Autoblog

We're betting only a few densely trafficked urban areas of the U.S. employ the use of motorized bollards, which are posts that lower and rise to allow permitted vehicles down a particular path. Apparently they're all the rage in the U.K. where many city centers focus on pedestrians more than the automobile, and certain streets are reserved only for busses, mail vehicles and the like. These vehicles have sensors in them that trip the bollards to lower and raise again once they've passed.

Some drivers, however, believe they can tailgate an approved vehicle and squeeze past the bollards before they rise again. As this video shows, they can't. The bollards rise immediately after a vehicle passes over them, and they rise quick. In the video, a Toyota Starlet, Kia Sportage and Iveco TurboDaily take on the bollards and lose with little grace, effectively being stabbed through their undercarriages by giant metal posts. In the Kia's case, a father trips his airbag, pisses off his wife and no doubt traumatizes his young child forever in a bold move that results in the rear tires losing contact with terra firma.

Though I've seen the video and written this post, you can all expect to see me and my rental car balancing on two wheels the next time I visit the old country, so I shouldn't talk any more smack.

Thanks for the uplifting tip, James!

[Source: Biertijd]