As careful we might be in the maintenance of our car, above all in the mechanical part, we aren’t exempt that brakes fail in critical moments when driving on a highway, in that situation, a runaway truck ramp can save our life.
If you don’t know what this implement is, or if you do, but didn’t know their use, can cost you a lot of money, stay with us and discover everything about it.
Runaway truck ramp, what is it?
A runaway truck tramp or safety tramps is a road safety device which purpose is save lives and prevent accidents on highway. Their purpose is to brake vehicle which for any reason present mechanical fails, above all, when is impeded of their brakes.
Some highways in Mexico have these systems, which can be used by any private or freight car, in case of require it during an emergency. However, doing it can have a monetary price. We will talk about a it later. First, let’s know how a ramp of this class works.
Where are located and how they work?
A safety ramp is located in the most dangerous or accidented zones of a highway. Exist 4 types of it and are made of different materials, these have a steep slope, whether goes up or down, but always with the intention that vehicle lost speed in a safe way when get into this.
We must stand out that, you can brake with a vehicle without brakes, this can also have certain damages during the deceleration. However, these accidents will be minor that if the car crash against other car, barrier or infrastructure.
What are these made of and how to use them?
Even though at simple view seem even, actually, these ramps have 1 mt depth. These are filled with different materials, such as gravel and sand.
These materials will reduce the speed of cars thanks to impact energy is dispersed, allowing car slow down progressively, something that wouldn’t for example, by hitting directly against a retaining wall.
In case of needing a ramp, motorist must remain on its lane, and turn the emergency lights to make the others know their aim of entering and once within in, must maintain the wheel in straight position until the moment of impact or total brake.
In some tracks, are marked by a red color line that guides to motorist to the braking device.
Types of ramps
Exist four class of ramps, each with small variations but always with the same purpose of saving lives. These are:
Descending Ramps: manufactured with more dense materials, placed on slopes and their size is grater, considering the speed that cars can have in this situation.
Ascending Ramps: on the other hand, these have an upward slope for that are shorter and take less to reduce the speed. However, for that purpose also cause a greater impact on car.
Gravel Mound Ramps: made with gravel or dried elements that create a small mountain.
Horizontal: it has very specific granulars, including rubber. These have a greater length of the already mentioned.
How much costs to use a safety ramp?
At this point, you already know what a safety or runaway truck ramp is, how is used and the different types that exist, and what are made of. Now, we can simply solve the one million dollars question: when to use one?
The purpose of these ramps is to save lives, unfortunately in many occasions, motorists prefer to don’t use it due high costs that represent do it or at least, it was like that until 2023.
According to federal roads and highways (caminos y puentes federales), using ramp has no cost, but the price is for re-accommodate the materials.
The cost of ramps in highways and driveways of Mexico has a cost of at least 7 thousand pesos for cars of less than 3.5 tons, but for tractor units, the price goes from 90 to 170 thousand pesos.
Cost will depend of how much of the ramp was used to stop the car.
On the other hand, if the insurance hired by motorists or companies cover the use of amps, motorists won’t pay anything. For that, is recommended to check these points with insurance companies.
