August accidents highlight need for concrete safety barriers

During August 2025 a spate of motorway accidents, where vehicles have crashed through the central reservation into the path of oncoming traffic, has highlighted the need to replace inadequate steel barriers with more robust concrete safety barriers believes Britpave, the infrastructure industry.

The accidents all have one thing common, the central reservation steel barrier failed to contain errant vehicles from crossing over into the path of oncoming traffic.

On the 1st August 2025 a lorry crashed through the steel barrier on the M5 between Junction 29 to Junction 28 causing significant damage to the central reservation. On the 4th August 2025, again on the M5, a lorry crashed through the steel barrier between Junctions 16 to 17. On the 11th August 2025 on the M6 a lorry crashed through the central reservation between Junctions 41 to 42.

However, on the 9th August 2025, the central reservation barrier on the M6 between Junctions 14 to 15 managed to contain an errant heavy goods vehicle from crashing into oncoming traffic. The reason? On that stretch of the M6 concrete barrier had been installed.

Steel barrier is only tested to contain vehicles of up to 1.5 ton car. In comparison, concrete safety barrier can contain errant 4x4 cars, light vans, buses, coaches and lorries of up to 13.5 tonnes. Indeed, as the M6 accident proves, they can contain heavy goods vehicles of up to 44 tonnes. The high containment level of concrete barrier is key to minimising the risk of crossover accidents. In addition, the 50-year design life and minimum need for maintenance removes the need for road workers to be present on dangerous, live motorways replacing damaged steel barrier. The long performance life also offers superior reductions in whole life costs and carbon.

Recognising their performance , in 2005 the Department for Transport made concrete barrier the default option for motorways where the average annual daily traffic level is

25,000 vehicles per day and where steel barrier needs replacing having reached the end of their 20-year life. In 2022, National Highways started a 3-year programme to replace 63 miles of motorway steel barriers with concrete including sections of the M6, M62, M42, M1, M4 and M5.

Joe Quirke, Britpave Chairman said: “Although there is a limited programme to replace steel barrier with concrete barrier, the spate of barrier accidents during August 2025 alone highlights that this needs to be accelerated and expanded in order increase the level of road safety across the motorway network.”

Furthermore, Quirke also notes that vehicles are getting heavier and so are increasingly beyond the tested performance of steel barriers: “The average weight of a petrol or diesel car is 1.5 tonnes whereas electric vehicles usually weigh between 1.8 to 2.2 tonnes due to extra weight of banks of batteries. Existing steel barriers fail to consider the increased weight of electric cars let alone the heavier vehicles such as vans, coaches and lorries.”

He concluded: “Concrete barriers are recognised for providing unrivalled strength, safety and whole life performance benefits. In the interests of better road safety, and as those thousands of drivers and passengers stuck in jams resulting from the closure of motorways following crossover accidents will confirm, their installation should be more widespread.”

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