Safety ramps for out-of-control vehicles
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (326127)
Rockingham, Australia
July 20, 2018 4:20am CST
While we were in South Australia we stayed at Mt Barker which is up in the hills and about half an hour from the city proper. There is a long, steep decline into the city and trucks and buses are required to use low gear while descending the hill.
In case of emergency there are three safety ramps which trucks can resort to if their brakes can’t cope with the descent. The ramps don’t seem to be very long but they are composed of thick gravel which I guess is very effective in stopping an out-of-control vehicle. Have you seen these in your country?
11 people like this
16 responses
@louievill (28851)
• Philippines
20 Jul 18
That's a good idea, we don't have them here, people or government in our country in general are not safety conscious or think in advance, they will only act or conduct an investigation after something happens.
3 people like this
@louievill (28851)
• Philippines
20 Jul 18
@JudyEv almost all main islands of the Philippines is sea, flat land and mountain, lots of regions have a mountainous area.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (326127)
• Rockingham, Australia
21 Jul 18
@louievill So safety ramps might be a very good idea there.
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
20 Jul 18
We have similar things here for runaway trucks.
2 people like this
@changjiangzhibin89 (16543)
• China
20 Jul 18
It is very considerate of them to build the Safety ramps,which will be buffer zones in an emergency.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118555)
• Gainesville, Florida
22 Jul 18
I've seen them all over the place in the Rocky Mountains in the western United States. It's nice to know there is a backup safety option for trucks.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118555)
• Gainesville, Florida
29 Jul 18
@JudyEv It would be just like a wild roller coaster ride, only for real!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (326127)
• Rockingham, Australia
31 Jul 18
@moffittjc I was surprised how short the ramp was. They must really sink into it quickly to stop in such a short space.
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (95700)
• Marion, Ohio
20 Jul 18
I have not seen any here but do not live near any really steep areas
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (326127)
• Rockingham, Australia
20 Jul 18
They must be very effective as the gravel area seems really short for a runaway truck.
@Dena91 (15911)
• United States
20 Jul 18
We have them in our mountains here in NC. When training to become a paramedic I had to work in the mountain counties and a truck lost its brakes and went up into a runaway ramp. There were 2 occupants in the truck, the one in the sleeper compartment got thrown around and hurt. The driver was shaken up. It was difficult walking up that hill in the sand and bringing them back down. Most of us had sore backs and legs for several days afterwards.
1 person likes this
@Friendlypink (3805)
•
21 Jul 18
Wow that is a good safety invention. It will help for sure to save lifes on the road.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (326127)
• Rockingham, Australia
21 Jul 18
Some of the trucks here are huge and weigh a lot so if their brakes fail it is really dangerous.
@JudyEv (326127)
• Rockingham, Australia
20 Jul 18
They would be a comfort for the drivers to know they had somewhere to run off the road if their brakes failed.
