In road safety engineering, kerbs (or “curbs” for our North American friends) are generally considered mountable. This means that when a vehicle exits the roadway, it will traverse the kerb and continue on without redirection. While larger or higher kerbs can be designed to redirect vehicles, standard barrier, mountable or semi-mountable kerbs are not effective in redirecting vehicles.

However, when it comes to motorcyclists, the considerations are quite different.

Barrier kerbs can destabilise a motorcyclist, almost certainly knocking them off their bike, as shown in the video below.

Semi or fully mountable kerbs, on the other hand, give motorcyclists a better chance of staying upright and maintaining control.

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