Spate Of Car Accidents Prompts Barrier Mandate For New Restaurants

A fatal car crash last month has prompted Amherst, N.Y., to require safety barriers in front of any new restaurants built there.

The measure is in response to recent crashes in the area in which motorists drove into buildings, either killing or injuring patrons and employees inside. In the most recent incident, a motorist crashed through the front of Amherst’s Cheeburger Cheeburger restaurant on Sept. 17, killing a couple and injuring their teenage son and a server. In the last few weeks, at least five similar crashes have occurred in western New York.

The Amherst town board unanimously approved a process to begin modifying site plan regulations; they now require traffic safety barriers in front of new restaurants and other places of assembly constructed in the city of 122,000.