Driving out of the supermarket carpark, I noticed a car had stopped pn the narrow section of road in front of me. Next thing I know, BANG. I thought someone had chucked a breezeblock onto the car from the roof. Then I saw the big yellow barrier right by my head!
So, it seems that the barrier should have been locked in the open position, but wasn’t. The car in front of me had driven into it, smashing their windscreen. That impact knocked the barrier forwards, hitting the hedge, then swinging backwards again into my windscreen.
Quite a shock, as you can imagine. I think my neck will hurt a bit once the adrenline has wirn off as it feels a bit sore and sounds a bit crunchy! I reckon half a second later and it would have through the passenger window and through my skull.
Car’s a write off most likely as the barrier mashed the pillar and bent the roof upwards.
The fire service came to safely extract the car from the barrier. I’ll speak to the insurance tomorrow – the supermarket manager assured me that their insurance will sort it all no quibbles.
The other driver hit it at a different angle, so the barrier just bounced off the windscreen. The windscreen was broken, but no other damage and no injuries.
They have to report things like this to the H&S Executive who will come down on them like a tonne of bricks as it has put a member of the public in serious danger. Expect the insurers to roll over too. I also guarantee you will not be left out of pocket, the supermarket will not want any bad publicity from this whatsoever.
Bloody hell OP. Glad you’re okay. I’d be pushing the supermarket for a free food for life deal. After all you now have a fear of supermarkets and won’t ever be able to visit one again 😉
As above I’d be pushing for this to be investigated, I’m sure they identified the this hazard and that all ‘triangle’ barriers must be locked open to avoid a pointy girder drifting about in the path of vehicles and killing people.
For their sake, hopefully it was locked open but the other car broke the lock when hitting it.
It was not locked open; the padlock was intact and locked onto the pillar. Not sure but I think the rope was a temporary measure by the fire service to keep it open.
Just to clarify, it’s a barrier of two halves meeting in the middle when closed. The right hand one was safely locked in the open position. The left one was seemingly unlocked and free to swing. Doesn’t seem to be tampered padlock, as you can see above pic, it’s intact and locked to the post.
I think my neck will hurt a bit once the adrenline has wirn off as it feels a bit sore and sounds a bit crunchy!
Get yourself X-rayed, I had a fractured vertibrea that I didn’t know about for a few days after an accident until I got a really weird click when bending over to put some washing in a machine. I had put it down to general stiffness/pulled muscles.
I’m ok thanks. I’m a pretty rational and logical chap and have been fine, if a bit pensive today. The main emotional spike comes when I think of a family member being in the passenger seat. I’ve driven down that ramp scores of times with my wife or daughter in the passenger seat.
To a layman (ie, me), that looks like an incredibly heavy duty piece of kit for what it’s designed for. I would hope that the barrier would be changed to a more lightweight, frangible version?
Happens every so often, remember thats life doing a few spots on loose barriers, theyre a killer if not secured.
Thank god youre still alive, it could have been a lot worse, health and safety will investigate as will the police and shit will fly at the car park owners.
Glad the OP is fine, I can imagine the shock of that taking a while to go, the always-there thought about what could have happened to a passenger. No question about liability, though.
What’s all this lucky bollocks, thousands of people have probably driven through there with that barrier unlocked and only the OP gets squashed. Lucky my arse I reckon they’re a bloody liability! 🙂