As a restaurant owner, you know that creating an inviting, welcoming atmosphere is key to attracting customers. However, prioritizing the safety of your patrons and staff is just as important. Accidents involving cars crashing into storefronts are a grim reality — more than 100 of these incidents happen each day, resulting in around 16,000 injuries annually.

The good news is that storefront crashes are entirely preventable. Installing security barriers and bollards around your restaurant is an effective method. From preventing car crashes to deterring criminal activity, these safety measures are a valuable asset for your business.

What Are Security Bollards?

Security bollards are short, sturdy vertical posts that serve as protective barriers to prevent vehicle collisions, control pedestrian traffic and enhance perimeter security. Bollards consist of various materials, such as concrete, steel or plastic, and come in different shapes, sizes and designs.

You can install security bollards on sidewalks, parking lots, storefronts and public spaces. Placing them around your restaurant’s entrance and exit adds a sense of safety and protects your customers from vehicle collisions and ramming attacks.

The Benefits of Security Bollards

Bollards are your first line of defense against any storefront crash. Whether saving your restaurant from property damage or sparing patrons from injury, bollards are the best way to protect your customers and outdoor spaces.

Bollards will save you money if a car crashes near your restaurant by limiting the damage a crash can do. Instead of allowing that car to penetrate your storefront or outdoor seating area and cause serious harm, bollards will help block its path and stop it from causing destruction. This will keep you from paying for expensive building repairs that insurance might not cover.

Bollards can give customers as much peace of mind as restaurant owners. Bollards ensure a safe dining experience by safeguarding the area from reckless drivers and protecting pedestrians inside walkways. Lighted bollards can also provide greater visibility and cultivate a feeling of safety.

How Blockaides Bollards Can Enhance Your Restaurant

Restaurant owners can use bollards in many ways to protect their restaurant’s space while enhancing the exterior aesthetics of the area. From visual appeal to practicality, discover why you should add bollards to your restaurant’s outdoor layout.

They Can Add to Your Decor

You may be reluctant to use security bollards for fear they’ll be unattractive and disrupt your restaurant’s exterior décor. But many of today’s bollards are designed with both utility and appearance in mind. You can incorporate bollards seamlessly into your restaurant’s outdoor layout with the right style.

Blockaides manufactures the following types of bollards to complement a restaurant’s exterior:

• Illuminative: Lighted bollards can brighten pathways to help people see better while walking to or from your restaurant. Added visibility can help patrons avoid trips and falls and keep muggers or pick-pocketers at bay. They can also provide mood lighting for patrons dining outdoors.
• Ornamental: Decorative and cast iron bollards can complement your restaurant’s branding efforts. These bollards can tie your exterior design together by matching the restaurant’s landscaping and exterior décor. You can customize your bollards’ shape and color to complete your restaurant’s theme and make it stand out to potential patrons.
• Retractable: If you want the safety elements of bollards but can’t find one that fits your theme, try retractable bollards, which you can hide away when not in use. For example, you can raise them at night and lower them when customers are present during the day.

They’re Sturdy and Durable

Bollards can protect your restaurant from vehicle impact and prevent property damage. This is crucial because there are 2,600 storefront crash-related deaths every year. Guarding your restaurant against these crashes will protect the building and prevent avoidable deaths.

Bollards will also keep the customers inside the restaurant safe from passing cars and serve to protect walkways by creating a median between pedestrians and the parking lot. Having bollards as a barrier between pedestrians and vehicles could act as a shield in a crisis.

While any bollard will mitigate most of a crash’s impact, some bollards are designed to be sturdier than others. Blockaides manufactures carbon steel, stainless steel and aluminum security bollards crash-tested and proven to withstand various impacts.

Low-speed crash-tested bollards can withstand collisions between 9 and 32.5 miles per hour, while high-speed crash-tested bollards can mitigate impacts up to 50 miles per hour. Choose a bollard with an appropriate crash rating for your restaurant’s needs based on the traffic flow in the area.

They Enhance Outdoor Seating

People enjoy dining outdoors when warmer weather hits. There’s nothing like a good meal or cocktail outside on a lovely summer evening. However, these customers must be as safe as those seated inside the restaurant.

Bollards are a great way to protect patrons as they eat or wait to be seated outside and preserve your restaurant’s outdoor space. When no customers are at your outdoor tables, the accommodations are still out and at risk of vehicle damage. If repairs are too expensive, a restaurant could lose its outdoor seating area after an accident.

Along with safety, bollards add ambiance to an outdoor dining space. Incorporating lighted bollards into a restaurant’s exterior design can improve guests’ experiences by helping them see the menu and each other better. Decorative bollards can also contribute to the theme or mood a restaurant wants to cultivate.

They Help Regulate Traffic

In addition to helping drivers avoid crashing into a building, bollards can help them navigate areas around your restaurant. Good bollard placement can direct restaurant customers on where to go by signaling entrances and exits. If your restaurant’s location often confuses drivers, gets busy or is shared with other businesses, consider adding bollards to help regulate traffic.

Blockaides Restaurant Bollard Options

There’s no need to worry about curb appeal or functionality when you get your bollards from Blockaides. We offer an assortment of design styles and decorative bollards to meet your safety and aesthetic needs. We also provide accessories like covers, wrap covers and caps to make your bollards more attractive and visible to passing cars so they’re easier to notice and avoid.

Blockaides has many types of bollards suitable for restaurant use, including:

• Retractable and Removable Bollards: If you want bollards that disappear when they aren’t needed to clean up the sightline, consider our manual or automatic retractable bollards or our locking removable bollards. These bollards remain securely in place when in use, and you can easily retract or remove them when you don’t need them.
• Lighted Bollards: If you offer nighttime service, lighted bollards are the perfect addition. They provide extra illumination for after-dark diners while ensuring passing traffic can see them, even with limited visibility.
• Fixed Bollards: If keeping your bollards firmly in place is the priority, and you don’t anticipate moving them, try our fixed surface-mounted bollards.
• Decorative Bollards: If you want to maintain your restaurant’s unique look, you’ll be interested in our decorative cast iron bollards. They come in various unique molds to blend well with your restaurant’s personality. They’re available in three options, including general, lighted and as covers of K-rated bollards to offer the protection you need.

Crash-Rated Bollard Options for Restaurants

One benefit of Blockaides bollards for restaurant use is their toughness. We build strong carbon or stainless steel bollards to protect against vehicle impact and meet the latest crash rating standards. Plus, we make them here in the United States, so you can trust their ability to blunt oncoming impacts and protect your patrons and facility from injury or damage.

Blockaides bollards are rated according to ASTM standards, so you can know exactly how durable the bollard you’re ordering is. We offer bollards rated for low-speed and high-speed impacts, so you can choose one that suits your restaurant’s security needs.

Contact Blockaides for Restaurant Bollards Today

Security bollards for restaurants are a crucial safety measure that can protect patrons, employees and property from harm. With the rise of vehicle-borne attacks, restaurants are vulnerable targets that require effective security solutions. Security bollards provide a physical barrier against unauthorized vehicle access and prevent accidental collisions.

Blockaides uses high-quality materials and advanced technology to manufacture durable, reliable and effective security bollards. Reach out to us today to discuss the right security bollard for your restaurant. We look forward to providing you with a free consultation and quote on your best options!