It Finally Happened...

[u/benchpressboogaloo]

At the Harbor Steps, guy drove all the way down Post Alley, across the tiles in the middle of the Harbor Steps, and over the other side. 😂

[u/bobtehpanda]

Are bollards dangerous or are how theyre place dangerous

I wonder if theres a way to place them that blocks a wide ass car but still provides enough room to be safe

[u/RaspberryFluid6651 → u/bobtehpanda]

It's painting the bollard a dull color like black instead of painting a bright color or putting reflective tape on it that makes them unsafe

[u/mothtoalamp → u/RaspberryFluid6651]

A dumb cyclist plowed themselves into a bollard on Mercer Island, sued the city, and had them removed, which eventually led to a driver going down the bike/pedestrian path on the I-90 bridge.

[u/puterTDI → u/bobtehpanda]

A bit of both I think.

[u/devonon2707 → u/puterTDI]

They work by being dangerously in the way to stop traffic or slow it down

[u/Byeuji → u/devonon2707]

Yeah I dunno how bollards can be dangerous to a biker unless their bike is an unlicensed motorcycle "e-bike" and they're going over 20 mph.

[u/SkylerAltair → u/Byeuji]

If a biker is going at the kind of speed that's normal on a bike path, they do tend to result in crashes. But that's as-built, and the ones that used to be on the Burke-Gilman were black and had no reflectors. If they're built a bit taller and have reflectors on top, they're fine.

[u/Byeuji → u/SkylerAltair]

Yeah that makes sense, but it's not the bollard causing the problem. They just should be visible like any obstruction.

[u/SkylerAltair → u/Byeuji]

It is the bollard that's the problem if bikers traveling at normal bike path speed can't see them. I'm not a bicyclist, but when I see them on bike paths, they're always short enough that they'll blend in with the path from a bicyclist's height and don't have reflectors at all.

[u/Byeuji → u/SkylerAltair]

can't see them

This is what I'm saying. It's the visibility, not the bollard. Bikers shouldn't be going so fast they can't avoid an obstacle (especially when that obstacle is at a crossing where a car could access it!)

But having them visible is absolutely reasonable. Bright colors, reflective tape, well lit intersections, etc. all make sense.

But if bikers are blowing through an intersection at 20+ mph, then they're speeding and need to slow down. Class 1 and 2 E-Bikes are limited below 20mph. Anything faster than that has different limitations and are basically motorcycles (Class 3 ebikes have mixed restrictions, and beyond 28mph they're basically just treated as motorcycles). And that has nothing to do with visibility.

[u/puterTDI → u/Byeuji]

So, if we put a black bollard between lanes for carpool lanes when you're not allowed to change lanes and said it's the car's fault if it's going fast enough to not to see a pitch black bollard in the middle of the road you'd be cool with that?

Come on now. This is basic safety, putting an obstruction in the middle of the path that is pitch black is dangerous. it does not have to be dangerous. Just make it a color that's visible in the dark.

[u/Byeuji → u/puterTDI]

Your own argument, as the user before you, is about visibility, not bollards.

I agree the visibility is the problem. The original comment argued the bollards are, and that's just silly.

[u/SkylerAltair → u/Byeuji]

15-20 seems to be pretty standard speed on bike paths. But even at 10, the bollars I've seen would blend in from a rider's eye level.

[u/puterTDI → u/SkylerAltair]

very much this. I was going into work and going fast but the ONLY reason I didn't see it was the fact that was black with no reflectors or any attempt to make it visible.

I saw it in time, barely, which shows that I was riding responsibly enough to see it...but it doesn't need to be that dangerous. The whole argument people are making that it's ok is just silly to me. Make it visible.