How Road Barriers Stopped Killing Drivers

We've gotten way better at the engineering and design of road barriers — often in surprising ways — to dramatically reduce driving deaths. To understand crash costs better, NPR has a great podcast on how life is valued: https://www.npr.org/2020/04/15/835571843/episode-991-lives-vs-the-economy - - - - 🌟 🌟 UPDATE: Dec 12, 2023 🌟 🌟 New video is out! When does your car become unsafe? https://youtu.be/OnWpZKhDgAo - - - - SUPPORT ME If you enjoyed this video, consider supporting me so I can produce more of this kind of content: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/andrewlam http://paypal.me/carcamcentral - - - - SOURCES It took a full month to research this video. Here are some of the most important sources I've used: NDDOT - Guardrail Training and Information: https://www.dot.nd.gov/divisions/maintenance/guardrail/ WDOT Cable Barriers: https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/812.1.pdf FDOT - Guardrail – How it Works: https://youtu.be/iUjlD24945c Alberta Roadside Design Guide: https://www.alberta.ca/roadside-design-guide-table-of-contents.aspx NHTSA Fatality Causes: https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812927 Midwest Roadside Safety Facility: https://mwrsf.unl.edu/ for their excellent videos on crash tests they've done FHWA Crash Costs for Highway Safety Analysis: https://trid.trb.org/view/1539891 Texas A&M Transporation Institute's Videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/ttitamu A comparison of freeway median crash frequency, severity, and barrier strike outcomes by median barrier type https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29715626/ - - - - TIMELINE 0:00 Driving deaths are WAY less 1:01 How we test barriers for safety 2:37 When barriers are used or avoided 3:19 The surprising design of concrete barriers 4:37 How guardrails are designed to absorb energy 5:44 Why concrete & guardrail connections stopped crushing vehicles 6:08 Cable barriers and how they gently slow vehicles down 6:42 Why some people think cable barriers are dangerous 8:23 How guardrails used to impale people 9:26 How new guardrail ends actually save drivers 11:00 How larger structures are protected 13:16 What your life and limbs are worth ($$$$) 13:55 What if saving your life isn't "worth it"? Credits Drekken Pownz for his critical input on storytelling, content strategy, and design Sam Leung for his feedback and listening to me complain