An ever increasing number of cars on the roads means that restricting vehicle access onto and off private property has become essential. Changes to the law have impacted on a land owner’s ability to enforce parking restrictions, but there are still a number of legal options available to suit every site and budget.
What does the law say?
Since 2012, land owners have no longer been allowed to restrict the movement of a motor vehicle through the use of an immobilising devise such as a wheel clamp. From a legal perspective, this means protecting your property, rather than immobilising the vehicles themselves, is key.
So what options are available to you? It depends entirely on the size of your site.
Individual parking space
The Hinged Parking Post is the option for you. Available in a variety of designs, with a range of locking options, parking posts are designed to sit in the entrance to a parking space or driveway. Once installed, the parking post can only be lowered with the owner’s key, preventing unauthorised parking.
Entrance access control
If you have a non-secured entrance that is used regularly, retractable posts are perfect. When lowered, they disappear into the below-ground socket and covered by the integrated lid, ideal for smaller entrances where space is an issue. Manually operated and available in a variety of shapes and sizes to suit your needs, larger versions use lift-assist technology which greatly reduces the lift up weight and controls the post during lowering.
For infrequently used entrances, removable posts are perfect. When locked in place they form a barrier to vehicular access, in the same way as any other fixed post or bollard. When access is required, they can be unlocked and removed from their ground sockets, allowing vehicles to enter.
For large sites, such as car parks, which have fixed opening times, a manual arm barrier or swing gate is an easy way to restrict vehicle access outside operating hours. Operated manually, both these products can be locked in the opened and closed positions offering site owners complete peace of mind when the parking area is not in use.
Protecting a wider area
If you need to secure a whole site, rather than just an entrance, you can use Perimeter Barriers. Particularly popular with car showrooms and dealerships, these barriers provide a permanent obstacle to vehicle access and are more aesthetically pleasing alternative to traditional fencing.
Incredibly flexible, perimeter barriers are available in a plethora of shapes and sizes and can be manufactured to your exact requirements. Removable versions are also available to help secure infrequently used entrances, without reducing their accessibility.
The ultimate in access control
If you want the ‘ultimate’ in access control for an entrance, then an automatic access control product is the way forward. Automatic Barriers and Bollards can be used to control both the vehicles that are allowed onto site as well as the flow of traffic on site. Both can be combined with a variety of control options, including swipe cards, remote controls and intercoms to help manage the flow of vehicles onto and off site.
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