Four years ago, an experiment was conducted where a metal railing to separate directions of travel was installed on a stretch of the road from Tallinn to Rapla. As the change caused the number of accidents on this particular stretch of road to go up, the Transport Administration recently decided to replace the railing with rubber bollards.

"Because the railing had been in place for some time and people were used to it, it did not seem sensible to go back and have nothing there," said Johann Peetre, head of mobility planning at the Transport Administration.

According to Peetre, the goal is to prevent severe collisions, and the rubber bollards help discourage risk behavior.

Road engineer Ain Kendra, who uses the road on a daily basis, said that while the new solution is better than the one it replaces, it's still not good.

"Talking about almost four kilometers of these bollards, I understand their use near the intersection here, or the next three-way junction, but certainty not between them," Kendra told "Aktuaalne kaamera" TV news.

Kendra said that overtaking has been made impossible on a straight piece of road 1.2 kilometers in length, while it is permitted on a 400-meter stretch soon after, moving in the direction of Tallinn.

While 400 meters is too short for safe overtaking, many still do because the next straight holds a speed trap, which has caused crashes to become more frequent on the road section.

Johann Peetre said that the new solution was chosen with help from the traffic hazards working group and local traffic organizers.

"One positive aspect is that animals can cross the road. There were cases, which you can look up on YouTube, where a roe deer had to walk along the [old] fence to find a break in it and cross the road," Kendra said.

Driver Lauri told the AK crew that he was not bothered by the old solution and isn't by the bollards, even though the new solution is safer.

"I have driven a lot in Sweden, and they have a lot of barriers there, so I'm used to them. Rather, there are problems with our traffic culture," Lauri remarked.

The bollards will not be removed come winter and their use on Estonian roads will rather grow, as the Transport Administration describes them as a cost-effective way of calming traffic.

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