27% of all road deaths are attributed to pedestrians. European roads rack up over 5,000 fatalities every year, many of which are easily preventable. The EU managed to reduce those numbers by an impressive 41% between 2016 and 2018, but pedestrian safety is still the directive of every business that has a traffic contingent. Whether you’re a parking business, shopping centre, or office block, roadside bollards are an effective way to reduce deaths and injuries. This simple, yet efficient, safety tool is more than a mere vehicle barrier. It’s also an important way to combat terrorism-related fatalities.
Combating Terrorism One Roadside Bollard at a Time
Terrorists routinely target public areas that maximise harm, so public areas are inherently dangerous. Every business has a moral and ethical duty to keep their clients and tenants safe from hostile vehicle-driven attacks. Nine-eleven was a catastrophic lesson in urban design, yet few EU nations have taken that education to heart. This isn’t because there’s a dearth of security strategies in the industry, but rather a lack of awareness. Access restrictions offer round-the-clock restrictions without requiring a single staff member or software product. Fortunately, industrial designers are introducing attractive ways to control pedestrian traffic. The security bollards of today are slick, elegant, and effective. By preventing vehicles from approaching buildings and crowds, they reduce your attractiveness as a target. They also reduce pedestrian deaths at an absurdly low price.
Bollards and General Safety
High-security roadside bollards prevent more than just vehicle-based attacks. They keep all unauthorised vehicles away from walkways and, in doing so, prevent drunk drivers from causing pedestrian fatalities. They also keep automobile accidents from wreaking havoc on your building and its residents. Your property is a valuable asset that’s expensive to repair, so it’s crucial to protect it wherever possible. Bollards can improve your security while simultaneously eliminating unauthorised parking. Most bollards have a wide circular design with a height of between 30 and 48 inches tall. Three-foot designs are a firm favourite for their unobtrusive aesthetics and cost-effective price. The industry’s typical bollard can stop cars travelling at 10 miles an hour, but more robust designs can easily cope with impacts of up to 30 miles an hour.
Requirements and Certifications
Security bollards remain largely unregulated in the EU, but they’re often required by local building and safety codes on core traffic routes. The best manufacturers do impact tests on their products, so you’re not entirely without standards to guide your choices. They’re usually placed three to five feet apart to allow wheelchair access. At three feet tall, they reach standard bumper heights, but taller six-inch units cover larger vehicles. OSHA has its own set of height, weight, and colour requirements for hollow bollards. Compliant products should be canary yellow to improve visibility, but when they’re used as permanent walkway protection, you needn’t follow these codes. As a business, your architecture is a key part of your brand identity, so aesthetics are an important consideration.
Automatic Bollards
Modern technology has introduced an entirely new roadside bollard design. Automatic products cope with extreme impact through sheer hydraulic power. Robust foundation housing allows for rapid barrier deployment, leaving you with an invisible barrier that leaves your architecture exactly as your designer intended it. In contrast, pneumatic bollards build extra retraction speeds into the mix, so they’re perfect for areas that need to remain accessible to select vehicles. They’re ideal for bus lines and loading zones.
Hydraulic rising bollards can secure heavy traffic areas. Crash-testing and high rising speeds give you a guaranteed barrier that doesn’t interfere with the style of your architecture There’s a product to meet your needs, no matter how precise they are. If you need to cut costs, you needn’t choose expensive technology, though. A minimalist stainless steel barrier will retreat into the background effortlessly, giving you the aesthetics you need to impress your clients.
BSI PAS 68 Specifications
The BSI PAS 68 specifications were drafted to define impact resistance by vehicle type, speed, and mass for counter-terrorism barriers. Its specifications are just as relevant to your everyday security needs, though, so don’t write them off just yet. Vehicle-as-weapon attacks are a growing concern in today’s hostile political environment, so PAS 68 is becoming a de facto standard throughout the EU. It’s one of several specs designed by the British Standards Institution, but it’s so thorough that it’s become a global rule of thumb. Few crash test specs can beat it, so use it as a guide when you navigate the market. The rating applies to a huge array of high-security products, so it incorporates a fair range of security levels. As such, it adds value to general building security as well as hostile vehicle attacks.
PAS 68 incorporates:
– Vehicle. If the rating includes a “V” it means the barrier has been tested with a genuine vehicle.
– Design. A “D”and “P” define the location and design of the test simulation.
– Vehicle type and mass, including vehicle category.
– Vehicle classifications, including N2 and N3 vehicles.
– Test speeds, which are denoted by the number of kilometres per hour.
– Impact angle, defined as the second-last numerical ratio in the specification.
– Impact penetration in meters.
– Dispersion of debris, which includes the total weight and distance it travelled during crash testing.
In short, PAS 68 describes your high-security bollard’s capabilities in-depth, so you needn’t look further. If your business’ security risks are particularly high, the IWA 14 standard will serve you better. Parking lots can use the PAS 170, which covers low-speed impact testing.
Steel bollards are a powerful blocking system with a range of well-defined specifications. The best products in the industry are robust enough for government establishments. Advance Access Ireland provide a wide range of barriers such as roadside bollards for every commercial and aesthetic need. Our products are non-aggressive, unassuming, and powerful. They take advantage of the strength of hardened steel.
