Traffic barrier

Common card · No. 446486

Traffic barriers (also called guardrails or guard rails in North America, crash barriers in Britain, and Armco barriers in auto racing) keep vehicles within their roadway and prevent them from colliding with dangerous obstacles such as boulders, sign supports, trees, bridge abutments, buildings, walls, and large storm drains, or from traversing steep (non-recoverable) slopes or entering deep water. They are also installed within medians of divided highways to prevent errant vehicles from entering the opposing carriageway of traffic and help to reduce head-on collisions. Some of these barriers, designed to be struck from either side, are called median barriers. Traffic barriers can also be used to protect vulnerable areas like school yards, pedestrian zones, and fuel tanks from errant vehicles. In pedestrian zones, like school yards, they also prevent children or other pedestrians from running onto the road. While barriers are normally designed to minimize injury to vehicle occupants, injuries...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Ralf Roletschek (talk), GFDL 1.2