Another damn fine mess from the council

[Graham]

Check this out, these must breach some safety rules, true the people are not supposed to go down these roads, but the consequences are a bit harsh---

[topsparky]

seen that one graham my mates missus did the same in a citroen zx did n't half make a mess pushed the engine thro the bonnet

[rs2315]

Great way of keeping car's out of cities.
Love it, and no I don't work for the council.
Bicycles rule, but so do rs2's:mischeif:
rs2315.

[Keeper of The Kitten]

Social exclusion based on where you live is a no-no. Cyclists should pay tax and insurance like other road users if they want to have a say ...oh yeah, forgot, they use the pavements (well they do in my neck of the woods).

(And before anyone shoots me down, I've been known to ride a bike...)

Seriously though, the one with the people carrier looked pretty serious - I don't know what the warnings are like about the existence of the killer bollards, but if you were unfamiliar with the area and blissfully following another vehicle, it's a harsh penalty for a minor navigational error. Jeez, even Royal Mail vans appear to be allowed, they don't figure highly on the list of vehicles that can use bus lanes!

Never liked bus lanes, or park and ride, it's all an insidious move to get people out of cars, by making it faster to use the buses. I firmly believe that several speed limits have been imposed for the same reason - it's no longer faster (legally) than using a bus in some areas.

These bollards are the thin end of the ever-thickening wedge, like speed cameras which have evolved to calculate average speed between two points, and the idea of GPS in cars that allows the vehicle speed and position to be determined from afar.

__MDC__

[Markarina]

A number of my colleagues at work ride into work on a bicycle, most of them ride on the road and follow the rules of the road, and they are fairly scathing of their compatriots that ride on the pavement.

Incident I had with a cyclist just recently was they were riding on the pavement on the opposite side of the road but in the same direction whilst talking on a mobile phone, when all of a sudden with only the briefest glances over their shoulder they swung across the road in front of me ....... only because she was wearing a skirt and flashing her legs as she was pedalling along did I notice her

[blown_vr6]

Social exclusion based on where you live is a no-no. Cyclists should pay tax and insurance like other road users if they want to have a say ...oh yeah, forgot, they use the pavements (well they do in my neck of the woods).

(And before anyone shoots me down, I've been known to ride a bike...)

Seriously though, the one with the people carrier looked pretty serious - I don't know what the warnings are like about the existence of the killer bollards, but if you were unfamiliar with the area and blissfully following another vehicle, it's a harsh penalty for a minor navigational error. Jeez, even Royal Mail vans appear to be allowed, they don't figure highly on the list of vehicles that can use bus lanes!

Never liked bus lanes, or park and ride, it's all an insidious move to get people out of cars, by making it faster to use the buses. I firmly believe that several speed limits have been imposed for the same reason - it's no longer faster (legally) than using a bus in some areas.

These bollards are the thin end of the ever-thickening wedge, like speed cameras which have evolved to calculate average speed between two points, and the idea of GPS in cars that allows the vehicle speed and position to be determined from afar.

__MDC__

Looks more to me like a traffic calming/pedestrianised area than any reason to promote bus use.
If you cant see a huge illuminated 'no entry' sign to prevent you from even attempting access then imho you cannot see a god damn thing and shouldnt be on the bleeding road .

I really dont think you could actually follow another vehicle through without knowing there were retractable bollards as the lead vehicle would have to stop and wait for the bollards to lower - the cars that got caught out were pretty much tailgating the lead vehicle to try and squeeze through and in my eyes knew the bollards were there.

As for Royal Mail being allowed to use the lanes - Royal Mail has right of access to every road in the country - Fact.

Personally i think its a superb idea as we can sit here and watch other peoples misfortune

[spink]

seen this before but didnt notice the passengers head go through the Iveco vans windscreen last time.

[Keeper of The Kitten]

If it's a pedestrianised area, why are buses using it?

__MDC__

[Keeper of The Kitten]

(Fair point about large signs etc - hence my original question about how prominent the signage is for these things - I don't know as I have yet to see a power-retracting bollard).

Still don't agree about bus lanes!

__MDC__

[blown_vr6]

If it's a pedestrianised area, why are buses using it?

__MDC__

Pedestrianised central urban area.
Im guessing restricted access for loading/unloading etc and buses have right of access as they seem to in all re-developed central urban areas that ive come across.
Hastings town is pretty much the same except for the comedy bollards and i dont view that as an attack on the motorist - its so much nicer to walk through the town without traffic especially when youve got kids to think about - im all for it tbh as long as the road infrastructure around the town is good enough to support it.

[spink]

I was going to say that Hastings was the only other place outside London where i have seen those bollards.Been tempted myself at least once.

[S2central.net]

Stupid **** in that Black Merc deserved to get a sore head - he has his wife and kid in the car and accelerates at the rising bollard - too stupid to be driving. Then he leaves all the doors open for any passing chav to nick his phone/money/keys/wallet/whatever left in the car. As for the white van man - well thats just funny !

Agree the bollards are tempting for numpties to chance their luck - the road should be either closed to traffic or not. Let the delivery men go round the back.

[dan_b]

They have these in Durham too - Durham being the only other city in the UK to have introduced congestion charging, they have these bollards on the entrance/exit to the congestion zone. Apparently cars get trapped on them on a regular basis. They look pretty nasty for cars that get caught on them don't they?

Bus lanes - don''t talk to me about bus lanes. All they do is serve to reduce road capacity therefore increasing congestion for everybody else, and it doesn't actually help the buses as they're not consistent, have things like parking and loading bays in them, and of course the revenue-rasing potential for them now with the different lanes having different operating times, and how are you supposed to know as they don't sign at every single road junction etc. An absoloute bloody con.

[Jas11n]

They have these in Durham too - Durham being the only other city in the UK to have introduced congestion charging, they have these bollards on the entrance/exit to the congestion zone. Apparently cars get trapped on them on a regular basis. They look pretty nasty for cars that get caught on them don't they?

It's just the one road, from the old market place up to the Cathedral. Ver very narrow cobbled street with hoards of pedestrians and cars used to fly up and down there so I'm all for it. Plenty of places to park nearby.

Jas..
(I once got my head stuck through the bars on the highest most tower of Durham Cathedral when I was a kid, was there for 40 minutes before a priest/vicar dude brought dome butter to lube my ears )

[Graham]

priest/vicar dude brought dome butter to lube my ears )