Looking at parking lots today, it’s noticeable that signage and sign posts have changed over the years. The actual signs haven’t changed but the sign posts have. While you will still see typical U-Channel and Square-Channel steel posts, you will also see many steel posts wrapped in concrete. But why?
Concrete and steel bollards were originally designed to help keep vehicles away from certain items like building entrances, gas pumps, utility boxes and so on. Today we see them popping up in parking lot spaces to support traditional steel sign posts… but for what purpose? Do $80 sign posts really need expensive concrete bollards supporting them? The only logical explanation is that parking lot owners and property managers want their signage to be noticed and not damaged by vehicles running into them. Good idea, but in most cases, it just doesn’t work….
In reality, every sign post in a parking lot, no matter how big or colorful, has a good chance of being hit by a driver. The fact is sign posts get hit, and get hit often. Ask any insurance company. This is why concrete and steel bollards should never have found their way into parking lot spaces. They are a liability to establishments, a hazard to drivers and pedestrians and an unnecessary expense for parking lot owners.
So what is the answer? Technology! No, not the technology like the iPad or iPhone but the technology of the new sign posts that have also been popping up recently in parking lots. Sign posts and bollards that are “flexible” like the FlexPost® and the FlexBollard ™ .
These simple but effective units not only keep parking lots looking good to the eye but are less hazardous than those big, expensive and unnecessary concrete and steel bollard sign posts. When flexible sign posts and bollards are hit by vehicles, they bounce back to their original positions with no damage to the vehicles or parking lot surfaces.
By John Kandra
President of Flexpost Inc.
Flexpostinc.com
