[Sriracha]

I think I’ve found part of the answer as to why some motorists seem to think a gnat’s dick is 1.5m clearance – they can’t even judge the width of their own vehicle, never mind any clearance to the sides. What hope is there?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-59641534

Topic

[wycombewheeler]

mdavidford wrote:

Most bollards are now dressing in hoodies to avoid the danger of being caught on camera.

not these bollards

 

[wycombewheeler]

mdavidford wrote:

….. wing mirrors’…

beetlejuice

[brooksby]

On the video, they almost all

On the video, they almost all seem to hit that first bollard on the offside.  Mind you, none of them seem to slow down, either, so must be pretty confident that they think they know how wide their vehicles are…

[Secret_squirrel]

To Sriracha’s point it is

To Sriracha’s point it is telling that nearly everything on that video is a misjudgement on the offside.  No wonder we get closed passed.  I suspect a good % of drivers genuinely think that they are giving enough room.

[shoko]

Wing mirrors???!!!  etc…

Wing mirrors???!!!  etc…

[mdavidford]

Fair enough – it does look

Fair enough – it does look like the story’s been mangled. The restriction is and always has been 7′, but the bollards were moved from 7’6″ to 7′ in 2011.

https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/19668485.watford-width-restriction-goes-viral—becomes-daily-source-memes/

https://watford.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s625/Appendix%20A-%20Woodmere%20Avenue.pdf

Side note: apparently the bollards were reduced in height, because ‘several vehicles sustained damage to their wing mirrors’…

[shoko]

Indeed, if you look at the

Indeed, if you look at the videos though you can see that the area hasn’t been resurfaced recently though.

A quick Google turns up…

“The couple would like to see the seven foot wide restriction, which has been the way it is now for around ten years, to be taken away. Instead, they would like to see cameras installed that catch out prohibited large vehicles using Woodmere Avenue.”

“The restriction wasn’t always so narrow. Originally it was 2.3 metres wide (7’ 6”) before being reduced to two metres (7’) following complaints from residents about bigger vehicles attempting to get through, Councillor Bibby said. It’s been there since 1980, with the unforgiving bollards added about 10 years ago.“

[Captain Badger]

mdavidford wrote:

Most bollards are now dressing in hoodies to avoid the danger of being caught on camera.

Should be made to wear hiviz

 

 

[mdavidford]

Most bollards are now

Most bollards are now dressing in hoodies to avoid the danger of being caught on camera.

[mdavidford]

The latest Streetview imagery

The latest Streetview imagery is from March. The BBC report says it was reduced ‘in recent months’, which suggests after that point. And by only 6 inches, so it wouldn’t necessarily be very evident comparing the side camera footage with Streetview.

[Captain Badger]

Gotta love teh headline –

Gotta love teh headline –

BBC wrote:

Cars written off by Watford road bollards caught on camera

Are bollards dragging themselves out of their footings, tooling themselves up with baseball bats and wandering around looking for unattended cars to vandalise?

No, motorists are trashing their own cars through negligence and incompetence. 3 cars written off in one weekend? So how many motorists successfully negotiated teh calming measures on that relatively busy road with no probs?

I can’t shake the image of an enraged bollard treating a cowering Nissan Micra to a Glasgow Kiss….

[wycombewheeler]

David9694 wrote:

How many dozy drivers do you see who clearly can’t judge speed or distance. 

Had me a little Google of this location: here’s what you don’t see in the movie, if you go in close, you can see bits of trim from recent victims.  Yet Mr Appliances Direct seemed to have made it ok. 

because it’s a 7 foot wide opening, no one other than HGVs should have problems driving through there, I remember a lot of these restrictions at 6’6″ when I was a new driver, when they really wanted to deter large vehicles. There was normally a gate where the bus lane is on this example, the gate would be locked and the fire brigade would have the keys.

AS a reckless youth I used to drive though the 6’6″ without slowing down, anyone who can’t get their car through a 7′ gap needs either

• retraining
• being taken off the roads
• limited to small cars.

[shoko]

Once more the ‘factual’ BBC

Once more the ‘factual’ BBC are on the ball – The width restriction on Woodmere Avenue in Watford was introduced a decade ago to deter larger vehicles from using the road but regular accidents have occurred in recent months since it was made even narrower.

If you look at the link hirsute provided you can see that the width hasn’t changed in 13 years

[Hirsute]

Also features in the car hits

Also features in the car hits building thread

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.675597,-0.3793403,3a,75y,224.18h,77.18t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1se_MF_5Xp8MJlJ79EWZwlQQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

If you move up and down a bit in street view, you can see it is quite tight !

[David9694]

How many dozy drivers do you

How many dozy drivers do you see who clearly can’t judge speed or distance. 

Had me a little Google of this location: here’s what you don’t see in the movie, if you go in close, you can see bits of trim from recent victims.  Yet Mr Appliances Direct seemed to have made it ok. 

[Author]

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