Enhancing Australian Road Safety with ProTx
A novel 7-metre, 2-tonne vehicle barrier trailer designed to protect road workers at temporary sites.
Brisbane-based ProTx was founded in 2020 by John Ferguson to address a persistent road safety problem: workers at temporary worksites remain exposed to live traffic, protected only by signs, cones and conventional barriers not designed to stop a vehicle. Austroads data estimates 793 annual crashes at Australian roadside worksites: 18 fatal, 245 serious injury, 530 minor injury, more than two incidents per day.
ProTx's product, Arresta100, is a seven-metre, two-tonne barrier trailer towable by a standard work ute and deployable in minutes. It comprises two parts: a sacrificial cassette using crush boxes and tubes to absorb collision energy through controlled deformation, and a reusable heavy-duty steel main body. The system uses the mass and friction of the impacting vehicle itself to help dissipate energy. After a crash, the cassette is unbolted and replaced; the main body is inspected and returned to service within weeks.
Unlike software, Arresta100 could not be launched as an MVP. It had to pass formal crash testing and road authority approval before it could be sold. Early proof-of-concept testing occurred in New Zealand. A 70km/h test generated base simulation data; scaling to 100km/h more than doubled the collision energy the system had to absorb. The path to approval required hundreds of simulations, prototype iterations, formal crash testing and dual compliance: roadworthiness as a trailer and safety performance as a road barrier.
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ARM Hub entered the project after early proof-of-concept, during the Industry Growth Program Advisory Service stage. The focus shifted from proving the barrier concept to preparing it for commercial manufacture. Four interconnected challenges were addressed: assembly process (what to keep in-house versus outsource, and how to achieve consistency at volume); facility layout (configured for 10–20 units in Year 1, 50 in Year 2); procurement and inventory systems; and labour cost modelling. ARM Hub's support included design review for manufacture, manufacturing system optimisation, robotic and cobot welding integration, facility layout planning, procurement and inventory planning, and access to hardware-ready workspace including a gantry crane capable of handling the near-tonne cassette. A co-design workshop produced a Manufacturing System Optimisation Plan aligned to Year 1 and Year 2 targets.
The support was iterative rather than a point-in-time engagement, continuing through prototype development, crash testing, cassette assembly and early manufacturing planning. Moving beyond data, design and networking, ARM Hub's unique model provides support that is also suited to hardware startups that need physical space and engineering expertise, not just desk space.
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ProTx has completed its first production unit, handed to leading to Australian road maintenance company Ventia as its first customer and go-to-market partner. Formal market launch is scheduled for June 2026, with targets of 20 units in Year 1 and 50 in Year 2. The longer-term ambition is global: temporary roadwork and incident response are universal challenges, and a towable, rapidly deployable, reusable barrier has relevance wherever crews work beside live traffic.
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