Safety Standards

Protective barriers are becoming an increasingly important component of preventing or minimizing the damage from such accidents. Now, a new ASTM standard quantifies the dynamic performance of vehicle protective devices at speeds of 50 km/h (30 mph) and lower. The procedure described in ASTM F3016 will establish a penetration rating for vehicle protective devices subjected to low-speed vehicle impact. The determined penetration rating will provide end users with the ability to select an appropriate barrier for site-specific conditions.

“Separating pedestrians from traffic and protecting storefronts from the impacts of cars that jump curbs as a result of operator error are compelling issues of public safety and building and public space design,” says Robert Reiter, a member of ASTM Subcommittee F12.10, and a storefront safety consultant. The proposed new standard will begin to address this issue by providing testing parameters for lower speed vehicle barriers.

Allowed insurers to consider the use of certain vehicle barriers at a commercial property as safety devices that qualify for a discount on the owner's insurance premiums, as approved by the Insurance Commissioner. The measure also encouraged the California Building Standards Commission to adopt a statewide standard for such safety devices.

Requires businesses to place a barrier in front of their building if parking is within 10 feet of the entrance to the facility. Current businesses are grandfathered in and will only have to install a barrier if they make changes to their building or parking lot. The city council passed the law after an SUV crashed into a dentist’s office, killing 6-year-old Camlyn Lee.

Requires childcare facilities to have safety barriers in exposed areas. The measure came as a response to the 2014 death of Lily Quintus, and serious injury of several other children, when a vehicle crashed into a childcare center in the county. Orange County also established the Lily Quintus Childcare Center Vehicle Impact Grant, providing up to $10,000 to assist childcare centers with installing safety barriers in front of their buildings.

City passes new parking lot safety standards ordinance. Read ordinance.

Requires “vehicle impact protection devices” in existing and future parking lots for head-in spaces within 75 feet of outdoor seating areas. Then-Mayor Pro Tem (now Mayor) Lou La Monte introduced the measure after learning of the Buena Park Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour tragedy.

Requires, among other things, that “vehicle impact protection devices” be installed adjacent to parking spaces that are angled between 30 to 90 degrees relative to an adjacent outdoor pedestrian seating area. The ordinance effort was led by Artesia City Council member Victor Manolo after his mother-in-law was killed and his daughter was severely injured when a vehicle crashed into them in front of Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour in nearby Buena Park.

Twice introduced legislation, in 2013 and 2015, to mandate the installation of barriers between certain parking spaces and retail establishments, but neither bill survived to a full vote.

Requires that head-in parking located directly adjacent to a storefront be equipped with concrete security planters with a minimum depth of 40 inches, and that buildings located there have ground-floor windowsills placed at a height of 24 to 48 inches above grade.

​

As driver behavior clashes increasingly with the built environment, Amherst, Miami-Dade, and ASTM International exemplify proactive approaches to changing safety conditions. They can see that America is no longer a “free range” society and have opted to work toward a new balance between unrestrained vehicle movement and public safety.Southern California press coverage of new ordinance to prevent storefront crashes

​

​

​

​

​

​

​