High Friction Road Surfacing
Discussion
http://www.antiskid.com.au/High_Friction_Road_Surf...
This stuff is becoming more common on roads I regularly use. Where it has been used on corners I'd argue that all it does is move the problem onto the next corner on the road.
One 'B' road in particular near me now has it at several corners. 5 years ago it had none and there were a few incidents of cars losing control at a particular corner. The high friction surface was installed at this corner and all that happened was they moved the problem to the next corner. Repeat this cycle over 4-5 years and we now have the current situation. If it continues like this the whole road will end up covered in it. I can think of 2 or 3 more roads local to me that applying this surface to corners seems to be the standard practice now.
I think the stuff gives the average joe public driver a false sense of security. They drive through a series of bends with the high friction surfacing thinking they can easily drive at 50-60mph in the wet and then they hit a section of road without this surfacing and they wonder why they are now upside down in a hedge.
More harm that good?
Doesn't address the real problem of drivers with crap and/or bald tyres?
Discuss...
This stuff is becoming more common on roads I regularly use. Where it has been used on corners I'd argue that all it does is move the problem onto the next corner on the road.
One 'B' road in particular near me now has it at several corners. 5 years ago it had none and there were a few incidents of cars losing control at a particular corner. The high friction surface was installed at this corner and all that happened was they moved the problem to the next corner. Repeat this cycle over 4-5 years and we now have the current situation. If it continues like this the whole road will end up covered in it. I can think of 2 or 3 more roads local to me that applying this surface to corners seems to be the standard practice now.
I think the stuff gives the average joe public driver a false sense of security. They drive through a series of bends with the high friction surfacing thinking they can easily drive at 50-60mph in the wet and then they hit a section of road without this surfacing and they wonder why they are now upside down in a hedge.
More harm that good?
Doesn't address the real problem of drivers with crap and/or bald tyres?
Discuss...
king drive....If its such a wonderful solution to making dangerous roads safer, why dont they use it on all road surfaces?? Wouldnt all roads be safer if they were all covered with the stuff?
Personnaly, where it has been put down quite recently the road is more dangerous as there seems to be a sandy lose surface left behind for the first few weeks until traffic/rain etc has washed it away!
Personnaly, where it has been put down quite recently the road is more dangerous as there seems to be a sandy lose surface left behind for the first few weeks until traffic/rain etc has washed it away!
There are some idiots who install it too. I remember they put some on the exit of the roundabout at J23 of the M1 heading towards Loughborough that ended just after the crest of a small hill and well before the corner had finished. Anyone thinking they could go round that one quickly would have got a surprise when they got to the top of there!
I've also noticed on well used routes it wears out. One example (if I remember correctly) is the A404 going to the A308 at the J8/9 roundabout of the M4. If the lights are green you can fly round that particular lefthander. Lots of people must do regularly as there is a racing line that has been worn through the high grip stuff and back to normal tarmac!
I've also noticed on well used routes it wears out. One example (if I remember correctly) is the A404 going to the A308 at the J8/9 roundabout of the M4. If the lights are green you can fly round that particular lefthander. Lots of people must do regularly as there is a racing line that has been worn through the high grip stuff and back to normal tarmac!
It's basically sticking a plaster over a piece of carriageway, where the aggregate is either a low PSV or very old, and in either case has gone shiney and has low friction.
It's quicker and easier than planing out and resurfacing with a new high PSV aggregate, but not necessarily cheaper.
At roughly £20m², it is not cheap, and the council won't put it down willy-nilly.
It's quicker and easier than planing out and resurfacing with a new high PSV aggregate, but not necessarily cheaper.
At roughly £20m², it is not cheap, and the council won't put it down willy-nilly.
Drive Blind said:
This stuff is becoming more common on roads I regularly use. Where it has been used on corners I'd argue that all it does is move the problem onto the next corner on the road.
On the basis that you can't cure stupid, surely the logical conclusion is to make the corners at each end of the road more slippery, and put gravel runoffs and nice squidgy tyre wall like a race track on the outside.Thus anyone driving near the limit either scares themselves or comes acropper in a nice safe fashion before they can hit something solid further down the road.
Half the time I come across this stuff, it's wearing away. People know they can take the corner faster, and so if they hit a dodgy bit of it, they're even more f00ked than if they'd been going slower!
It probably does reduce the number of accidents though, as I bet the average Joe wouldn't take the corner faster just because they 'can'.
It probably does reduce the number of accidents though, as I bet the average Joe wouldn't take the corner faster just because they 'can'.
On a twisty NSL road I regularly use this has been laid on a fairly tight bend.
All very good intentions, but unfortunately there's a massive metal man-hole cover right where your wheels are as you go around the bend and totally unavoidable unless you -
a. drive over the centre line
b. drive on the grass verge.
It caught me out once and my truck did a little dance but I know it's there now. Others might not be so lucky.
Brilliant.
All very good intentions, but unfortunately there's a massive metal man-hole cover right where your wheels are as you go around the bend and totally unavoidable unless you -
a. drive over the centre line
b. drive on the grass verge.
It caught me out once and my truck did a little dance but I know it's there now. Others might not be so lucky.
Brilliant.
Zip106 said:
On a twisty NSL road I regularly use this has been laid on a fairly tight bend.
All very good intentions, but unfortunately there's a massive metal man-hole cover right where your wheels are as you go around the bend and totally unavoidable unless you -
a. drive over the centre line
b. drive on the grass verge.
It caught me out once and my truck did a little dance but I know it's there now. Others might not be so lucky.
Brilliant.
That does make you think that someone's spotted a statistical trend of accidents on that corner and they've spanked god knows how many thousands of pounds on the solution dictated by the type of road without sending even one person that has a clue to look at a corner and spot the actual cause of accidents (the manhole cover) which would probably cost less to correct.All very good intentions, but unfortunately there's a massive metal man-hole cover right where your wheels are as you go around the bend and totally unavoidable unless you -
a. drive over the centre line
b. drive on the grass verge.
It caught me out once and my truck did a little dance but I know it's there now. Others might not be so lucky.
Brilliant.
Edited by The Wookie on Monday 8th November 17:10
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