The twin spectres of terror and traffic are spurring more interest in bollards to stop weaponized cars…
But the humble bollard is rapidly gaining attention after Sayfullo Saipov drove a car onto a Manhattan bike path last week, killing eight people. The day after the attack, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand proposed a $50 million act that would see bollards installed across the city.
Saipov is just latest person to weaponize a car after similar attacks in Europe, and domestic demographic and technological forces are fueling the bollard business: Aging drivers, as well as distracted smartphone users, are forcing stores and restaurants to consider protecting their facades.
Cities around the world are facing a reckoning: If anyone can drive anywhere, how do you protect the people? It’s a question tinged both by the advent of post-9/11 defensive architecture in urban America and the emergence of pro-pedestrian policies in cities, along with increasing concerns about aging and distracted drivers. Bollards, in theory, can satisfy all three.