Gravel on the road surface creates a serious low traction risk for motorcyclists.
In this video you can see an unsealed road meeting a sealed surface. This is what’s referred to as an “unsealed bellmouth” and it’s a well known source of gravel being washed or tracked onto the sealed roadway by vehicles exiting the side road.
For a rider leaning into a curve or braking on approach, even a small amount of loose gravel can be enough to cause a loss of control.
One effective treatment is sealing back into the bellmouth of the unsealed side road. This helps keep the gravel on the sealed section of the side road instead of being dragged onto the through road where motorcycles are travelling at higher speeds.
It’s a relatively simple treatment, but one that can make a meaningful difference to rider safety.
This is one of the practical engineering and maintenance techniques we cover in the Safe System Solutions “Making Roads Motorcycle Friendly” training course for road designers, engineers, maintenance crews, and road managers.
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