Case study
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Background

It has been estimated that vehicle collisions with rigid roadside features such as sign posts cause over 15% of all road fatalities. In the UK alone there are approximately 100 deaths and 3000 serious injuries per annum resulting from vehicles hitting street furniture such as sign posts and street lights.

The impact of the tragic loss of life and medical after care for seriously injured victims and the effect on the European economy has led to the introduction of EN 12767 which stipulates that all roadside furniture on roads with a speed limit over 50 Km/h should be passively friendly ( i.e crash friendly ) and thereby reduce deaths and serious injuries resulting from errant vehicles hitting permanent roadside support structures.

Solution

Over 10 years ago Gerry Boyce worked with 3M to design, develop, test and certify composite sign posts to EN 12767. This patented technology resulted in the safest sign post on the market. The developed solution involves pultruding a range of collapsible composite posts with varying diameters as a direct replacement of rigid steel posts. The Intellectual Property was purchased from 3M in 2010 and the product is now being commercialised through a spin of company Frangible Safety Posts Ltd. ( Link to…….. )

Benefits

• The benefits of Passively safe composite posts are as follows
• Reduced deaths and serious injuries
• Lightweight and ease of installation
• Identical installation techniques and accessories as for steel posts
• Corrosion resistance and maintenance free
• Increased durability and 50 year projected life
• Full range of colours

Areas of Expertise

• Composite Post design to EN 40 ( street Lights), EN 12898 ( sign posts ) and EN 12767 ( passive safety)
• Pultrusion of composite posts
• Materials selection- fibre and resin
• Painting and coating to resist the UV and the environment
• Crash simulation software
• Testing of posts to EN 12787, EN 40 and EN 12767
• IP and Patenting
• Business planning and fund raising