Queensland manufacturer ProTx has launched the first purpose-built vehicle arrestor for temporary static roadworks, the Arresta 100.
A vehicle arrestor is a safety and security mechanism designed to slow down or stop out-of-control or unauthorised vehicles.
The Arresta 100 was demonstrated at the Advanced Robotics Manufacturing Hub in Brisbane, and has been designed to ensure safety on regular road-working operations across Australia – a line of work whose hazards claims 18 lives, causes 245 serious injuries and costs $347 million each year, according to Austroads.
Behind these numbers are people. Colin Caudell, a road safety advocate from the same region as ProTx, lost his wife when she was hit and killed while the two of them were working together at a regional roadworks site.
His story was one of the catalysts that drove ProTx to develop the Arresta 100.
The new device has been constructed with accessibility in mind, as any road crew with a standard ute can tow the arrestor to a site and deploy it quickly.
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“It started with a simple question,” said John Ferguson, Founder of ProTx.
“Why isn’t there a barrier anyone can take to a site themselves with a standard work ute, and deploy it in a couple of minutes – without extra trucks, cranes or people?
“There wasn’t one. So we built it.”
The Arresta 100 is the product of five years of research and development. The device’s final design went through five proof-of-concept crash tests, before its final form was thoroughly crash-tested to MASH TL-3 (100 kilometres per hour) and independently assessed as crashworthy by Austroads.
The Arresta 100 is now in service with its first customer, Ventia – one of Australia and New Zealand’s largest infrastructure services providers.
Ventia was the first to commit to the device in December 2025, and signed for two units. The first entered service in April 2026, and the second is now in production.
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