StoreFrontCrashExpert.com
Find me socially:
  • Home
  • About Rob
  • Storefront Crash Statistics
    • Our Research
    • Statistics By Age
    • Statistics By Cause
    • Statistics By Site Type
  • Storefront Safety Council
  • Resources
    • Articles, Media & News Reports
    • US DOT Reports
    • Websites
    • Best Practices for Prevention
    • Legislation and Safety Standards
    • Education & Presentations
  • Crash & Grab/ Ram Raids
  • The Storefront Blog
  • Contact

A Simple Bollard Can Save Lots Of Money and Lots Of Cleanup -- In Addition To Preventing Tragedy

7/10/2014

0 Comments

 
Thanks to KSAT 12 in San Antonio for their coverage of a simple accident that could have been much bigger news were it not for the effectiveness of a simple bollard.

Last night at a Shell gas station in San Antonio a driver apparently fell asleep at the wheel when she was exiting from a freeway.  Her car rolled through some road signs and into the gas station where it headed straight for one of the gas pumps. 

Fortunately for all concerned, this station was equipped with steel bollards installed directly in front of the gas pumps.  When the SUV struck the bollard, the front of the vehicle absorbed much of the impact energy (as cars are designed to do) and it is reported that the driver was not seriously injured.
  It is unclear whether or not the airbags deployed on the vehicle, and while it is always hard to guess speed of impact from such limited information, I am going to just guesstimate from the damage that the SUV was traveling 20 to 25 MPH at the time it impacted the bollard.

See the video HERE
.

What is clear was that a 6 inch diameter steel bollard, though scratched and leaning from the impact, stopped the moving vehicle and prevented the SUV from crashing through the gas pump.  At the very least, there would have been a big, messy Hazmat cleanup;  more often, fire erupts when gasoline flows out until the pump is shut off.
  If the woman was unconscious and no one could reach her in time, the fire would have been fatal.

ASTM is completing work on a new test standard (WK
13074) which takes on exactly this sort of threat scenario.   With so many deaths and injuries from vehicle/pedestrian and vehicle/building interactions, more and more communities are calling for such bollards or barriers in certain parking lots near retail and commercial buildings and pedestrian areas.  With no applicable performance standard to refer to, architects, engineers, or property owners have been having to choose products on their own, and therefore incurring liability in such instances.  ASTM will provide local authorities and building and design professionals with a clear designation with which they can choose effective safety devices from a variety of manufacturers in a variety of materials and fabrications.  See the ASTM website for more information HERE

As of this date the test standard will require that such safety bollards, barriers or other devices must be able to
withstand an impact of 30MPH from a test vehicle that  weighs 5,000 LBS -- in short, exactly what happened at this Shell gas station in San Antonio.  The fact that bollards were installed in front of these gas pumps may have saved a life;  going forward, many more lives will be saved by installation of such safety devices in other vulnerable locations.



0 Comments

Decorative Bollard Failure in Columbus Ohio

6/15/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
It is important to know the crash resistance of a product before it is purchased and installed in order to protect people and property, particularly at a site like First Responders Park in Hilliard Ohio, near Columbus.  Dedicated to the first responders and decorated with artifacts of stone and steel from the World Trade Center, the park is busy with bike riders and pedestrians and is beautifully laid out and designed.

Unfortunately, it is not well protected. 

This was proven last night when a DUI driver in a small passenger car drove into the line of decorative bollards and sheered off or shattered four of them.
  A small passenger car hitting four proper steel bollards would have been stopped cold and the bollards maybe slightly damaged;  these decorative bollards had no impact resistance whatever;  they failed to stop the car and will now have to be replaced. 

See video coverage of the park and damage to the decorative bollards HERE.

ASTM, the worldwide standards organization is in the final stages of completing a new test standard (WK 13074) which will provide engineers, architects, developers, property owners, and municipal or other governmental end-users with a clear and specific qualification for products and manufacturers of safety barriers for low speed (30 MPH) applications.   Vehicle incursions, whether accidental or deliberate, put people at risk every day;  more than sixty such crashes happen in the US every day, with thousands injured and hundreds killed every year.

Specifiers, you need to be on notice --   if your intent is to separate people and property from inept or drunk or violent drivers; 
if you are going to install barriers in order to protect people where they live, work, play, or shop;  if you want to comply with the emerging standard AND have a safer result for your project;  if you want to protect yourself from future liability  --  remember that "decorative" is for pretty, not for safety.  The public sees decorative railings or pretty bollards such as the ones at this park and they make a presumption of personal safety, a presumption that is NOT based on the actual vehicle stopping capabilities of the product.

There is plenty of good product out there that looks beautiful and has actual crash resistance -- your clients and your projects and your customers are depend on you to make better choices.
0 Comments

    Author

    I am an expert in perimeter security and retail and pedestrian safety.  I am also co-founder of the Storefront Safety Council

    CONTACT US

    Archives

    February 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    March 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014

    Categories

    All
    2014 Stats
    2014 Storefront Crash Statistics
    ABC NEWS
    ADA Parking
    ADA Spaces
    Addie Hall
    Addison Hall
    AFRA
    ALDI
    Alva Oklahoma
    American Firearms Retailers Association
    Angry Spouse
    Arlington Mass
    ASSE
    ASTM
    ASTM 3016
    ASTM F 3016 Test Standard
    ASTM F-3016 Test Standard
    ASTM Standard
    ATF
    At Risk Day Care
    At-risk Day Care
    Austin
    Bell Ringer
    Bollards
    Bolt Down Bollards
    Burlington New Jersey
    Bystander Dragged
    Cast Iron Decorative Bollards
    CCTV Video
    Cell Phone Stores
    Chicago Crash And Grab Gangs
    City Ordinance
    Comfort Inn
    Costco Bollards
    Costco Crash
    Crash And Grab
    Crashes Into Apartments
    Crashes Into Homes
    Crash Into Costco
    Crash Into Day Care
    Crash Statistics
    CVS
    CVS Storefront Crash
    Day Care
    Decorative Bollards
    Decorative Fencing
    Deliberate Attack On DMV
    Deliberate Crash Into Lobby
    Deliberate Vehicle Attack
    Deposition
    Donna Wine
    Dragged Under Truck
    Drive Aisle
    Driving While High
    Drugged Driving
    DUI
    Dunkin Donuts
    Elderly Drivers
    Elderly Drivers In Florida
    Expert Witness
    Farmers Market
    Farrel's
    Fatal
    Fatal Crash
    Fatal Farmers Market Crash
    Fatalidades
    Fifty Daycare Crashes
    Finkelstein Memorial Library
    Florida Drivers
    Florida Storefront Crashes
    Florist Shop Crash
    Foreseeability
    Fred's Place Crash
    Gas Pump
    Gas Station
    Goal Post Bollards
    Goleta
    Gun Shops
    Hang Up The Keys
    Hathorne NJ
    Impaired Driver
    Impaired Driving
    Jessica Bunch
    Keeping Us Safe
    KinderCare
    Kindercare Crash
    Lack Of Steel Barriers
    Laundromat
    Lexus
    Library Crash
    Matt Gurwell
    Maui Marathon
    Meten A Negocios
    National Preparedness Month
    National Shooting Sports Foundation
    #NatlPrep
    NBC News Crash And Grab
    New Orleans Convention Center
    NOLA Video
    Nose In Parking
    Nose-in Parking
    NSSF
    NTSB
    Orange County Florida
    OSU
    OSU Homecoming
    Otto Drozd
    Out Of Control
    Parklet
    Parklet Crash In Los Angeles
    Pedal Error
    Pedestrian Safety
    Personas Heridas
    Perth Australia
    Preparedness Month
    Prescription Drugs
    Preventable Accident
    Prevention Through Design
    Ram Raid
    Redbox On Notice
    Risk Management
    Rite Aid
    Rocklin California
    Roll-up Doors
    Safety
    Safety Barriers
    Salvation Army
    Salvation Army Volunteer
    Santa Monica Farmers Market
    Sausalito
    Self Serve Laundry
    Senior Drivers
    SERVPRO
    Shameless Promotion
    Sharla Cummings
    ShopRite
    Sidewalk Dining
    Silver Tsunami
    Slide Show
    Soft Target
    South Florida
    Starbucks
    Statistics
    Storefront Crash
    Storefront Crash Stats
    Storefront Safety Council
    Street Closures
    Sudden Acceleration
    SXSW
    Telemundo
    Thank You SERVPRO
    THC
    The Atlantic Cities
    The Gun Vault
    The-playhouse-crash-university-village
    Toyota Camry
    Trader Joe's
    Tti
    Untested-bollards
    Utah
    Vehicle Error Versus Driver Error
    Vehicle Incursion
    Venice Beach
    Verizon Crash
    Walgreens
    Walgreens On Notice
    Westbrook Maine
    Wheel Stops
    Wrong Gear

    RSS Feed

Contact Us
Copyright 2021 by Rob Reiter.  All rights reserved. Content may be freely copied and distributed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice and our World Wide Web URL http://www.storefrontcrashexpert.com.