Fueling stations, bollards and fake bollards

Anyone who follows my ramblings knows that I am a big fan of bollards.  I have written about them and shared dozens of incidents where a properly designed and installed bollard saves the day and more often than not I am sharing incidents with “fake” bollards where something was destroyed because the bollard was IMPROPERLY designed and installed.  Last Friday we had another bollard failure incident and this time it was a doosey!  A semi-truck at a gas station turned too sharply and wiped out a fueling island and started a “little fire” (sarcasm).  The problem with the island’s vehicle protection device was that is was TOO SHORT and this allowed the trailer to pass over it and take out the island fuel pumps causing a fuel spill and fire.  But the type of bollard involved in this incident has become more and more common over the years and for the life of me I am not sure why code officials accept them; as they are NOT an equivalent alternative to the bollard design.  Here is me near my home showing how these railings are NOT filled with concrete either…