On-road safety is something that everyone has to consider at some point, one confused pedestrian can cause a catastrophic event. But this is what traffic signs, lights and signals are for, this system has worked for many decades and will continue to serve humanity to the order it seeks to establish on the road, which is filled with large metal machines and many people that could easily be crushed by said machines. And there are times when roads need to be repaired or extended, but it can't be closed off because it's an important route that sees lots of traffic. So then what do you do when you have to section it off?
You use the traffic control equipment, it's used to warn and reroute people away from the worksite. By using cones, bollards, barricades, humps, barriers and fencing the road can be blocked off to the main traffic flow, rendering it a safe area for the workers. Now all of this equipment has a very specific purpose, all of it's made to redirect traffic but in different ways and with different results if the driver does not heed the signs.
Most of the traffic control equipment you'll see on the road is made to glow in the dark and be very noticeable through the day by using fluorescent orange or yellow with a reflective sleeve or lines. Depending on the nature of the restricted road you can see cones on the smaller worksites where only some form of maintenance is required, after that for the larger sites barriers and bollards are required to keep drivers away. And for the really big sites they use fencing and road spike access humps.
But they're not only used for construction and maintenance, you can also see them in parking lots and warehouses. Their use is very widespread because of the many different vehicles and personnel that need to be managed on a daily basis. In most warehouses you'll specifically find fences and soft bollards that can bend completely to slow down a vehicle but not stop it completely since that would be dangerous to the driver and the vehicle's cargo. The only traffic control equipment that's meant to stop a vehicle completely are the barriers, they're usually filled with liquid or sand making them the strongest way to stop a vehicle. But all of the bollards, barriers and cones are made of plastic, this is so they crumple easily and absorb all of the energy which is being transferred from the vehicle hitting them making them the safest way to stop a vehicle.
