Maybe everyone else knows this, but for your own peace of mind - don't overtake a car waiting for a bollard to drop. The bollards sense your bike going past and rise up, with negative effects on car and driver.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure
Bikes and bollards
(60 posts)-
Posted 11 years ago #
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Amazing - can't wait to try this.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Rofl. Did the car move off at the same time as you passed?
Posted 11 years ago # -
Most interesting ! Where can I try this ?
Posted 11 years ago # -
@steveo I don't know. I was locking up my bike and heard the prang. Must have been some delay?
@charterhall put it this way, I don't recommend you go visit city chambers...
Posted 11 years ago # -
City chambers, message received and understood :-)
Posted 11 years ago # -
Seriously guys, I put this up as a warning.
Posted 11 years ago # -
We know that SRD....
but it's the sort of thing you really want to see for yourself.
Posted 11 years ago # -
The same bollards that attacked a recumbulator on PoP?
Posted 11 years ago # -
Double points and a cinnamon bun for anyone who can flip the Provost's Prius!
Posted 11 years ago # -
What happened? You went past the car, the bollard thought you were the car and so the bollard came back up and hit the car? Is that right?
Posted 11 years ago # -
Yup.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Class... I'm sure we've all seen those youtube clips of naughty vehicles trying to sneak through bollards.
@SRD did the car driver not twig that it might have been your bike triggering the bollard? I can imagine some drivers getting a little upset if they thought the bike passing was at fault...
Posted 11 years ago # -
To be fair to the driver, he was very polite/decent. I was baffled, and didn't think it had any connection to me at all until it was explained. It was clearly not unexpected to them, and must have happened before. Perhaps they need a proper bike access on the right hand side, where the pedestrian access is. There is a step up currently.
The thing is, I made exactly the same manoeuvre last time I was there, but it was a lorry in front of me, who must have needed permission or something to get in, in contrast to the car, which had a pass.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Well if as is apparent from your post, it has happened before, then unless you flew by him and he did not see or know you were there, you can hardly be blamed! I imagine they will put HUGE Cyclist PROHIBITED signs up now.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Or maybe councillors and officials could just stop driving to work? Then they wouldn't have to worry about the bollards?
Posted 11 years ago # -
Many of them do cycle/walk/bus already. Others clearly feel that 'have' to drive. Funny thing was that in the meeting I was attending a very nice lady from the small business bureau kept saying that she 'had' to drive because she was in a rush, and did not seem able to grasp that cycling is faster than driving. She left early because of parking restrictions. So, I would argue that the car was more of an inconvenience than a convenience!
Posted 11 years ago # -
a very nice lady from the small business bureau kept saying that she 'had' to drive because she was in a rush, and did not seem able to grasp that cycling is faster than driving.
Oh I get comments like that all the time from other parents. Granted, it is more challenging to consider cycling with kids. They see me and my son on the tandem, and while they say it is a "cool bike", I think they mean that I am "brave", ie. they wouldn't have the nerve/would have to be insane to even consider transporting their child this way...
Posted 11 years ago # -
This is the spot here btw. I'll know to go the 'pedestrian way' next time.
Posted 11 years ago # -
That's 'new'.
StreetView didn't do Royal Mile initially because it was Festival time (I think).
Posted 11 years ago # -
I wonder if its the same problem on the street a little further down?
Posted 11 years ago # -
I just find it very strange that the bollards would 'react' in this way - though if they're saying it has happened before...
I just can't quite fathom the reason. Bollard is moving down, it senses movement, it goes back up.... Would that be a defensive reason?
Posted 11 years ago # -
@WC most of these bollards are derived from defensive installations. If the bollard hasn't entirely retracted before the vehicle begins to move over it, it's probably got a default setting to rise again, as it thinks this is unauthorised access. These installations are always accompanied by a traffic light system, until the light is green, the bollard is most probably in "danger" mode.
If there's a magnetic field trigger in the system, it would have picked up SRD's bike moving at time when bollard wasn't in safe mode, and will have started to rise again. It would then probably need to reset itself and come down again.
The fault would have been with the driver if they drove towards the bollard before it was fully retracted and its light was at green.
We use these and road blockers extensively at work. They're very tempremental and have a habit of occasionally flipping cars over.
The test rating for a PAS bollard is to stop a 7.5 tonne goods vehicle from 50mph to dead stop and to be functioning afterwards, with any damage to be cosmentic only. Very impressive kit.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Interesting. Can see now why it would do that (and why the cars and vans you see on YouTube running into these things are stopped so effectively!).
Posted 11 years ago # -
Have just spent a happy 10 minutes reading through Marshall's bollard brochure
http://www.marshalls.co.uk/select/_data/brochures/RhinoGuard_Counter_Terror.pdf (big pdf, as a warning...)
Impressive what a relatively small metal pole can stop.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Impressive what a relatively small metal pole can stop.
Judging by the product family name, a rhino!
Posted 11 years ago # -
I love this thread! "Amazing - can't wait to try this." and "Seriously guys, I put this up as a warning." [am actually lolling :P]
Thanks!
@charter/dave - make sure you get a video of it!
Posted 11 years ago # -
Reason I reacted as I did is that the Council guy responsible for the car park is reporting it to the police, so that the councillor can claim on his insurance, and wanted my details.
I didn't see it happen, so I don't think I am a witness, which makes me a bit concerned about why they want my details.
Posted 11 years ago # -
If you're concerned SRD, maybe get chdot to bin this thread?
You provided your details as you assumed that the driver needs a witness to confirm that you didn't hear him revving wildly at the barriers or whatever. Your passing near the bollard had no effect on said bollard, and any suggestion that you could possibly have had an effect on what occured is news to you.
Etc...
Besides, we all now know what to do for some private entertainment :p
Posted 11 years ago # -
I didn't post here until I gave them the details. And had taken some advice.
I quite seriously thought that this was something folk ought to know about.
Posted 11 years ago #
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