Bollards Options

[Blake]

Has someone hit the bollards in the town center again?

How many times has it been now. Seems to happen almost twice a month.

[Andrea]

The voice of common sense. Thank you Hugh.
I believe I was the lady from out of town that was hit by the bollards the day after Margo. It was my first and last visit to Newbury. I wasn't speeding or driving recklessly, I was merely trying to find my way to the car park and ended up in the wrong lane due to poor directional signage with no way of escaping. I couldn't reverse back down the one way street into a busy junction or mount the raised kerb between the two lanes as that would be breaking the law. If the lane divider was merely a thick white line I could have quickly and easily corrected my mistake, no harm no fowl. Instead my car has been deliberately damaged by the bollards to prevent me committing a minor traffic offence. An extreme measure which has resulted in the 'potential' hazard being diverted from the pedestrain and becoming a 'certain' hazard to the road user. The supposed justification for this is that I may have run over a pedestrian. You can't tell me that the pedestrians in Newbury are immune to being hit by buses and taxis!
It is because I was watching out for the traffic in front of me as well as the pedestrians around me, on top of trying to navigate around unfamiliar territory that I didn't see the signs for the bollards eight foot up in the air above the car roofline. At the time I was not aware that I was committing an offence. I thought I could carry on around the one way system and somehow find my way back to the car park......or go home. Then it hit me! I will not be visiting Newbury again. Comments from passing slack jawed yokels did nothing to endear me to the town either.
I would like to thank the people who helped move my car out of the way and the car park attendants that gave me a cup of tea.

Hi Never Again,

I'm sorry this happened to you. But I'm really curious how exactly it came about... I can understand going down the wrong lane, it is a poor layout there, but how did you not see the bollards? Was there a taxi/bus in front of you? Sure the sign is a bit high up, but if I were driving down an unfamiliar lane, I'd have noticed a big black bollard standing out of the ground. Or if there were a taxi/bus in front of me, I'd have wondered why they had stopped before proceeding again. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to stop and think 'Hmm, why has the vehicle in front of me stopped when the road is clear?' And 'it hit you'... you mean you hit it. It's a shame you refuse to come back to Newbury because of this. There's bollards like this all over the country... you just happened to have hit these ones first.

I have to agree that the situation needs to be reviewed and changed before more of our money is wasted on fixing these stupid things! I personally think the best thing would be to have an arm barrier AND a camera installed. Arm barriers are more obvious and if someone goes to run through it behind a bus or taxi, it won't damage their car and they will be caught on camera and can be sent a fine for ignoring it. And they won't be able to use the excuse 'I didn't know!'

I believe that MOST of the people who hit these bollards are people who think they can cheat them... but I know there are some genuine cases where people were just confused. I hope both Never again and Margo are alright.

[Guest_Never Again!_*]

Hi Never Again,

I'm sorry this happened to you. But I'm really curious how exactly it came about... I can understand going down the wrong lane, it is a poor layout there, but how did you not see the bollards? Was there a taxi/bus in front of you? Sure the sign is a bit high up, but if I were driving down an unfamiliar lane, I'd have noticed a big black bollard standing out of the ground. Or if there were a taxi/bus in front of me, I'd have wondered why they had stopped before proceeding again. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to stop and think 'Hmm, why has the vehicle in front of me stopped when the road is clear?' And 'it hit you'... you mean you hit it. It's a shame you refuse to come back to Newbury because of this. There's bollards like this all over the country... you just happened to have hit these ones first.

I have to agree that the situation needs to be reviewed and changed before more of our money is wasted on fixing these stupid things! I personally think the best thing would be to have an arm barrier AND a camera installed. Arm barriers are more obvious and if someone goes to run through it behind a bus or taxi, it won't damage their car and they will be caught on camera and can be sent a fine for ignoring it. And they won't be able to use the excuse 'I didn't know!'

I believe that MOST of the people who hit these bollards are people who think they can cheat them... but I know there are some genuine cases where people were just confused. I hope both Never again and Margo are alright.

Hi Andrea
A bus stopped in front of me. I stopped behind it and did not see the bollards as they were concealed by the bus. In the meantime I was having a rant behind the wheel because I was stuck in the wrong lane and couldn't get across to the car park which i could see to my right and I was going to have to find my way around the one way system again. I assumed (being new to the area) that the bus had stopped to let passengers on and off. As the bus started to draw away I rolled forward (approx 5mph) and the next thing i knew there was a massive bang and my car stopped dead. The bollard had risen beneath my car and gone through the engine bay (ergo, they hit me !). I was shocked, I sat in the car looking around the road outside trying to figure out what I'd hit, but couldn't see a thing. I got out of my car and saw oil on the road but no obvious object. I saw the cicles in the ground (the bollards had retracted) and didn't know what they were. I'd never, until that moment, ever seen or heard of a rising bollard.
There is a Traffic Advisory Leaflet (4/97) on the Department of Transport website that says bollards should not rise beneath cars that are going over them (health and safety). Clearly, WBC have chosen to ignore these guidelines.
If a barrier had come down in front of me I would have stopped. If there had been flashing lights I would have noticed them. The only thing i have left to ask is, where would i have been able to stop my car safely, without blocking the traffic? If I had been let through and subsequently fined whatever the going rate is, I would have been a little pissed off but accepted it. Instead, I have now been told that it will cost approximately £7000 (ex VAT) to repair my car due to the damage caused to my car......engine written off, oil sump, front axle carrier, some of the steering mechanism. Way out of proportion to the minor traffic offence I was unknowingly about to commit.
I have been in tears on and off and very angry for the last two days.....not a good thing considering I am also pregnant. In my current state of mind I wish I had been let through the barriers so that I could run over the pedestrians that the bus drivers and taxis had obviously missed Pardon my black humour.
In my opinion, WBC are guilty of negligence and knowingly causing criminal damage to numerous cars and injuring lord knows how many car drivers (I know of Margo, hope you are getting better). It is time something was done to prevent these accidents from occuring.