Grieving mother joins push to scrap rope wire road barriers

A Queensland mum who lost two children when the car she was travelling in ran off a road into a dam has joined a push to have deadly wire road barriers removed from state roads.

Road safety lobbyists and victims of tragedy are pushing to have what they say are deadly wire road barriers banned from Queensland roads.

The wire rope barriers, stretched out on thousands of kilometres worth of roads across Queensland, are being replaced in other states and were pulled out of the ground in many parts of the UK and Europe.

In Western Australia the controversial barriers have been removed, following a horror crash involving them that killed a young female motorcyclist.

Brendan Nielsen, who worked as a senior engineer at the Department of Transport and Main Roads up until 2016, said wire rope barriers in some cases were the best option, but their effectiveness was reliant on multiple other factors.

“Wire rope barriers are designed for a standard passenger vehicle, like a sedan.” he said.

Mel Martin and Dylan Wadley with Ace, 18 months, and Hope, six months. The couple lost two children in an accident at Wyaralong Dam. Picture: David Martinelli

“What it’s not designed for is a 4WD. It’s not designed for a mini-van. It’s not designed for a sports car or a truck. And, and obviously not designed for a motorcycle.”

Mother Mel Martin has joined a chorus of voices calling for the barriers to be reviewed.

Ms Martin lost two of her four children in a horror crash at Wyaralong Dam last year, on a road with wire barriers.

“If there was a different type of barrier there, it would have been a whole different accident,” Ms Martin said.

Her children Leo, 12, and Mia, four, both died in the crash while her two younger children, and herself and her now-husband survived.

“There’s so many what ifs that I could dwell on – and I choose not to – but the way the accident happened and the fact we were propelled into the water … I’ll never forget that day.”

Leo and Mia did not survive the tragic accident west of Brisbane. Picture: Facebook MJ N DYLAN

Ms Martin said she had dedicated time to researching the barriers following the crash and was pushing to have them removed or modified to prevent other families suffering the same unimaginable grief.

Mr Nielsen said wire barriers were the wrong choice for the type of road Ms Martin’s family crashed on.

“In the case (of Wyaralong Dam) there should’ve been a steel armco barrier,” said Mr Nielsen, who is now the Principal Engineer and Director of J.C Engineers.

Mr Nielsen said steel armco barriers are best for elevated or winding roads.

Wire rope barriers, or “cheese graters” as motorcyclists refer to them, are a barrier system that work on a series of small pillars, strung together with two or three horizontal wire ropes.

The scene of the tragic accident at Wyaralong Dam in November. Picture: Channel 7

RACQ Head of Public Policy Dr Rebecca Michael said the flexibility of the barrier meant they were more forgiving than harder options.

“Wire rope safety barriers flex and absorb the impact of a crash, lowering forces on the body and minimising injuries to vehicle occupants,” Ms Michael said.

Damien Codognotto from the Motorcycle Riders Association Australia (MRAA) has been pushing to have the barriers removed since the 1990s.

“This fence doesn’t do what the road authorities claim it does,” Mr Codognotto said.

“What we have seen on many occasions is that the wire rope is actually elastic and it slings the vehicle back out into traffic.”

A Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads spokesman said the barrier’s flexible nature allowed it to take the impact of a crash.

“In areas where high impacts could be more likely, we select more flexible barrier types, such as wire ropes,” a statement read.

“The main advantage of flexible barriers over rigid ones is their ability to absorb energy, causing less damage to the vehicle and occupants, and resulting in less severe injuries.”