Barbwire fences are designed to keep cattle in or out of a designated areas. Barbwire intended to prevent human traffic requires additional measures. As previously mentioned it it may or may not indicate a boundary for a traveling human.
Where the wire is not intended to halt human traffic there is generally a people/vehicle gate in near proximity to where people are expected to cross the fence. A person should go to, and cross the fence at the gate.
There are a number of legitimate reasons for crossing barbwire fences where no gate is present. Assuming you are in one of those situations, consider this.
Barbwire is strung tight for a reason, that is what makes it an effective cattle boundary. Stretching it to allow a human to pass between/over strands or using it as ladder to climb a post will alter its effectiveness at being a cattle boundary. That alteration can make the fence an ineffective cattle barrier and/or increase the chance that cattle will be injured by it.
The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence
- If the fence is used to contain cattle, there will be cattle who want to sample the grass on the other side.
- An unassisted human can't cross a barbwire fence without altering it's cattle containment properties
- A single person crossing may or may not make the fence ineffective, but some do, and several person crossing definitely will require fence maintenance to correct damage.
- Stretching the fence to climb through creates a gap that will allow cattle to put their head through, this creates safety issues for the cattle.
- Climbing the fence at the post tends to loosen and/or completely remove the staple that is holding the wire to the post.
- It is not unusual for a barbwire fence to fail catastrophically during a human crossing.
When you cross a barbwire fence, you are assuming liability for damage to it. If you are not prepared to correct that damage, don't cross
Crossing a barbwire fence is kind of like dropping a glass bottle from shoulder height, it probably won't break the first time, but it might, and if you do repeatedly it will, and it will create a safety hazard that needs to be addressed before it causes injury.