KEY POINTS:
Transit NZ will review wire "cheesecutter" barriers after the death of a motorcyclist whose body was severed when he collided with one.
Daniel Evans' fatal accident has prompted renewed calls from the biking community to ban the barriers.
Some members are considering protest action to press for their
removal.
The roading authority said yesterday it was "committed to providing a safe state highway network" and was constantly monitoring its operation.
National operations manager Dave Bates said Transit would carefully review the official reports into the death to identify any road improvements that could be made.
Mr Evans, 21, died when he was flung from his motorbike and on to wire barriers on the Southern Motorway near Papakura on Saturday.
Bikers' Rights Auckland president Les Mason said although he was pleased Transit was taking events seriously enough to conduct a review, he would reserve judgment until he saw how deeply and objectively the incident was investigated.
"We would like to see them conduct a through investigation into the effect of these barriers in regards to motorcycles," he said.
The barriers should be set further back from the road, so that if a motorcyclist was blown off course he or she would have time to correct the problem before being driven into the wire.
Encasing the wires in plastic to dissipate their cutting force as done in European countries would also help.
A European study found 80 per cent of motorcyclists who hit wire barriers at more than 70km/h lost limbs, Mr Mason said.
There were not many median barriers on New Zealand's motorways until the late 80s, when a campaign was run by four Auckland intensive care doctors to get them installed.
Auckland District Health Board critical care medicine intensive care specialist Stephen Streat was one of them.
Dr Streat said that although the wire barriers were cheaper, they had pushed for the concrete version.
"As a doctor, there were concerns that the wire might act like a guillotine." he said.
"Vehicles can just glance off the concrete, and both sides of the road are more likely to be protected."
However, he said there had been a steady decline in trauma cases since 1989 - a notable portion of which he attributed to median barriers.
Police serious crash unit officer in charge Sergeant Stu Kearns said the circumstances surrounding Saturday's crash were still being investigated.
In particular, it is thought Mr Evans may have been travelling at up to 150km/h.
