Safety
In low-speed environments, curbs are effective at channelizing motor vehicle traffic. On higher speed roads, curbs should not be used because they can destabilize vehicles that strike them. A high-speed vehicle that hits a curb may actually turn towards the sidewalk, rather than be directed away from it. A vehicle that strikes a curb can be tripped into a rollover crash or vaulted into the air. The vehicle could be vaulted over a traffic barrier into the object the barrier is intended to shield. This is a reason why they are rarely used on rural or high speed roads. Where curb is used with a traffic barrier, the barrier should be close to or well behind the curb to reduce the chances of a vehicle going over the barrier.
Depending on the area and the distance between the travel lane and the edge of pavement, the white edge line that normally indicates the outside (shoulder) edge of the road may or may not be present where there is a curb. Reflectorized road marking material can also be applied to the curb itself to make it more conspicuous.
Read more about this topic: Curb (road)
Famous quotes containing the word safety:
“The high sentiments always win in the end, the leaders who offer blood, toil, tears and sweat always get more out of their followers than those who offer safety and a good time. When it comes to the pinch, human beings are heroic.”
—George Orwell (1903–1950)
“He had a gentleman-like frankness in his behaviour, and as a great point of honour as a minister can have, especially a minister at the head of the treasury, where numberless sturdy and insatiable beggars of condition apply, who cannot all be gratified, nor all with safety be refused.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“Man gives every reason for his conduct save one, every excuse for his crimes save one, every plea for his safety save one; and that one is his cowardice.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)