You must have come across those shiny pieces of metals that barricade the highways in your city. Often, you must have wondered what purpose those guard rails serve and why much premium is usually placed on its quick installation. A Guardrail is not just on the highway to provide aesthetics, its function is pivotal to optimal safety.
Usually, roads constructed in big cities are bound to have many pedestrians using it. There have been many cases of drunk drivers losing control of their vehicles and running into the pedestrian section of the road. The safety of such pedestrians is usually not guaranteed if adequate barricades are not put in place. This article provides necessary information on these guardrails.
Where exactly are guardrails needed?
If you’ve ever come across highways that do not have much allowance between passing traffic and pedestrians, you’d see the need for guardrails. Often, the use of guardrails proves advantageous in areas where pedestrians are likely to be very close to the road. In other situations, guardrails are used in directing traffic away from densely populated areas where there’s a high volume of pedestrian crossings. In many populated cities, these rails are typically used in the demarcating regions where it’s unsafe to cross the highway. In recent times, the use of guardrails has become slowly adopted in crowd control. It’s not out of place to see guardrails football stadiums, concert grounds, and other events where crowd control becomes necessary. In all of these scenarios, it’s become evident that guardrails are primarily installed in areas where safety is needed.
Why should these guardrails be installed on roads?
There’s an increasing rate of mortality that occurs as a result of road accidents. Many of these accidents occur as a result of the loss of control on the driver’s side, coupled with reckless crossing habits. You must have noticed a pattern in which people cross recklessly when there are no barricades to control their movement. In areas where there’s a high frequency, it’s often necessary to control how and where pedestrians cross. To provide a lasting solution in these scenarios, guardrails often come handy.
The components of a typical guardrail
As earlier stated, the guardrail is there to provide safety to pedestrians plying a road; it’s made up of a robust metallic component that provides the necessary resistive force needed to serve its purpose. Although the guardrail is often not sufficient in completely halting the motion of a stray vehicle, it certainly limits the speed. The design element of the guardrail is also quite crucial as it provides a certain level of aesthetics on highways; this is why the paint job on the guardrail is equally as important.
Final thought
For many years, guardrails have gradually reduced the number o pedestrians that lose their lives as a result of the recklessness of some drivers. This article dissects some of the popular questions that arise concerning the use of guardrails on major roads.
