Creating accessible spaces for disabled individuals isn’t just a legal obligation but a moral one. As businesses and property owners, providing convenient, safe, and compliant car park facilities for everyone, including disabled individuals, is essential.
A key to achieving this is the strategic use of safety bollards. Bollards are more than just simple structures that mark boundaries; they are vital in enhancing accessibility, safety, and compliance in disabled car parks.
Why it’s Important to have Bollards in Disabled Car Parks?
Bollards serve a practical and crucial function in disabled car parks, ensuring designated spaces remain accessible and free from obstruction. Disabled parking bays are designed to be larger than regular parking spaces, providing enough room for wheelchair users or those with mobility aids to comfortably enter and exit their vehicles.
Preventing Unauthorised Use
One of the most significant roles of bollards is preventing unauthorised vehicles from entering disabled parking spaces. Disabled car parks are often located close to building entrances, making them prime targets for misuse by drivers seeking convenient parking. Bollards act as a deterrent, physically preventing vehicles from entering these areas unless authorised.
By installing bollards at the entrance to disabled car parks or individual spaces, businesses can ensure that only those with the correct permits are using them. This helps maintain the integrity of the car park and ensures that disabled individuals have the access they need.
Enhancing Safety for Disabled Individuals
Safety is a key concern in car parks. The layout of a car park, combined with the presence of vehicles and pedestrians, can present risks to those with limited mobility or vision. Bollards play a crucial role in improving safety by clearly defining pedestrian areas, guiding vehicle traffic, and preventing collisions.
For example, bollards can be used to create safe walkways, ensuring at-risk individuals have a designated path to reach the entrance of the building without having to navigate through traffic. Bollards can also be placed around disabled parking spaces to provide a physical barrier, protecting parked vehicles from accidental damage by other vehicles moving through the car park.
In addition, brightly coloured or reflective bollards can improve visibility, helping drivers and pedestrians easily identify the designated disabled parking areas and walkways, particularly in low-light conditions.
Compliance with Accessibility Regulations
Installing bollards in disabled car parks isn’t just about safety and convenience; it’s also about complying with accessibility regulations. In Australia, car parks must meet specific standards set out in the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) and the Australian Standards (AS2890.6) for off-street parking, which outline the design requirements for disabled parking spaces, including their size, signage, and location.
One of the key regulations is ensuring that disabled parking spaces provide adequate room for disabled individuals to safely enter and exit their vehicles. Bollards can help enforce these regulations by physically defining the boundaries of these spaces and preventing other vehicles from encroaching into them. For example, a bollard placed at the corner of a disabled parking space can ensure that other drivers don’t park too closely, which could obstruct the extra space needed for wheelchair access.
Bollards can also be used to mark out accessible walkways, ensuring compliance with regulations that require clear, unobstructed routes from the parking area to the building entrance. These pathways must be wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs and free from any barriers that could impede access. Bollards provide a clear boundary, ensuring that vehicles do not obstruct these pathways and that disabled individuals can move freely and safely.
Supporting a Range of Disabilities with Bollards
While mobility disabilities often come to mind when discussing accessibility in car parks, it’s crucial to acknowledge that bollards can benefit individuals with a wide range of disabilities, including those that are not immediately visible. Designing accessible spaces involves considering the diverse needs of people with physical, sensory, and cognitive disabilities, ensuring everyone has a safe and supportive environment.
Invisible Disabilities
Invisible disabilities—conditions that are not immediately apparent—can include chronic pain, respiratory conditions, mental health disorders, and cognitive impairments. People living with these conditions may face unique challenges when navigating car parks. While they might not use wheelchairs or mobility aids, they could still benefit from accessible parking spaces that are closer to entrances or have features that reduce exertion.
Blindness and Low Vision
People with blindness or low vision rely on visual and tactile cues to safely navigate their surroundings. Bollards equipped with high-contrast colours and reflective materials can serve as crucial visual markers, helping people with low vision identify safe routes and avoid entering vehicle traffic areas.
Tactile markers on the ground often work in tandem with bollards to provide a sense of direction. Bollards placed at strategic points along a pathway or near disabled parking spaces can act as physical indicators, guiding individuals along a safe route. Combined with braille signage or textured ground surfaces, bollards contribute significantly to creating an accessible and safe car park for those with visual impairments.
Deafness and Hearing Impairments
For individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, environmental hazards that rely on auditory cues—such as the sound of approaching vehicles—may pose a greater risk. Bollards can help create physical barriers that separate pedestrian pathways from vehicular traffic, ensuring a safer environment for those who may not hear approaching dangers.
Mobility Impairments Beyond Wheelchairs
While bollards are often discussed in relation to wheelchair users, mobility impairments encompass a wide variety of conditions that affect a person’s ability to walk, stand, or move around easily. For these individuals, the wider space and the protection offered by bollards around disabled parking bays can make a significant difference. Additionally, bollards that guide pedestrians to clear, safe walkways minimise the risk of tripping or slipping hazards, which can be especially important for people with balance or coordination issues.
Cognitive and Neurodiverse Conditions
People with cognitive disabilities or neurodiverse conditions, such as autism, ADHD, or dementia, may find car parks overwhelming due to their often chaotic and noisy nature. Clear, predictable pathways and signage are key to creating a supportive environment. Bollards play a crucial role in providing these visual cues by clearly marking safe walking routes, entrances, and exits.
At LineMarkers, we specialise in providing tailored safety bollard solutions that meet your specific needs. We have the expertise and products to help you create an accessible and compliant car park.
Contact us today to discuss how our bollard solutions can improve the accessibility and safety of your car park.
