WIRE ROPE SAFETY BARRIERS

Mr BIGNELL (Mawson) (14:57): Will the Minister for Road Safety inform the house about a recent road safety initiative involving wire rope barriers?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Employment, Training and Further Education, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for Road Safety, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (14:57): A new safety barrier aimed at reducing road crashes has won the 2010 SA Excellence Award in Road Safety from the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia. Wire rope barriers were installed last year along the centre of a 1.7 kilometre section of the Port Wakefield Road under a $2 million road safety program. The median wire rope barrier installation program aims to improve road safety and is jointly funded by the commonwealth and state governments and the Motor Accident Commission.

The installation involved widening the strip of road to create a two metre wide sealed centre median section where the wire rope safety barrier was installed. This section of road was recommended for treatment following crash analysis conducted by the Department for Transport, Energy and Infrastructure and the Centre for Automotive Safety Research. Many crashes and near misses were caused by vehicles crossing the centre line into oncoming traffic and, between 1990 and 2006, 14 crashes were recorded on this section of road, three of which were fatal.

The 1.7 kilometre long barrier has been closely monitored since March last year to determine its effectiveness and its potential application at other hot spots on arterial roads around South Australia. Since the installation of the wire rope barriers, there have been six reports of vehicles hitting the barriers but no injuries to drivers or passengers.

This innovative treatment is used extensively interstate and overseas, with evidence that it leads to a reduction in head-on crashes and other crashes involving vehicles crossing the centre of the road. The Port Wakefield Road trial was the first time a wire rope safety barrier has been constructed along a narrow, undivided median in South Australia. I congratulate all those involved on their award.