How many bollards does your driveway need?
Enter the width of your driveway entrance. We will show you how many Boliq bollards close it to cars, drawn to scale next to an average UK car, and add them to your order in one click.
Cars are wider than you think
A bollard only works if a car cannot slip between it and the next one. Here is what we design around.
The average new car in the UK
New cars averaged 180.3 cm wide in the first half of 2023, up from 177.8 cm in 2018, and they are getting about 1 cm wider every two years.1
One of the smallest cars on sale
The Hyundai i10 is 1,680 mm wide without its mirrors.2 Even the smallest everyday cars are far wider than a person.
The widest gap we allow
We space bollards so no gap, including the gap to your wall or gatepost, is wider than 1.5 m. That is narrower than any car on sale, and still wide enough for you to walk through.
Of vehicle thefts happen at home
Around 79% of vehicle related thefts take place on the victim's own land or in the street outside their home.3
From a tape measure to a fixed price
Measure the entrance
One number is enough: the width across your entrance, wall to wall or post to post. The planner works out the layout and shows it against a real car.
Add them to your order
The button carries your bollards, model and width straight into the order form, with the price and deposit already worked out. No site visit needed for standard driveways.
We check it, then install
You send a few photos. We confirm the exact positions, allowing for drains, kerbs and cables, and book your installation. Bollards lower flush with a key fob or the app when you want to drive in.
This planner is a guide, not a survey. Bollards stop cars and vans. Like any set of bollards, they leave gaps that people, pushchairs, wheelchairs and bicycles can pass through. Openings that need four or more bollards are quoted individually so we can plan the layout properly.
Planner questions
Why not just one bollard for a wide drive?
A single bollard in a wide opening leaves gaps a car can drive through. To keep every car out, each gap has to be narrower than the narrowest car, so wider drives need more bollards.
Can I use fewer bollards than you recommend?
You can, but the gaps get wide enough for a smaller car to squeeze through, so we would not promise the result. If budget is the concern, talk to us about the layout.
What if my drive has a hedge or open lawn at the side?
Measure the full width you want to close. If a car could drive around the end of the line, you will want to close that side too, and we can advise from a photo.
Does the number change with Sentry Max?
Only slightly, because Sentry Max is a wider 219 mm bollard. Sentry Max is 600 mm tall and heavier duty. See the two models compared.
Sources
- Transport and Environment, Cars are getting too big for British roads, new research shows.
- Hyundai UK, i10 technical specification and pricing, model year 2025.
- Office for National Statistics, Nature of crime: vehicle-related theft, year ending March 2025, March 2026.
Last updated 28 September 2026. The 1.5 m maximum gap is Boliq's own design rule, not a legal or industry standard.