Council approves requiring safety bollards at new medical facilities

City Council agreed unanimously on Thursday to require installation of safety barriers, called bollards, at the pedestrian entrances of medical facilities when a new facility is being constructed. The new rules are intended to prevent the kinds of tragedies that have occurred in Austin as well as other medical facilities around the nation when a driver loses control of a car and crashes into the emergency room.

Council Member Mackenzie Kelly decided to carry the resolution last spring after a car crashed into the emergency room of a North Austin hospital, killing the driver and seriously injuring four members of a family inside the hospital. Thursday was Kelly’s final meeting as a Council member, so she was eager to see the item approved.

Prior to that vote, Council Member Zo Qadri argued for a postponement to Jan. 30 because the Planning Commission had postponed its recommendation.

However, his motion failed on a vote of 7-4, with only Qadri and Council members Vanessa Fuentes, José Velásquez and Mayor Pro Tem Leslie Pool in favor of postponement. Council Member Alison Alter asked Qadri whether he had concerns about expanding the scope of the ordinance and he said he wanted to make sure there are not any unintended consequences. Alter noted that there would be more challenges if the ordinance were applied more broadly.

Mayor Kirk Watson and Council members Kelly, Ryan Alter, Alison Alter, Paige Ellis, Natasha Harper-Madison and Chito Vela voted against Qadri’s motion. No one spoke up against the ordinance when Watson asked for the final vote.

A review of the transcript of the Planning Commission’s December meeting shows that no one attended the meeting to speak against adoption of the bollard requirement. Commissioners postponed the item from their November meeting after asking the staff member from the Transportation and Public Works Department a variety of questions.

The Codes and Ordinances Joint Committee, which consists of members of the Planning Commission and the Zoning and Platting Commission, recommended passage of the ordinance at their October meeting.

However, at the Planning Commission’s December meeting, commissioners expressed the need for more information, particularly wondering if the requirement should not be broadened to include more facilities. The group voted 9-4 to postpone to January.

Kelly told her colleagues before the vote, “If your intention is to broaden this, that is not germane in my opinion. I would encourage this body if they feel there is a need to broaden it, I would encourage” that, which she said she would enjoy “when I’m watching from home on my couch eating popcorn. (But) I think it would be an absolute travesty for us to postpone this,” when there could be “another tragedy in the next 30 days when this is brought back up.”

Kelly told the Austin Monitor that St. David’s North Austin Medical Center, where the crash occurred, voluntarily put in bollards after the crash. She pointed out that the city’s intention was not to affect hospitals that were already built, but she was heartened by the fact many had already hardened their entrances.

KXAN noted that the crash at St. David’s was similar to those that have happened around the country at different medical facilities. Kelly told the Monitor, “When KXAN brought me their investigation, (it) showed it had happened over 300 times across the country.” She then looked to see whether the city had any kinds of rules requiring the bollards and found it did not. So, with her background in the emergency response field, she said she knew that people suffering a heart attack – particularly women – will drive themselves to the hospital rather than calling 911.

“I want to protect the people inside the emergency room and I also want to protect people who are driving there,” she said.

Photo made available through a Creative Commons license.

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