Fitch Displaceable Guardrail
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An energy absorbing, redirecting barrier to replace rigidly mounted guardrails and concrete oval walls. Instead of bolting rails to posts imbedded in the ground, this barrier is mounted on skids similar in action to the blocking sleds used in football training. The assembly will slide away several feet depending on the weight of the car, its velocity and angle of impact. Where space is limited, stops behind the rail will protect vulnerable areas that must be secure. | |
| The objective
is to limit the forces acting on the car to those required to change
its direction only, while transmitting a minimum of deceleration forces
to the car. Thus the change in velocity and the G's imparted on the
car are reduced. Because the severity of injury increases in direct proportion to the angle of impact, that exposure is reduced as the barrier slides away, reducing the effective angle of impact. This compliance minimizes the mechanical rebound and rejection into traffic that would otherwise result from an impact against a rigid guardrail or wall, and guides the car parallel to the barrier on its exit. |
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Copyright ©2016 by Race Safety, Inc. Portions copyright John Fitch. All Rights Reserved.