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

  • TEXpress adds reversible managed lanes
    April 19, 2017
    Land availability restrictions and tidal traffic flows have led to the implementation of a novel managed lane configuration in Texas, as Colin Sowman finds out. Dealing with traffic congestion related to the ‘tidal flows’ caused by large numbers of commuters making their way into major business hubs in the morning and returning to the suburbs in the evening, has seen the widespread use of adaptive signal timing and even reversible lanes.
    Read More
  • Maryland deployment for Vitronic Lidar
    September 2, 2022
    Conduent contract will see 90 Poliscan FM1 speed monitoring systems installed this month
    Read More
  • Future of US cooperative infrastructure networks
    July 31, 2012
    Peter H. Appel, the new Administrator of the USDOT's Research and Innovative Technology Administration, on his vision of the US's future cooperative infrastructure networks. Peter H. Appel comes to the post of Administrator of the US Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) from a background in transportation-related work which stretches back over 20 years. Most recently with management consultancy A. T. Kearney, Inc., where he focused on busin
    Read More
  • Innovative workzone glare safety shield
    February 26, 2014
    Among a range of innovations that US-headquartered Transpo Industries will bring to Intertraffic Amsterdam 2014 is Screen- Safe, a work zone and median glare safety shield. According to the company, this new product addresses the maintenance issues of the plastic ‘paddle’ type of glare screens that have dominated the market over the last few years. Screen-Safe is made from a unique double-reversed corrugated (DRC) fabric, formed from hot-dipped galvanized sheet steel. The DRC fabric is powder-coated to
    Read More

Highlighted Content