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See It; Report It

See It; Report It is an initiative to make reporting highway defects easier. Issues such as defective manhole covers or pothole, which are normally just an inconvenience to four wheel motorists, can be potentially lethal to those on two wheels. So, getting these reported quickly is essential.

One of the barriers that was identified in our biker consultation was that riders were often unsure who to report these defects to. By clicking on the See It; Report It graphic below, you will be taken to the relevant page to be able to report a range of highway defects. If you're not sure which local authority to report a defect to, this clickable map should help.

The See It; Report It details have been widely circulated to ensure motorcyclists know who to contact immediately so action can be taken on these defects faster.

   

Spiller Killer

Diesel spills - let's cap them!

Spiller Killer was the initiative that preceded See It; Report It. The scheme saw Devon County Council follow the lead of the national lobby group, KillSpills.

Diesel spills on Devon’s roads cause an unacceptable hazard to motorcyclists, and riders have asked us to help reduce the number of spills they have to deal with. Our survey of rider views, and our work with rider groups, has made it clear that motorcyclists feel that this is an unnecessary threat that needs to be addressed, and the anecdotal evidence is strong that riders can, and do, skid on diesel.

Diesel left on the highway by HGVs, buses, tractors and cars causes a slippery surface that is dangerous to all road users and potentially lethal to motorcyclists. Government statistics at the time illustrated that motorcyclists are twice as likely to suffer injuries from collisions as a result of diesels spills as a result of skidding on snow and ice.

To help combat this problem, Devon County Council’s Road Safety Team launched the Spiller Killer initiative – the aim was to:

• Raise the awareness of the problem, and the potential consequences and dangers to all road users.
• Encourage the reporting of diesel spills so we can take quick remedial action.
• Promote education at haulage companies, drivers, farmers, bus companies, petrol filling stations etc. about the problems caused by overfilling, poorly fitted fuel caps and poorly maintained vehicles - all of which can lead to diesel spillage.

This is not a problem for Devon alone. There is national recognition amongst rider groups that diesel spills are a very real issue and it’s in this context that we are trying to make progress on our own network. If we can cap this problem in Devon we’ll be making a real contribution to solving a national, as well as a local, threat to biker safety.

Clearly though we need your help to do it:

• If you run a diesel vehicle don't overfill your tank and remember to replace your fuel cap properly - it's money down the drain and bikers on the tarmac if you don't.
• Ensure your vehicle is well serviced. If you see a problem, get it fixed immediately before it causes problems to others.
• As well as causing hazards on the road, diesel also corrodes the bitumen road surface causing longer term safety problems.
• If you drop diesel on the highway you could be recharged with the cost of repairing the damage.
• Early reporting is essential. The earlier they are reported, the sooner they can be dealt with.
• If you are responsible for diesel vehicles in your work, or think that your fleet, safety or depot manager might be interested in helping to reduce wasteful and dangerous spillages, get in touch with us today.

How do you spot a diesel spill?

There are a number of characteristics that allow you to spot diesel spills on the road:

• Diesel spills have a rainbow effect in wet conditions
• Diesel has a distinctive smell
• Diesel spills are slippery underfoot

How do you report diesel spills in Devon?

If you see a diesel spill report it to Devon County Council online or call 0845 155 1004.

Make sure you can give an accurate location of the spill. This information is crucial. Diesel spills should be reported if they are approximately the size of a manhole cover or larger. They are particularly hazardous on bends, junctions and roundabouts where motorcycles are manoeuvring.

Remember: If you’re using a mobile phone first find a safe place to stop before calling.

The Spiller Killer campaign has been highlighted by the Institute of Highway Incorporated Engineers Motorcycle Guidelines and The Motorcycle Industry in Europe (ACEM)

Manhole covers

Slippery manhole covers has been identified as a major cause for concern for motorcyclists, particularly in areas such as on the apex of bends. These covers can be particularly problematic when they become smooth and polished or in wet conditions. However, changes are being made.

The European Standard for skid resistance of manhole covers is EN124, but there are calls to make this safer by increasing their grip to the same as a normal good quality road surface. This standard would need to be even higher in certain areas such as bends.

Work has been undertaken by the National Motorcycle Council, which includes organisations such as the BMF, Institute of Highway Incorporated Engineers (IHIE), the MCIA, MAG and the RAC Foundation along with Devon County Council. The UK committee working on the this issue has agreed unanimously to recommend a minimum ‘polished skid resistance value for manhole covers’. There is currently no such requirement in the standard. The next step will be to address this matter at a European level to gain support and agreement from the other countries. Achieving this should lead to a change in the Standard and a safer European-wide road network for bikers.

Welcoming the agreement, Chris Hodder, the BMF’s Government Relations Executive said: “I would like to thank Devon County Council’s Materials Laboratory and the IHIE for their work on this. As motorcyclists we know we need a level of skid resistance equal to that of the main carriageway, but what we needed was a technical specification and that’s what we have now been able to agree on.”

Sheila Rainger, Head of Campaigns for the RAC Foundation, added: “No one needs to be put at risk by a slippery manhole cover in the road surface. Safer covers are available but they are rarely used because the current European Standard does not require covers to be skid-resistant in real-world conditions. If the UK is successful in amending the standard, the roads will be safer for motorcyclists and for other vulnerable road users.”

Devon County Council’s Materials Laboratory is already working with manhole cover manufacturers on prototypes for an improved standard. These are currently being tested for their effectiveness and longevity in the county.

In addition, staff at the Materials Laboratory are also working with manufacturers to look at the reliability of retro fitted products that can be applied to manhole covers to improve skid resistance. This process is when a manhole is covered with an aggregate coating. Historically, these products have had problems such as not being able to withstand heavy volumes of traffic, which have seen them wear off fairly quickly. However, these products are improving in effectiveness and they will be continued to be monitored.  

Need to report a dangerous manhole cover in Devon?

   

Engineering For Motorcyclists

Devon is committed to creating a road network that is sensitive the to needs of all road users - and part of this commitment has been to ensure that our safety engineers, technicians and maintenance personnel are aware of highway design and maintenance issues that affect powered two wheelers.

There are several ways in which this is currently visible:

• Safety Auditing
• Training of key staff
• Road surfacing standards and technologies
• Parking provision
• Experimental signing projects

Safety Auditing

As a highway authority Devon is conscious of the need to maintain and develop its roads network for safety as well as efficiency.  A key tool in ensuring that our work contributes to road user safety is our Safety Auditing regime which checks and re-checks the design and build of our engineering works. A crucial part of any safety audit is ensuring that the design and construction of works is viewed from the perspective of all road users, and especially those most vulnerable to injury - including bikers.  

Training of key staff

Looking out for the safety of Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs) can only be effective if our key personnel are trained and experienced in assessing the needs of specific types of VRU.  That is why extensive training programmes for Devon County Council technical staff, and our colleagues in the Police road safety and traffic management units, includes:

• Designing for Vulnerable Road Users
• Safety Auditing
• Accident Investigation and Prevention

Road surfacing standards and technologies

Representatives from Devon County Council’s Material’s Laboratory are playing a major role in working towards introducing changes to the legislation for skid resistance qualities of inspection (manhole) covers in the highway. As well as having an officer on the European Steering Group for this issue, Devon County Council has become involved in a major consultation to ensure improved safety in this matter.

The European Standard for manholes, EN124, has been commented on by all of the EU member states and perhaps not surprisingly there has been a mixed response to the UK’s proposal for covers to have a declared skid/slip resistance value based on their “in use” condition (which is to say the skid resistance of the covers when they are in place in the highway and subject to regular use).

The UK’s proposals were bolstered by comments by motorcycle interest groups and Highway Authorities across the UK following Devon lobbying them with its suggestions for an improvement in the standard. Devon County Council would like to thank all those who responded to our call for comment and who consequently contributed to an improved standard being agreed in the UK. When we know more about the adoption of this standard at a European level we will post that information to this site.

One of the largest manufacturers of iron covers has produced a prototype of what they hope will provide high levels of skid/slip resistance. A number of these have been installed in Devon so that we can measure how well they perform under heavy trafficking.

Devon County Council have also been assisting other UK manufacturers to develop non-skid & non-slip designs & materials for a range of end uses - from pedestrian areas through to roads. It is hoped that UK manufacturers will be in a good position to meet the safety standards that should become a mandatory requirement across Europe in the near future.

As well as the work that is concerning the changes in the European Standard, work has also been undertaken to ascertain the effectiveness of the various ''retrofit'' materials that are currently available on the market (these are normally resin based products applied to existing iron covers and dressed with aggregate to improve resistance of the surface). To date, the trials to retrofit a skid/slip resistant coating have not been wholly successful as problems of adhesion are proving to be difficult to overcome. Whilst these materials on footway covers, which are only lightly trafficked by pedestrians, generally maintain their cohesion, tests on coated covers in the road, where wear and tear is far greater, have encountered problems.

95% of iron covers in the carriageway are not in fact owned by Devon County Council. They are in fact owned and maintained by utility companies and Devon is currently talking to the utilities to determine what their proposals are to deal with those of their covers that are identified as being slippery. Our hope is to achieve appropriate and consistent action across all the owners and maintainers of ironmongery in our road network.

If you any queries regarding ironmongery in the carriageway, please email questions to bikers@devon.gov.uk

Experimental signing

As a result of the high number of collision involving motorcycles, warning signs (30KB - pdf help) highlighting the dangers to bikers have been erected along the length of the A377 stretching from Cowley Bridge, Exeter to Bishops Tawton.

In all, there are a total of 17 signs that have been erected on the boundaries of stretches of roads where motorcycle collisions have been recorded.

The A377 has a poor history of motorcycle collisions. In the last five years, 33 riders have been killed or injured. The motorcycle crashes on this road show a range of causation factors from single vehicle collisions to crashes where there has been conflict between bikes and other vehicles. The signs are aimed at all road users to take more care, not just motorcyclists.

As part of this scheme, all roads in Devon network were analysed for motorcycle collisions to gauge whether other stretches warranted similar action. However, the A377 was the only road that suffered a consistently high problem of the most serious  motorcycle injury accidents.

We are now looking at high densities of crashes and casualties along more urbanised routes and where we are able to identify stretches of carriageway with conspicuously high numbers of incidents we will seek to sign those route accordingly.

Although these signs have now been removed, there have been positive results from them being in place as the crashes on the A377 involving motorcycles have reduced significantly.

A similar scheme was introduced on the A380 between the Penn Inn roundabout in Newton Abbot and Torbay. This is a route which had seen a high number of motorcycle crashes, particularly where motorists had pulled out of junctions in the path of bikers.

For more information, read the Devon County Council press release.