The white four wheel drive that hit pedestrians crossing Flinders Street on December 21 was stopped after driving into a bollard installed at a tram stop.

The impact crushed the front of the car and protected further pedestrians from being hit. 

The same bollards, manufactured by Victorian company Saferoads, were installed at Little Bridge Street in Ballarat around four years ago, according to CEO Darren Hotchkin. 

Mr Hotchkin said the OmniStop bollard has been crash tested and proven to stop passenger vehicles that are out of control either by purpose or accident. 

“An out of control vehicle can happen anywhere at any time. So where there are a lot of pedestrians, like in shopping malls and shopping streets, and where there is a high volume of cars, obviously the risks increase, whether it is regional or city,” he said. 

A City of Ballarat urban design manual from 2013, around the time the bollards were installed, states the use of bollards are considered within a framework of an overall safety strategy. 

Mr Hotchkin said thousands of OmniStop bollards have been installed around Australia and overseas.

“We know that the bollards have saved many lives,” he said.  

“But to have something as prominent as what happened in Flinders Street and to know that a product that we built saved countless lives, is a good feeling.”

Twenty people were taken to hospital after the Flinders Street chaos and two remain in a critical condition.

CORRECTION:

The OmniStop bollard was originally designed by Automotive Safety Engineering and manufactured and installed by Saferoads.