Vehicle Incursions at Roadworks - Why Prevention is Key and How to Achieve This!
Vehicle incursions in to road work areas are recognised as one of the highest risks to road worker's safety. On average between 250-300 incursions are usually reported per month by operations and major projects on the strategic road network. This figure could be higher as some construction companies and operatives just accept this is a normal part of the job and instances may go unreported. This figure is currently much lower at the moment due to the Stay at Home/Stay Alert Coronavirus message from the UK government and is sitting at 82 for April 2020.
What is a Vehicle Incursion?
An incursion is defined as ‘an intentional or unintentional unauthorised entry into temporary traffic management, by all or part of a vehicle being driven by members of the public or emergency services’.
Vehicle incursions can happen by accident or be an intentional act, to get to their destination quicker for example. Either way, if a vehicle incursion occurs on a highway works or construction site, it can cause serious injury or a fatality.
The three types of unintentional incursions include:
when a road user follows a works vehicle into the works in error, also known as a follow in
when a road user enters the works area as a result of confusion as to which way to go
when a road user enters the works area or traffic management as a result of a collision or to avoid a collision
How can we prevent vehicle incursions?
Education is important, particularly for the intentional incursion offenders who may not realise the devastating impact of driving through works when they are not supposed to be there.
Unintentional incursions can be prevented by making it very clear to road users that an entrance to a works site is strictly for a workforce or that a road is closed. This can be done by traffic cones but there is still the chance of confusion and won't protect against collisions.
Vehicle Incursion Gates
A more secure method of ensuring a works site is not entered by unauthorised vehicles is by use of a vehicle incursion gate such as the SoSec or Instaboom vehicle incursion gate. These specialist egress gates can be opened by key fob, key code, intercom or even a phone call, blocking access to anyone who shouldn't be entering a site. It should also act as a deterrent, if a driver is unsure whether they should be driving down a lane, a vehicle incursion gate should quickly put them off.
Both the SoSec and Instaboom vehicle incursion gates are solar-powered, with the Instaboom needing a quick charge every couple of weeks by site generator or have all year round charge simply by using solar panels. The Instaboom is a quickly deployed gate, easily assembled by one operator, where as the SoSec is a more long-term rental solution. There is now also the option for a GS6 Boom, a laser operated add-on to the Instaboom, which deploys if an over-height vehicle is detected approaching the site. An ideal solution for projects occurring near overhead cables or bridges.
Traffic Management Options:
Impact Protection Vehicles can also assist in saving lives and protecting workforces, with built in lorry-mounted crash cushions like the Safe Stop 90™ HD, (SS90). But we will discuss this further in another article coming soon.
To find out more about our vehicle incursion gates or any of our other road barriers or traffic management solutions contact us today on +44 (0) 344 840 0088 or email customer.services@highwaycare.com quoting 'roadworks vehicle incursions article enquiry'.