Can I Place Steel Bollards Along Road Frontage?

[KTMsm]

My parents live on the corner of an NSL A road and have had four cars crash through their estate fencing in the last 2 months

I had a meeting with the Highways Officer who said there is nothing they can do other than adding more 'slow' signs

I'm sick of fixing the fencing for them and each time the cars have managed to extricate themselves and failed to leave insurance details

Can I fit steel bollards - bearing in mind I know they are likely to be hit ?

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Be a shame if some decorative large rocks were there.

But I think you know the answer already is that you can't deliberately put things up which will increase the risk of harm. I'd keep on at the highways bloke, although I do recall that an SUV went through a steel fence (like you have near roads), over a pavement and then through a wall/fence into a nursery last year in London. eg they would need to be pretty fecking large to deal with a modern weighty car coming through them.

[Glosphil]

I had a similar problem in my last house; although that was full size atics reversing into the lane beside my house in order to reverse direction. The entrance to my property was on that lane close to the main road. A section of my wall was knocked down 6 times & the gates damaged or destroyed 3 times in 10 years.

It took the 10 years, and a change of personal at the Highways Department, before stout bollards were installed. After another 2 years a bollard was installed in the middle of the entrance to the lane making it too narrow for arctics to reverse into it. That was soon removed as the arctics just drove over it complete crushing it. It was replaced twice before being removed.

[TooLateForAName]

I'd not put rocks there - if dislodged onto the road you become respnsible for any damage they cause.

Cant see why bollards or a bit of armco would be a problem - you are acting to safeguard anyone in the garden.

[Hugo Stiglitz]

KTMsm said:

My parents live on the corner of an NSL A road and have had four cars crash through their estate fencing in the last 2 months

I had a meeting with the Highways Officer who said there is nothing they can do other than adding more 'slow' signs

I'm sick of fixing the fencing for them and each time the cars have managed to extricate themselves and failed to leave insurance details

Can I fit steel bollards - bearing in mind I know they are likely to be hit ?

Sadly the standard PH response of "move" applies.

As above can you have a local farmer or contractor place rocks? Two should do it

[Chainsaw Rebuild]

Some CCTV so you can go after the drivers for costs might be helpful, and you can submit it to the Police too.

The problem, I imagine, with putting bollards in is what if someone is killed by the bollards you fitted. Especially if they are on the highway and not their land.

[geeks]

CCTV and Rocks their side of the fence is how I would resolve this.

[Countdown]

KTMsm said:

My parents live on the corner of an NSL A road and have had four cars crash through their estate fencing in the last 2 months

I had a meeting with the Highways Officer who said there is nothing they can do other than adding more 'slow' signs

I'm sick of fixing the fencing for them and each time the cars have managed to extricate themselves and failed to leave insurance details

Can I fit steel bollards - bearing in mind I know they are likely to be hit ?

It's cretins like that who get NSL roads reduced to 50/40

[Simpo Two]

KTMsm said:

My parents live on the corner of an NSL A road and have had four cars crash through their estate fencing in the last 2 months

I had a meeting with the Highways Officer who said there is nothing they can do other than adding more 'slow' signs...

I'm surprised; they'll add 20 limits, speed cameras, chicanes, traffic humps and a patrol of village numpties with hairdryers for far less

[A500leroy]

Armco is how id go.

[Mr MXT]

Theres a rural road nearby that narrows to a steep uphill single lane on a 90 degree unsighted bend.

The sensible approach was to slow, but the farmer was always having cars go through the hedge into the field. I can now see he's concreted in some very sturdy steel girder fence posts just behind the hedge.

Its not something I'd do, even though I can't see how it would be any more illegal than planting sturdy trees just inside your property line.

[ingenieur]

I hugely dislike CCTV but this would be an ideal case. Private prosecution for anyone who damages your property and drives away.

I get the feeling if you were to install anything in front of the property you would end up constantly rebuilding that instead of the wall or whatever it is you're trying to protect. I think it's also going to cost a hella lot of money to buy and install steel that's capable of resisting accident damage from motorcars.

[xx99xx]

Dig a ditch/moat instead. Cars would struggle to get away from that if they drove into it. You can call it garden drainage if anyone asks. Doesn't stop it happening though, but neither do bollards.

Are the collisions mostly at night? Is it a lighting issue?

[s p a c e m a n]

Dig a ditch and fill it with alligators

[QuickQuack]

What type of steel bollards and where exactly would you be placing them? You can't place them on the part of the verge not owned by you, but there's nothing stopping you from installing them on your/your parents' property. As long as they're not built or shaped to deliberately cause damage or injury, there's no specific limitation (except stuff like conservation areas and such like you might need to bear in mind depending on the exact location) which says you can't have steel bollards. What you can't do is set out to cause damage or injury, so no spikes, traps and similar stuff allowed, but you can protect yourself and your property so sturdy steel bollards, gabions etc. are fine. In fact, gabions might be a cost effective alternative to installation of steel bollards depending on location and size.

[Bill]

Next time you fix the fence use concrete posts and concrete gravel boards. And then have CCTV so you can bill the useless tts who crash.

[mr rusty]

Next time you fix the fence use brick pillars with massive steel inserts and steel beams inside the wall section, like they did in a wall near us that used to get knocked over regularly (it was just over a hump back bridge on a bend and idiots would take off and actually land in the wall). Now it just has paint scars on...

[Panamax]

Get on Google street view and take a look at Putney Hill. The council have narrowed the side road turnings and placed steel poles right at the edge of each corner. The poles are struck be vehicles on a regular basis and nobody seems to care, particularly at the corners of Carlton Ave and Lytton Grove. The poles are proudly erect in the photos but you can see the fresh concrete at their bases where they've been regularly hit and replaced.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.456427,-0.219084...

See also at Putney Hill/Lytton Grove junction the brilliant MGF with 6-whel conversion! Four wheels at the back and two at the front. Splendid.

[xx99xx]

Panamax said:

Get on Google street view and take a look at Putney Hill. The council have narrowed the side road turnings and placed steel poles right at the edge of each corner. The poles are struck be vehicles on a regular basis and nobody seems to care, particularly at the corners of Carlton Ave and Lytton Grove. The poles are proudly erect in the photos but you can see the fresh concrete at their bases where they've been regularly hit and replaced.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.456427,-0.219084...

See also at Putney Hill/Lytton Grove junction the brilliant MGF with 6-whel conversion! Four wheels at the back and two at the front. Splendid.

O/t....your link opens up to this magnificent vehicle:

[InitialDave]

Bill said:

Next time you fix the fence use concrete posts and concrete gravel boards. And then have CCTV so you can bill the useless tts who crash.

mr rusty said:

Next time you fix the fence use brick pillars with massive steel inserts and steel beams inside the wall section, like they did in a wall near us that used to get knocked over regularly (it was just over a hump back bridge on a bend and idiots would take off and actually land in the wall). Now it just has paint scars on...

Yep, I'd just make the fence ridiculously overbuilt while still looking nice.

Posts made from RHS steel in a large size and hefty wall thickness, concreted in several feet deep, and then themselves filled with concrete should stop most things.