportation Research Journal, shows that drivers who are engaged in conversations that spark their visual imagination are much less able to spot and react to potential hazards. When the drivers involved in the study were asked about a subject that required them to visualis
  • Machine vision develops closer traffic ties
    January 11, 2013
    Specifiers and buyers of camera technology in the transportation sector know what they need and are seeking innovative solutions. Over the following pages, Jason Barnes examines the latest developments with experts on machine vision technology. Transplanting the very high-performance camera technology used in machine vision from tightly controlled production management environments into those where highly variable conditions are common requires some careful thinking and not a little additional effort. Mach
  • Mobile communications could revolutionise traffic management
    February 1, 2012
    Rudolf Mietzner looks at how machine-to-machine technologies and applications will affect the automotive sector in the coming years