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metal poles Etterbeek, Source: TheMayor.EU

Etterbeek installs soft parking poles to prevent car damage

Etterbeek installs soft parking poles to prevent car damage

The stoppers look almost like those made of metal, but vehicles are not damaged upon contact

Have you ever had the unpleasant experience of hitting an anti-parking pole with your car? Then you must know for sure that your troubles are only just beginning. Restoring your automobile paint from the scratches or repairing bent armor can cost you hundreds of euros, only because of a second of inattention.

Be that as it may, street poles have their well-founded raison d’etre in protecting pedestrian areas. So, is there something to be done for the car-owners? Luckily, this smart Belgian municipality is well aware of the issue and started implementing an easy and efficient solution years ago. Namely, Etterbeek is gradually replacing the car stoppers made of metal with soft ones, made of polyurethane memory foam, report local media.

Aesthetic, less damaging and sustainable

And although the poles with the new design are a little more expensive (120 euros per piece, compared to the 100 euros for the existing model), they save on maintenance to the responsible public service. In the event of a crash into the pole, it is almost impossible to break it or pull them out, unlike the previous solid model. Finally, the new polyurethane poles are 100% recyclable.

The innovative solution has proven very popular among the locals. While pedestrians have launched photo challenges on social media, drivers are already calculating the savings on car repairs.  Furthermore, the municipality has also made it possible to request these new poles for private properties and garages.

Actually, the decision to replace solid poles with soft ones was taken 10 years ago. Each year the municipality in Brussels-Capital region installs at least 50 of the new memory foam poles. Interestingly, one can see already plenty of them in several French cities, like Bordeaux, Rennes and Reims.

It is however to be mentioned, that they are hardly suitable for roads of high traffic intensity and concentration of road accidents, where a solid metal pole can do a much better job in reducing speed and protecting pedestrians from incoming vehicles.

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