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Beginner
Beginner's Guide to Road Bollards
A practical first pass at using roadside bollards as country clues.
BollardsRoadsRoadside Clues
Beginner guide
Avoid false positives
Key takeaway
A bollard is strongest when road lines, plates, or language agree with it.
Bollards are powerful, but they are not magic. Many countries have multiple designs, and temporary roadworks or private roads can introduce odd posts.
Confirmation routine
- Check whether the post is on a normal public road. Urban parking posts, driveway markers, and construction cones are less reliable.
- Pair the bollard with road lines. South Africa and neighbouring countries often use yellow outer lines; Norway may show yellow/orange centre lines; Sweden usually does not.
- Pair the bollard with plates. Netherlands yellow plates, Belgium red plate text, UK yellow rear plates, and Italy's short front plates can quickly confirm or reject a bollard read.
- Pair the bollard with language. "Rue", "via", "vej", "rruga", Greek text, Hangul, or Japanese scripts can settle a close call.
Use bollards to narrow the map, then demand one independent clue before committing.