Ooops ... sorry, I crushed your Mercedes

Boylan Group March 2013

Boylan News - in this issue

- BarrierGuard crash demonstration at Sandown

- Chance encounter leaves Mercedes driver crushed

- Teen driver deaths on the rise in the US

- Contractors face $729,000 in fines after road works death

- Visit by International Road Federation chief

- This month in motorsport

Happy motoring!

Peter Boylan, Allan Moffat OBE, Neil Crompton and Matthew Brabham

BOYLAN TEAM SAFETY

Boylan logo

BarrierGuard crash demonstration at Sandown

Watch the footage

BOYLAN Group's live crash demonstration at Sandown Raceway earlier this month was attended by more than 150 industry specialists from all around Australia. Watch here for footage from the day.

On show was the BarrierGuard 800, Australia's highest-rating road safety barrier. Sponsored by Coates Hire and Boylan Group, the demonstration involved a car impacting the barrier at 80km/h after crossing one lane of traffic at an angle of 15 degrees.

Boylan Group managing director Peter Boylan said the barrier performed superbly.

"True to its design, the barrier absorbed the impact and effortlessly redirected the vehicle back on to the road with minimal damage to the car or the barrier," he said.

IRF chief meets with industry leaders

IRF chief Mike Dreznes speaking at the BarrierGuard crash demonstration.

INTERNATIONAL Road Federation chief Mike Dreznes was a guest speaker at the recent BarrierGuard crash demonstration at Sandown. Watch here

Mr Dreznes was visiting Australia as a guest of Boylan Group and Roads Australia.

During his visit, he met with government and industry leaders in both Sydney and Melbourne, where he was briefed on the latest road safety initiatives in each state.

Mr Dreznes was also a keynote speaker at the recent Australian Road Engineering and Maintenance Conference.

Contractors fight $729,000 fine

Two contractors have been hit hard for their failure to keep drivers safe.

TWO UK contractors have lodged appeals against fines totalling $729,000 after a driver was killed in a collision at road works.

The 49-year-old man was driving along a carriageway at around 4am on November 25, 2007 when he failed to negotiate a bend at a road closure and collided with a stationary flatbed truck.

The father of two died at the scene from multiple injuries.

Enterprise (AOL) Ltd was responsible for the traffic management associated with the works, which were being managed by Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Services.

An investigation found that the traffic management was unsuitable as it was not clear that the road had been closed.

The investigation also identified that Enterprise (AOL) Ltd failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment, and that Balfour Beatty failed to properly assess the risk assessment or that the system being proposed was adequate.

In addition, Balfour Beatty also failed to adequately monitor the work of its subcontractors.

Teen driver fatalities on the rise in the US

Five teenagers died recently in Texas when their car collided with petrol tanker.

FROM the US comes news of a disturbing trend - teen driving deaths are on the rise.

Driving is the number one killer of teens in the US, accounting for about 25 per cent of teen fatalities each year.

Recently, the Governor's Highway Safety Association released figures that reveal that after 10 years of declining fatalities, teen driving deaths are now back on the rise.

Researchers say that although teen crashes seem random and unpredictable, they often follow a predictable pattern. And, there's a common thread for many fatal crashes - more than one passenger in the car, especially if those passengers are male.

A study released last year by the American Automobile Association revealed that teen fatality rates went up by 44 per cent with one passenger under 21 years old, doubled with two passengers, and quadrupled with three or more passengers.

US safety advocates say that existing laws restricting passengers in vehicles driven by teens are rarely enforced.

Ooops .... sorry, I crushed your Mercedes

Watch here

FROM Germany comes this next bit of silliness ... a video of a shiny Mercedes being "accidentally" crushed by a front-end loader. We think it may be a marketing stunt ... but, even if it is, it makes for good viewing!

Three-year warranty for SpeedCheck signs

SpeedCheck ... Boylan's speed advisory signs now come with a three-year warranty.

SpeedCheck speed advisory signs now come with a three-year warranty.

The signs are manufactured in the US, where they are chosen by more cities than any other radar sign.

The SpeedCheck sign, now in its fourth generation, features several technologies that ensure it outperforms other brands on the market.

These include:

- Superior visibility - better overall viewability.

- Superior vandalism protection - components flex up to 6cm.

- Avoids driver distractions - viewing in a narrowly-defined area keeps drivers' attention focused.

- Precise traffic data - records date, time and speed.

- Easy to repair in the field.

- Long life display - dramatically longer LED life expectancy.

- Lowest power consumption - two-thirds the power required by competitive products.

Call Mark Tierney on 0499 779 789 for sales inquiries or more details.

Boylan motorsport round-up

Matthew Brabham on the podium in Florida (left) and James Moffat (right)

at the Australian Grand Prix.

BOYLAN Team Safety Ambassador Matthew Brabham continued his dominating form by winning race 2 of the Pro Mazda Championship at the Allied Building Products Grand Prix in Florida at the weekend.

Coming off a sensational win in race 1 from 8th on the grid, the third-generation racer lined up for race 2 on the 5th position as per the new rules that were implemented recently for the series.

A confident Brabham was up to 3rd by the end of the first lap and passed his Andretti Autosport teammate Shelby Blackstack for the lead on lap 9.

With clean air in front of him, Matthew pulled away from the field to win by a comfortable 6.255 seconds, posting the fastest lap in the process.

"Today was a fantastic ... it's awesome to get one, two for Andretti Autosport," Matthew said.

"This is one of those weekends where everything has fallen into place.

"We had a little bit of trouble in qualifying, but came out on top with the win," he said.

Brabham now holds a 12 point lead over Diego Ferreira who finished third in the race today.

In only his second event aboard the Norton 360 Racing Nissan Altima, James Moffat claimed a clean sweep of top-ten results at the recent Australian Grand Prix, culminating in seventh overall for the weekend.

The highlight for the Boylan-sponsored driver was a flying fifth place finish in the second race, the first top-ten result for Nissan since the company's entry into V8 Supercar competition.

Variable weather over the weekend gave the team a thorough workout in a range of conditions.

"It's very encouraging signs to come away with the top ten finishes," said James.

"To be running in the top ten is nothing to sneeze at in this category, but there are some easy areas for us to improve on from a team point of view, so that should only make us better.

"We need to keep our heads down and keep chipping away at it, and hopefully we'll roll out in Tasmania with a good package."