To help lower the number of motorcycle-related fatalities the NZ Transport Agency has installed new safety rails along the popular Coromandel loop.

The innovative rails, which are a first for New Zealand, have been added to existing roadside safety barriers along the 130km-long state highway that passes through Kopu, Whangamata, Waihi and Paeroa.

New safety barriers designed to better protect motorcylclists in a crash have been installed along the 130km-long Coromandel loop. Photo: NZTA

Funded through the Motorcycle Safety Levy, it's the latest in a range of safety improvements rolled out under the interagency Safer Rides motorcycle safety project.

Motorcycle Safety Advisory Council chair Mark Gilbert says the game changing new safety rails are now in place at 19 sites along the Coromandel loop.

'Recent overseas studies have shown motorcyclist safety rails are the most effective way to prevent serious injuries, as the motorcyclist is redirected away from the unforgiving barrier posts,” he says.

'Making our roads as motorcyclist-friendly as possible is a top priority for us. Quite simply, the more forgiving the roads and roadsides, the more survivable the crashes and the more lives saved.

Statistics show around four per cent of fatal motorcycle crashes involve collisions with the traditional roadside barriers, which are designed primarily to protect people in cars.

'It's about creating a more forgiving roadside environment so that motorcyclists who crash will sustain less serious injuries,' says Mark.

Over the past year the interagency project has made carried out a range of improvements to the scenic route – from wider edge-lines and more forgiving covers for concrete pipes through to rescue helicopter landing pads.

Safer Rides is led by the NZ Transport Agency which works in partnership with the Motorcycle Safety Advisory Council, ACC, Thames-Coromandel and Hauraki District Councils, the Waikato Regional Council and NZ Police.

For more information visit the NZ Transport Agency's website at: www.nzta.govt.nz