Seven Major Uses for Safety Bollards

Safety bollards are the workhorses of the security and traffic management world.  They serve an almost endless variety of roles, from directing traffic to protecting sensitive installations.  Here’s a look at seven of the most important ways in which they serve.

1. Traffic calming – Safety bollards are used to delineate car-free zones, prevent spillover parking on sidewalks, and reduce traffic speed by narrowing lanes.  Additionally, studies by the Transportation Research Institute of Israel have found that strategically placed safety bollards can reduce the frequency of automotive accidents.  In some cases, these purposes are best served by flexible metro bollards that bend upon impact.  In other instances, officials use heavily reinforced safety bollards made of steel with concrete cores.  In recent times, portable bollards have begun to replace traffic cones for use around roadway worksites.
   
2. Illuminating darkened areas – Wrongdoers typically seek dark, poorly lit places to commit crimes.  To discourage such behavior and enhance visibility, many modern safety bollards are outfitted with lighting devices.  In some cases, the bollard is a totally self-contained unit that operates via small solar panels, a built-in battery, and LEDs.  In other cases, safety bollards are connected to the power utility and joined in an electrical network.  Reflective bollards are often used to mark sensitive areas; officials rely on their ability to reflect oncoming headlights.
3. Deflecting vehicle tires – Bell-shaped safety bollards are used for this purpose in many parts of the world, including continental Europe and the United Kingdom.  They help to safeguard both property and pedestrians from stray vehicles.
4. Enabling periodic traffic control measures – Some facilities require concentrated traffic management during certain periods of time.  These include school zones, houses of worship, and factories that employ shift workers.  In such cases, portable safety bollards serve an important role.  Sometimes these products are temporarily mounted into permanently affixed metal sockets at road or ground level.  Other times, safety bollards are outfitted with electric or hydraulic mechanisms that operators can raise or lower as needed.  With advances in artificial intelligence, officials are using so-called “smart bollards” in some areas.  These devices can position themselves as needed based on incoming sensory data.
5. Enhancing driver safety during racing events – In some cases, sporting officials use safety bollards to mark sharp corners and other segments of raceways that might compromise the safety of the competitors.  These products are designed to break away from their base very easily, should a vehicle strike them.
6. Controlling access – Many types of safety bollards serve in this capacity.  They range from simple flexible structures joined together by yellow caution tape to substantial monuments that do double-duty as raised flowerbeds or sculptures.  Police officers use safety bollards to direct civilians away from crime scenes, as commonly shown on television and in motion pictures.  Permanent safety bollards can weigh many tons, and are designed to deflect oncoming vehicles traveling at high speeds.  This particular use for bollards has become increasingly common in the years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
   
7. Helping to preserve historic sites – In the United States, the National Register of Historic Places includes more than 90,000 buildings, objects, sites, districts and structures.  Many of these locations are easily damaged or defaced.  In such cases, officials often use safety bollards to discourage both careless activities and outright vandalism.  The bollards used range from lightweight portable structures to sizable fixtures, depending on budgetary priorities and changing circumstances.

Conclusion

The world becomes more crowded with each passing day, creating an ever-growing need for effective security measures.  Safety bollards serve an important role in this regard.  Their value as public protectors will only increase in the coming years.

Parking Bollards Help Ensure Parking Lot Safety

Parking bollards help prevent accidents in parking lots across the United States.  Installing them is one of the most effective steps lot owners and managers can take to ensure safety on the properties they are responsible for.  These bollards can take one of three different forms, depending on local needs:

1.      Solid bollards - these are permanently mounted into the lot’s substrate.  Their purpose is to provide an unyielding barrier against vehicle owners that try to park or drive in unauthorized areas.  They are usually made of steel, filled with concrete, and painted bright colors, such as yellow, to make them more noticeable.  These are among the most common parking bollards found in the United States due to their strength and low maintenance requirements.  However, embedded types cannot easily be relocated to meet changing demands.  There have been advances in surface mount bollards that are stronger than traditional welded plate bollards.

2.      Retractable bollards - these can be raised or lowered as needed during particular events or times of day.  When not in use, they drop into pre-drilled slots buried in the ground, and are then raised by manual or mechanical means when needed.  These parking bollards are ideal for use in locations with changing layouts.  However, their higher cost makes them unworkable for some organizations. 

3.      Flexible bollards - these are used on an as-needed basis.  They bend when struck by a vehicle, so they provide little deterrence to those who are determined to break the rules.  However, their affordability makes them a perfect solution when parking bollards are needed for short-term use, such as during special events like community festivals or concerts.  Their lightweight construction keeps them from damaging vehicles when struck while also safeguarding them from being damaged themselves.

Deciding which type of bollard is best for your location depends on factors such as budget, ongoing needs, and local conditions.  Given their role in helping to ensure parking lot safety, however, some type of bollard is necessary for virtually any property where drivers park.

Originally posted at SlowStop.com

Gaining Peace of Mind with Traffic Bollards

Traffic bollards are the most common bollards found today.  They’re used both to guide traffic and to help ensure public safety.  They accomplish the first objective by their visual presence, which alerts motorists to the need to follow a marked route or to avoid a prohibited area.  They fulfill the second purpose by forming physical barriers, strong enough to stop an errant motorist or out-of-control vehicle from striking passersby.

Traffic bollards are often painted bright yellow or orange to make them more prominent when viewed against the surrounding landscape. To aid nighttime visibility, traffic bollards often have reflective tape affixed to them.

Benefits of Traffic Bollards

1. Increased safety of city foot traffic – Bollards are used in many large urban areas to surround pedestrian islands.  There, they act as physical barriers against misguided and out-of-control vehicles.
2. Traffic calming – Several studies have shown that bollards cause motorists to drive slower and to pay more attention to their surrounding environment.  This leads to fewer vehicular accidents of all types.
3. Improved building access – Traffic bollards are also used to prevent vehicles from blocking entrances to buildings, by making it impossible for drivers to park too close to the entrance or for vehicles to park too closely together.
4. Psychological assurance – The vast majority of vehicle-related accidents are caused by a small minority of drivers, who fail to operate their automobiles in a responsible fashion.  However, traffic bollards act as a physical barrier between them and those who would otherwise be victims of their carelessness.  This allows both pedestrians and conscientious motorists to breathe a little easier as they go about their daily activities.  This enhanced level of mental comfort is far from the least of the many ways in which bollards benefit the public.

Conclusion

Traffic bollards play a vital role in today’s transportation systems.  Their use benefits drivers, pedestrians, and bike riders in innumerable ways.  For these reasons and more, urban planners should use them as integral components for helping to assure the public’s safety, comfort, and peace of mind.

Can the Safety Bollard be Too Sturdy?

Human society can only exist when the need for security is balanced against the importance of allowing free access to facilities and resources.  Lean too far in either direction, and the results can include a police state on one extreme or chaos on the other.  This principle underlies all aspects of civic planning, including the use of the safety bollard.

Safety bollards must protect public safety above all.  However, this task should always be balanced against other considerations, such as allowing access to those with legitimate reasons to be on site.  Additionally, of course, aesthetics play a role in these matters as well.

The tension between security and public appeal in using safety bollards has led to impassioned debates in urban areas such as New York City.  Barriers put in place since the World Trade Center attacks have been criticized for being too utilitarian and foreboding in appearance.

1. Given the delicate balance that civic planners must maintain between these considerations, how sturdy should safety bollards be?  While there are no easy answers to this question, there are some general guidelines to use for specific instances.  These include:
2. Safety bollards should be sufficient to deal with any likely threat.  A 10-meter high stone fence, for instance, would be thoroughly inappropriate at a shopping mall where parking control is the main concern.  On the other hand, a removable “no trespassing” sign mounted atop a flexible bollard would be similarly inadequate at a nuclear power plant.
3. Safety bollards must allow ready access to a location, unless such access poses a credible risk to public well-being.  To illustrate: it’s sensible to erect sturdy bollards to prevent unauthorized entrance to construction sites.  However, such locations must not be so secure as to not allow rapid entrance by fire, medical, or police units in case of emergency.
4. When possible, safety bollards should be erected in such a way as to add to a site’s visual appeal.  For example, bollards can take the form of substantially-sized planters or works of art.  In these forms, they enhance safety and beautify the surrounding area at the same time.

To conclude, so long as the need to weigh security against mobility exists, the issue of safety bollard construction will remain a point of contention.  However, by following common sense principles like those outlined above, these controversies can be minimized.

Find out more about our bollards at www.slowstop.com.

Flexible Delineators or Safety Bollards: When to Use Each

Flexible delineators are often mistaken for bollards due to their similar appearance.  The intended functions of both devices are distinct from each other, however.  This article will clarify the ways in which the two differ.

The Purpose of Bollards
Bollards convey a simple message: “don’t go here!”  They are intended to provide obstructions to either foot or vehicular travel.  In some cases, they take the form of massive structures made of steel or concrete.  In other cases, they are made of highly flexible materials and are meant to “bend rather than break” if struck by motor vehicles.  Regardless of their construction, however, their purpose is to discourage or prevent unauthorized or undesired access to certain areas.

The Purpose of Delineators
Delineators are used not so much to obstruct traffic as to guide it.  The non-verbal message they’re intended to convey is: “please go this way.”  Like bollards, they’re often highly reflective and easily visible at night.  They also alert motorists to changing road conditions due to the presence of structures such as guardrails.  A common use for them is to alert a motorist of a guardrail in place alongside a curving road.  Delineators are often installed atop the rail to make it more visible to passing autos.

Flexible delineators rise vertically from the road surface.  This affords them a higher degree of visibility compared to traditional channelizers, which are typically level with the road.  They’re especially useful in areas where side-swipe types of accidents are likely to occur, such as when traffic is merging from one road onto another.  They guide vehicles from moving leftward too quickly as they enter the stream of traffic.  Their flexibility keeps them from becoming or causing damage even if they’re struck.

Both bollards and delineators serve similarly important functions.  Knowing when each should be used is important for maintaining public safety, both on the streets and off.