Bollards Options

[AmieB]

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.

Hi Never Again, from what you say it was a total accident and you weren't carelessly driving around not looking where you were going. It must of been such a horrible shock, espcially as you are pregnant.
What you found on the website i think you should send to WBC....... Maybe they will re think and instead of bollards have a barrier, flashing lights etc. I feel this is much more appropriate.
Thats shocking how much damage it has done to your car
I still hope you visit Newbury again.

[TallDarkAndHands...]

I have a suggestion.

As it costs £100,000 a year to repair the bollards why not get a green goblin to sit on a chair by the barrier and advise errant drivers. It would save money all round.

[Simon]

Also another thought......


Could the buses and taxis who go through the barriers stop just the other side until they are fully risen so that any cars behind them cant go into them?

[Andrea]

I have a suggestion.

As it costs £100,000 a year to repair the bollards why not get a green goblin to sit on a chair by the barrier and advise errant drivers. It would save money all round.

I actually quite like that idea

[Guest_Bill1_*]

Also another thought......


Could the buses and taxis who go through the barriers stop just the other side until they are fully risen so that any cars behind them cant go into them?

Simon that is the best suggestion yet!

[Lord&Master]

If a bollard can rise up under a car, does that mean it wouldn't rise up under the seat of a pushchair? Or knock a pedestrian flat on their bottom? Are there any warning signs for the pedestrians about the bollards?? Is there anything to stop pedestrians crossing the road at that point? Are pedestrians protected game and car drivers fair game???

I'm pretty sure the bollards give an audible warning during operation, all be it loud enough for pedestrians but not car drivers. I also agree that it seems ludicrus that the bollards can actually keep going after an impact, you would have thought that as soon as the touch something they would retract immediately at the least but ideally have some kind of sensor to not get that far. Sounds very dangerous to me.

I am a convert after reading this thread. I used to be of the mindset that it was drivers fault, what with all the signs etc... but I agree the punishment does not fit the crime. Lets be honest, if someone does actually manage to get through they will get a lot of stick from any pedestrians so will soon learn of the error. Then if a nice little PCN or whatever it would be for this offence dropped on the door mat in a couple of weeks. Far less agro all round.

Have a good bank holiday fellow Newburians ;)

[Guest_Bill1_*]

There was another near miss this lunchtime, luckily the driver realised what was about to happen just in time.

However as he tried to do a 3 point turn to gain access to the car park another car came along behind it and started tooting at them for holding him up.

I think the driver of the first car got out and explained what was going on because the next thing was a nifty bit of synchronised 3 point turning.

Finally the first car then entered the car park but the second proceeded the wrong way back towards Market Street, fortunately not meeting any oncoming traffic head on. That car was last seen by me heading for the road closure sign at the new cinema roadworks!!!!

[Blake]

It's not just going on in Newbury, look at these numpties in Manchester;

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRCA8MvedIo

I have no idea how they think they can get away with it; the bollards will always win!

[Hugh Saskin]

Could not open the attachment, probably just as well. So it has become some grotesque form of spectator sport for some - says it all really and, of course, Manchester is really like Newbury, isn't it?

[Richard Head]

I have no idea how they think they can get away with it; the bollards will always win!

It's fairly obvious what the first silver car is up to and it wouldn't surprise me if the majority of "accidents" in Manchester, Newbury, in fact all over the country were of this nature.

[GMR]

Also another thought......


Could the buses and taxis who go through the barriers stop just the other side until they are fully risen so that any cars behind them cant go into them?

I think that is a good idea, but I can't see it happening. You know what bus drivers are like impatient.

[Guest_Never Again!_*]

I have a suggestion.

As it costs £100,000 a year to repair the bollards why not get a green goblin to sit on a chair by the barrier and advise errant drivers. It would save money all round.

I've been talking to a few people since the accident. The only ones that had encountered rising bollards were those that worked on MOD sites and other such large establishments. They are always manned. It does make sense. It would save the council money and the insurance companies even more money. Especially, as I found out, there had already been 11 other incidents since January (not certain if this is an underestimate??).

[funinuk]

If a bollard can rise up under a car, does that mean it wouldn't rise up under the seat of a pushchair? Or knock a pedestrian flat on their bottom? Are there any warning signs for the pedestrians about the bollards?? Is there anything to stop pedestrians crossing the road at that point? Are pedestrians protected game and car drivers fair game???

When the bollards are down, after a bus has gone through, many times I see students and youg people stand on top of them as they go up, this is going to cause injury and damage one day too!!

[On the edge]

Not withstanding all the arguments; standard statistical evidence suggests something is seriously wrong. If we have a strech of road, where accidents keep happening; no matter what other rules errant drivers may be breaking, something is done. We spend millions doing that. Here we have the exact reverse, we've actually installed a problem and haven't the honesty to put it right. I quite agree, drivers should be penalised for traffic infingements, but English law demands the penalty to be reasonable and fit the crime. Ignoring the sign is hardly endangering safety given all the other apparently essential drivers driving about on the other side. Methinks we are being somewhat medieval in our approach here.

[GrumblingAgain]

Congratulations on being so perfect Blake. I hope when the day comes and you make a terrible mistake (and you will because although you think you are perfect you are in fact human) other people will show you more compassion than you have shown poor Margaret here.

Rest assured, if a member of my family or myself is innocently driving along a road, and another motorists failed to spot a Give Way sign and markings for a split second, EXACTLY the same way they fail to notice the No Motor Vehicle Sign, and cause a collision resulting in injury, I will NOT be showing compassion to that other driver.

Yes it will be a terrible mistake, but I won't be trying to make excuses, and I won't be entertaining excuses from other parties trying to exonerate the guilty driver.

Having lost a cousin (as in now DEAD) to a motorist who had a minor lapse of concentration and observance, I cannot accept all these excuses for failing to abide by the legally posted and visible road signs. A minor offence one moment can easily become a major offence the next.

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.

And you chose to ignore several signs including one giving an order.

You can't reason with some of this lot Iommi they want to see these poor people punished for some reason. As you point out the punishment doesn't really fit the crime.

Better a wrecked motor than a wrecked life. It's a very effective warning though, I can't see the driver subsequently driving around with the same lack of concentration ever again.

I think more signs are needed to make drivers more aware of the bollards. Now I know we are all aware, but we live here. If your not familiar with a town and are following a taxi/bus you may miss the signs. Should that really result in your car being smashed up? No, i dont think so. A fine and 3 points is more appropriate. I dread to think the impact if a small child/baby is in a car seat in the front seat what it would do.

How many signs would be enough? Does 3 points on the licence really get the message across that lack of attention occasionally will kill? What's a child/baby got to do with the issue - In that case I wonder what a split second's lapse of concentration causing a crash at a low speed of 30mph do to a child/baby in the front seat. I wonder if you would be so understanding if *you* were the innocent party and the cause was a momentarily lack of observance from the other driver.


Stop making excuses - life isn't wrapped up in cotton wool to protect you 100% of the time - there are many times when *YOU* have to take full responsibility for your actions and consequences.

[Guest_Never Again!_*]

Not withstanding all the arguments; standard statistical evidence suggests something is seriously wrong. If we have a strech of road, where accidents keep happening; no matter what other rules errant drivers may be breaking, something is done. We spend millions doing that. Here we have the exact reverse, we've actually installed a problem and haven't the honesty to put it right. I quite agree, drivers should be penalised for traffic infingements, but English law demands the penalty to be reasonable and fit the crime. Ignoring the sign is hardly endangering safety given all the other apparently essential drivers driving about on the other side. Methinks we are being somewhat medieval in our approach here.

I absolutely agree with you.

[T Flood]

Has someone hit the bollards in the town center again?

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

Why are they painted black, and are the reflective band working.

under Traffic Advisory Leaflet produced by the govenment it does state the following

When considering whether to install a system including rising bollards, it is important that a risk assessment is carried out.

The designer should consider the benefits of the proposed scheme (accident reductions, quality of life, etc) against the possibility of malfunction and any associated risk or consequences.

Now aren't these bollards causing more accidents ? is it not time a safety audit was carried out, maybe additional traffic carming should added

[T Flood]

why cant we place traffic lights in front of these bollards, and not these silly little beacon lights

[GreenGerkin]

Hi,

I have been reading in the NWN about how many people are being caught out by the bollards, and that they are damaging their cars, etc. and they should be removed. I would just like to stand up for the councils decisions to put these bollards there. They stop traffic coming through the town, it was a major problem, and extremely dangerous, to all pedestrians, especially children.

Now back to the people ramming the bollards...
Right, when someone hits the bollards they say that there is not enough signage. I had a look as I walked past the other day. Coming from Bartholomew Street there are 6, yes SIX sogns saying either danger rising bollards or no entry to the town centre for cars. Seriously how do you miss this many signs?????? If you are on the road but cannot read signs you really should retake your driving exam, I'd put money on it that you would fail.

In my opinion, if you choose to wreck your vehicle on the bollards there should be some sort of fine for this. I would go for a fixed penalty fine for hitting the bollards, then a fine for criminal damage of the bollards, and then a bill for the cost of fixing them.
If this would put in place, I could almost guarentee that the number of people criminally damaging the councils property with their cars, because they couldn't be bothered to add an extra 3 minutes to their journey would be cut majorly.

Rant over for the time being....

Thanks

[On the edge]

Hi,

I have been reading in the NWN about how many people are being caught out by the bollards, and that they are damaging their cars, etc. and they should be removed. I would just like to stand up for the councils decisions to put these bollards there. They stop traffic coming through the town, it was a major problem, and extremely dangerous, to all pedestrians, especially children.

Now back to the people ramming the bollards...
Right, when someone hits the bollards they say that there is not enough signage. I had a look as I walked past the other day. Coming from Bartholomew Street there are 6, yes SIX sogns saying either danger rising bollards or no entry to the town centre for cars. Seriously how do you miss this many signs?????? If you are on the road but cannot read signs you really should retake your driving exam, I'd put money on it that you would fail.

In my opinion, if you choose to wreck your vehicle on the bollards there should be some sort of fine for this. I would go for a fixed penalty fine for hitting the bollards, then a fine for criminal damage of the bollards, and then a bill for the cost of fixing them.
If this would put in place, I could almost guarentee that the number of people criminally damaging the councils property with their cars, because they couldn't be bothered to add an extra 3 minutes to their journey would be cut majorly.

Rant over for the time being....

Thanks

Forgive me, but I think you've missed the point. First, it seems most of those involved are visitors; so not people simply trying to save a few minutes. Second, there are rather a lot of other dangers to pedestrians, especially children. Sorry, Bus, Taxi, Post Office, Securicor, and all the other 'permitted drivers' are by no means perfect. Third, it may well be council property which against the rules they apply so properly to everyone else should have been installed against the Department of Transport's best practice guidelines. And if you want to know how someone could miss so many signs - simply observe; see how many of us break the speed limits, use mobile phones, go through red lights, parked improperly...presumably things you've never ever done!