Patent ID: 7677533

Claim:
A guardrail ( 1 ) comprising a number of vertical supporting posts ( 2 ) fixed successively to the ground along the edge of a road; and one or more longitudinal members fixed successively and substantially horizontally to said vertical posts ( 2 ) to form a longitudinal transverse retaining member ( 4 ) extending along the edge of the road, at a predetermined height off the ground; at least one of said longitudinal members comprises a rigid, controlled-deformation strip bent back on itself to form a tubular, complex-section body extending, substantially parallel to and at the predetermined height off the ground, from one of the vertical posts ( 2 ) to another of the vertical posts, and to define at least a first ( 3 ′, 13 ″) and a second ( 3 ″, 13 ′) longitudinal portion adjoining each other; the first longitudinal portion ( 3 ′, 13 ″) of the strip being bounded laterally by a first lateral edge ( 3 a , 13 a ) of said strip, being positioned facing the vertical posts ( 2 ) of the guardrail, and being substantially S-shaped, so that the first lateral edge ( 3 a , 13 a ) of said strip is located close to the top of the vertical posts ( 2 ), and a boundary line with the second longitudinal portion ( 3 ″, 13 ′) of said strip is located below the first lateral edge ( 3 a , 13 a ) of the strip ( 3 , 13 ), at a predetermined minimum height (h) off the ground; the second longitudinal portion ( 3 ″, 13 ′) of the strip being substantially C-shaped covering said first longitudinal portion ( 3 ′, 13 ″), from the boundary line to the first lateral edge so that a second lateral edge ( 3 b ) of the second longitudinal portion rests on the first lateral edge ( 3 a , 13 a ) of said strip.