It’s perhaps still too early to tell if a New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) bollard pilot program designed to protect pedestrians from moving traffic will be successful in the long-term, but initial findings show that it’s creating a nightmare for some drivers, and appears to be causing a number of vehicle accidents.

The installation of bollards – two-foot high, cylindrical-shaped barricades placed along streets and traffic islands around the city – has become a hot topic of debate online among Bronx drivers. The bollard program was launched by DOT at the end of 2019. Among some of the reasons why the bollards appear to be causing traffic accidents is that drivers simply don’t see them.

The latest Bronx incident to involve a vehicle and a bollard took place just before 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 21, when a woman driving a white SUV apparently struck the bollard, and the vehicle flipped over on its side at Van Nest Avenue and East Tremont Avenue in the Bronx’s Van Nest neighborhood.

During an FDNY audio transmission of the incident posted on the Citizen’s App, one firefighter from Battalion 18 can be heard saying, “There was one person in the vehicle. She was not pinned. We were able to get her out through a window.” An accompanying photo, also posted on the Citizens’ App post, shows the vehicle on its side, with its sunroof smashed.

Antonio, a resident of Van Nest, spoke to the Norwood News at the scene of the crash a few hours after it occurred, while broken glass was still lying on the roadway, saying, “This was not the first time. Once they put the little partisans in the middle of the street…… it’s called a bollard?? It happens so often… like once every three months, even in the daytime.”

Antonio, who declined to provide his surname, continued, “I’ve seen it happen almost half a dozen times. It seems like every time I come out and walk my dog, someone’s going crazy, making that slow, baby turn and they flip the whole car over.” He  explained that it was a problem when cars turned left [instead of right] from Van Nest Avenue onto East Tremont Avenue.

He explained that there are two problems at the intersection. One is the bollard at the left turn, which he said was problematic for drivers who don’t see it, and the second is the cars which are speeding along East Tremont Avenue as other cars try to make the turn onto the avenue. “No one cares,” he said, referring to speeding drivers who are likely unaware of the separate problem with the bollard at the intersection.

Under the same Citizen’s App post about the March 21 incident, one person with username, NYCBX1995, commented, “They need to remove that dumbass, thump [expletive] – serves no purpose.” The person added, “Everywhere they put that [expletive] is poorly placed.”

Referring to the general design of the bollards, a second Citizen’s App user, under username, Stiles47, added, “Then they went and made them black so no one could see them at night. Even then, you would have to be in a go-cart to be close enough [low down enough] to the ground to see them over your own damn hood.”

In light of this comment, one potential solution, it seems, could be to paint the bollards white, rather than black, so that they stand out in the dark, or to illuminate them with reflectors, which would be picked up by car lights.

Bollards have also since been installed at East Tremont and Westchester Avenue in Westchester Square, at both East 138th Street and Willis Avenue and East 139th Street and Willis Avenue in Mott Haven, at East 149th Street and Third Avenue in The Hub, and at Paul Avenue and West Mosholu Parkway in Jerome Park.

Following a separate request by the Norwood News for comment on a series of crashes which occurred between the fall of 2019 and Jan. 30, 2020, involving another bollard located at East Tremont Avenue and White Plains Road in the vicinity of Parkchester, an unnamed DOT official told us, “DOT has not received any formal complaints regarding this intersection.”

The DOT spokesperson continued, “As with many of our safety improvement projects, it takes time for motorists to get adjusted to the new street design.” The spokesman concluded, “These types of bollards work to deter speeding and turning vehicles from entering pedestrian spaces, and are at numerous locations throughout the borough and citywide.”

At that same East Tremont Avenue and White Plains Road intersection, on March 23, a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle and was seen being attended to by EMT officials at the scene. However, it is unclear at this point if the cause of the accident was due to a bollard or to some other reason.

Meanwhile, when contacted for comment about the most recent, March 21 crash, the FDNY said they had no record of it  (despite the FDNY audio recording heard on the Citizen’s App) and DOT did not immediately respond to a request for comment. When also contacted for comment on the same March 21 incident, an NYPD spokesperson said, “The vehicle was traveling eastbound on Van Nest Avenue when the driver arrived at East Tremont Avenue and attempted to make a left turn onto East Tremont Avenue when the driver hit the median, turning the vehicle over.” He added “Both driver and passenger refused medical attention.”