AJS & Matchless Owners Club

The European standard guardrails are not safe for motorcyclists. Where trucks and cars are being prevented from colliding with oncoming traffic or from leaving the road falling motorcyclists face sharp-edged metal posts. The consequences of a guardrail accident are likely to be severe or fatal.

For years FEMA has been campaigning for a new standard which takes crash tests with motorcycles into account. Last year, at the European standardization body CEN, once more European countries could not agree on a new standard, even though fully tested concepts are available long since.

Instead of a binding standard, at least there was agreement to work out a technical specification. The latter (TS 1317-8) has been adopted on January 11th with an impressive majority showing that awareness for the topic is rising among countries in Europe. The promotion and the use of TS 1317-8 is an important step but it can only be the intermediate solution towards a common standard for motorcycle friendly guardrails.


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This debate has been going on for years, and in fairness some of the worst barriers from a motorcyclists veiw have been changed, but as someone who tangled with the centre reservation barrier on the M4 a few years ago I can categorically state that hitting a metal post concreted into the ground with your shoulder is not recommended. In fact it changed my life in several ways. Moral of the storey? Watch out for the guy who changes lane and ends up in the bit of road you thought was yours!