MERIDIAN Rapid Defense Group is fast-tracking operations by working with restaurants to create safe outdoor dining areas using its mobile Archer vehicle barriers.
The need for greater attention to the issue comes following the death of a restaurant patron and injuries to eight others in San Jose, CA when an elderly driver lost control of his SUV.
San Jose Police Sgt. Christian Camarillo said, "The driver thought he was using his brake but accelerated and then went speeding across a street, over a sidewalk, and into the restaurant."
Since the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of many restaurants for indoor eating, MERIDIAN has helped restaurateurs "get back to business." MERIDIAN’s unique Archer 1200 mobile vehicle barriers are being used across the U.S. to secure outdoor dining zones. The American-made steel barriers can stop a car or truck at lethal speeds.
Outdoor dining in Wilmington NC
Archer 1200 Barriers create safe dining area in Wilmington, NC.
Peter Whitford, CEO of MERIDIAN explained, "At the famous restaurant district in Ocean Drive in Palm Beach, Florida the entire area was secured by Archer vehicle barriers and Archer beam gates to create a pedestrian plaza. The restaurant owners told us business was great once the area was secured."
In the California cities of Pasadena, Ventura, and West Hollywood, restaurants were able to spill out onto the street thanks to a "ring of steel" created by MERIDIAN’s barriers.
In North Carolina, MERIDIAN partnered with the City of Wilmington and restaurant organizations to create "Curbside Wilmington" with MERIDIAN barriers enabling restaurant owners to offer large, secure areas for outdoor dining.
"Our safe outdoor dining model has now expanded with great success," said Wilmington mayor, Mike Purzycki.
MERIDIAN’s Mr. Whitford said restaurants need to look closely at creating safe spaces next to moving traffic. "A series of collisions in New York, like that in San Jose, has highlighted that swiftly-assembled, flimsy outdoor dining setups just aren’t good enough. These terrible tragedies can be averted if the correct equipment is used and the correct decisions are made at the very beginning," he said.
