THE PEDESTRIAN SAFETY SCALE

WHY WE NEED THE PEDESTRIAN SAFETY SCALE

In July 2003, tragedy struck when an 86 year old man drove his car through hundreds of pedestrians at the Santa Monica Farmer's Market. By the time the car finally came to a stop THREE BLOCKS LATER, ten people had been killed and 63 more injured. The National Transportation Safety Board issued a comprehensive report on year later. The NTSB report is available ONLINE and on page 49 concludes:

"Had Santa Monica installed a temporary rigid barrier system, SUCH AS BOLLARDS ... the barrier system might have arrested or reduced the forward motion of the accident vehicle ... eliminating or greatly reducing the number of casualties."

This is not an isolated incident. Daily, vehicles accidentally impact people and property at a rate far exceeding malicious acts when simple and relatively inexpensive barriers could have saved precious human life and millions of dollars in property. On August 25, 2006, an 89 year old driver plowed his car through the Rochester, New York Public Market in an incident eerily similar to the Santa Monica tragedy. Though only eight persons were injured, two of them were hurt seriously.

Other than the Department of State "K-Rating system" for anti-terrorist and high security government installations, no generally accepted building codes or safety standards exist that can be commonly applied to the placement of bollards in commercial or public locations. There is no guidance for where to place bollards or barriers, how strong they should be, what kind of footing should be prepared for them and what specifications manufacturers must meet. Such basic standards are necessary to promote day-to-day protection for people and property in shopping areas, parking lots, walking on or near sidewalks and building entrances, or simply enjoying private and public spaces.

ABOUT THE PEDESTRIAN SAFETY SCALE

From preliminary discussions in the Spring of 2006, the concept of the Pedestrian Safety Scale has begun to gain momentum. A basic industry framework and test protocol is being assembled for comment and development from professionals and interested parties prior to submission to state, federal, and national code authorities. We offer the PEDESTRIAN SAFEY SCALE as a basic beggining point for help in determining the standard needed for the entire industry of pedestrian safety equipment and components.