How to Prevent Car Accidents With Buildings

Updated on: 1/16/2023

Vehicle-into-Building Crashes occur approximately twenty times a day. Many of these crashes happen to convenience stores. People's lives are endangered by these crashes.

One of the main controversies surrounding the crash was the fact that multiple residents of the area have said that there have been several car accidents involving this particular office building. The problem with this is that, in some cases involving these types of car accidents, the property owner is responsible for ensuring that the building does not present an unreasonable risk of injury to the people who occupy it.

City and/or state municipalities also have a duty to ensure that the design of the street and individual intersection does not present any additional safety risks to the public. The fact that there have been a number of accidents involving this particular office suggests that there could be some factors in play that increase the risk of a car accident with the building.

What Can Be Done to Prevent Accidents with Buildings?

There are a number of things that can be done to make sure that certain intersections and roadways do not present an increased risk of accident or injury to the public. Setting appropriate speed limits, installing proper signage and traffic signals are some of the more obvious solutions to improving safety. 

Another possible solution would be to create some form of physical barrier to protect buildings and pedestrians alike from the dangers of an out-of-control vehicle. Bollards, which are short, vertical posts that can made out of a variety of materials depending upon their purpose, are one possible solution to this problem. 

Bollards have been used for a variety of reasons over the last several decades, and the plastic variations are commonly used today as temporary cones in the middle of roadways, as pictured below:

Can Bollards Be Effective?

But bollards – specifically those made out of steel or another type of dense metal – can also be implemented as a physical barrier to separate traffic from pedestrians and buildings and prevent injury in the event of a car accident.

They essentially serve the same purpose as a jersey barrier except for the fact that pedestrians, bicyclists and small service vehicles are able to fit between them, which makes the flow of traffic much smoother. 

In areas where there has been a history of vehicle accidents with buildings, bollards could potentially serve as a solution to the risk of injury to the public. It would be wise for city and state municipalities to consider bollards as an option in areas where there is a high frequency of accidents with buildings and pedestrians.  

Free Legal Consultations With An Attorney

If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident due to the negligence of another person or party, you may benefit from consulting with the personal injury attorneys at Davis Law Group. We have helped accident victims throughout Washington state for more than 25 years. 

Call our office in Seattle at (206) 727-4000 or use the confidential contact form on this page to get started with a free case review & analysis from our legal team.