Edinburgh roads: Council told Spaces for People bollards were hazard 2 years before man died after trip

Jim Bridges, 93, was crossing Corstorphine High Street to check the timetable at a bus stop one evening in April 2023 when his foot caught the base of one of the "Defender" bollards which was narrowing the carriageway and marking out an extended pedestrian area. 

The retired lorry driver, who was still fit and active, suffered cuts to his head, a broken finger and extensive bruising, and was admitted to hospital, where he died four months later after a series of infections and contracting pneumonia.

Jim Bridges tripped on the base of one of the bollards | supplied

Now his daughter Anne Azak has used Freedom of Information (FoI) legislation to obtain the road safety audit of the Corstorphine scheme, dated June 2021, and says she was shocked to discover it specifically warned of a risk of "trips and falls". 

It said:  "The defender units utilised to delineate the edge of widened footway do not have any colour contrast on the base units and blend into the background shades of the carriageway.

"This may lead to road users not seeing the base units, resulting in trips and falls for pedestrians; vehicle strikes; and motorcycle/cyclist loss of control or falls.

"It is recommended that contrasting material is fitted to the base units to improve their visibility to pedestrians and other users."

Mrs Azac said: "It was there in black and white that it was a safety hazard and yet the council didn't do anything about it - they didn't put any cat's eyes on it, they didn't change the colour of it, or follow any of the recommendations."

Long before she knew of the report's call for contrasting colours on the bollards, her father made the same point when he spoke about the accident in a video she recorded. "He told us that he did not see the black concrete base which blended in with the tarmac.  He said if that base was a different colour everyone would see it."

Mr Bridges died on August 19 last year.  Mrs Azac said: "Two days later, the contractors moved in to remove all the bollards in Corstorphine High Street." And soon afterwards, similar bollards in nearby Manse Road had their bases painted yellow.

Some bollards now have yellow-painted bases to make them more visible | supplied

Mrs Azac said: "The carelessness of the council is indescribable, that they would not even follow the recommendations of that report.   I need the council to take responsibility for their negligence.

“My dad died as a direct result of  landing in hospital.  If it hadn't been for the trip he wouldn't have been in hospital in the first place. He was 93, but he wasn't ready to go, he was really fit and healthy, he was active, still driving and didn't use a walking stick.  He used to look after my mother as well and now she's got Alzheimers with the shock of it all."

In reply to another FoI request, the council said there had been 18 compensation claims related to tripping incidents involving Spaces for People bollards between 2020 and 2023, as well as eight related to cyclist incidents and four related to vehicle incidents. 

John Barrett, former Lib Dem MP for Edinburgh West, said he knew someone who had also tripped on the base of one of the bollards.  "She fell and smashed her jaw, knocked her teeth out and broke her wrist."

And he said: "It's not just Corstorphine, there are similar bollards in other parts of Edinburgh."   He estimated the total number of accidents could be "at least double" the 18 recorded in the FoI response.  "I think the bollards have been a danger and still are a danger."

The council said it had carefully considered the audit report at the time and decided that “the measures we had in place to make the units visible” were appropriate.

Transport convener Scott Arthur said: “I’d like to offer my sincere condolences to the family of Mr Bridges. These units in Corstorphine High Street were installed in 2020, before I became convener in 2022, and are in a conservation area.

“I was not aware of the history when I became convener, but I did try to have the committee review the visibility of lane defenders at the first meeting I chaired. This was mainly based on an accident in my ward where an elderly gentleman suffered a significant fall. Unfortunately, I did not have sufficient support at the committee for my proposal to proceed.“