Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Doofus Of The Day #424


Today's award goes to the South Gloucestershire Council in England.

South Gloucestershire Council has been criticised for installing white bollards on a cycle path - which has led to cyclists crashing into them in the snow.

Cyclist Ian Redmond, 56, a biologist, was on his way from Bristol Parkway Station to the city's university when he smashed into one of the bollards, which blended perfectly into the white line marking the boundary between the cycle path and footpath.

The biologist split his lip open, cut his forehead and suffered severe bruising on his hand and thigh when he fell off his bicycle and onto the concrete path.

He is now calling for council chiefs to remove the 'public menace' bollards, which he fears will cause serious injury to other cyclists and pedestrians.

Redmond said: 'I've cycled on the route for more than 25 years and there is no need for bollards to be put there. I just can't understand it.

'The bollards are solid cast and painted white so in any conditions of limited visibility they are perfectly camouflaged against the white line.

'As a biologist, I am familiar with cryptic colouration, which works well for Arctic hares and polar bears, but I'd never considered it a suitable characteristic for traffic bollards.'


There's more at the link.

White bollards??? On a path that's snowbound, and even when it isn't, has a white line down the middle, against which the bollards literally 'white out'? Y'know, it takes genius to think up something that stupid!





Peter

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good grief. It sounds like common sense has left Airship One.

Jim

Sherm said...

Small potatoes. Doesn't the Federal Highway Administration's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices require white stripes on the road? They don't work real well half the year here.

Randy said...

What the h are "bollards"?