NEW ZEALAND WORLD FIRST HELPS SAVE LIVES

The world's first safety device designed specifically to reduce the impact of vehicles colliding with utility poles and trees and has been installed on Papakura's busy Hingaia Road.

The "Raptor™ is a fully recyclable protector that wraps around utility poles or even trees reducing the severity of 'run off road' accidents which account for approximately 30 per cent of all road incidents in New Zealand.

Papakura District Council has carried out work on a section of Hingaia Road where several road accidents have happened recently.  They have made improvements to the road surface and widened the sealed as well as installed two Raptors at two potentially dangerous power pole sites to reduce risks to motorists.

Not only is the Raptor™ innovation a potentially life saving device, it could be a cost saver.

The total social cost of a road fatality in New Zealand is around $3.5million per fatality (or death) and $372,000 per serious injury a year^(1).

The Raptor™ could also mean savings for Councils and ratepayers and potential reductions in ACC claims according to distributors of the Raptor™, CSP Pacific.

"The crash test results reveal startling evidence to show that the severity of impact when a car hits a protected versus unprotected pole is significantly reduced," says CSP Pacific Business Development Manager, Raymond Kuys. "Based on this evidence, it would be illogical not to install Raptors on potentially lethal or high risk poles and trees on New Zealand roads," he says.

Papakura District Council is the first in New Zealand to adopt the new technology.  The Council's Capital Works Manager, Richard Firth, says the move to install Raptors is a proactive one to mitigate the immovable power poles and create a safer stretch of road.

"While we have reduced the on-road risk by improving road texture and widening the seal, it was important that we didn't in fact create another potential danger spot," says Mr Firth.

"It is not economically practical to go out and relocate or remove these potential hazards at present, but we are able to provide a quick and effective solution to the problem by using Raptors.  If a relocation programme for the power poles can be implemented in the future, the Raptors can be moved and reused elsewhere."

The Raptor™ is a highly compact and cost effective alternative to use of a full scale crash cushion or removing and relocating poles and trees.  It is a New Zealand innovation by North Shore based company, Armorflex, and has been crash tested to modified NCHRP350 criteria, an American crash test standard used on New Zealand roads.

When a utility pole protected by a Raptor™ is hit head on with a 900kg vehicle at 80km per hour, the impacting vehicle is brought to a controlled stop.  When hit side on at the same speed, the Raptor™ redirects the impacting vehicle by up to 20 degrees in a safe manner.

The Raptor™ comes in two sizes - Raptor 300 at $4300.00 + GST and the Raptor 600 at $4900.00 + GST.

^{(1) www.transport.govt.nz/ourwork/Land/Landsafety/QuestionsandAnswers-SocialCostofRoadCrashesandInjuriesReport.}