that's a great photo BWD
Regarding the Manchester bollards, they do look a bit dangerous to me. Imagine you were in heavy traffic and were following a bus fairly closely (as you often do in city centres). The bus would pass over the bollards and hide them from your view until WHAM! it's too late. I'm sure there are plenty of warning signs, but then you often face sign overload in city centres. They must be able to come up with a safer option.
That said, I've no sympathy for the tailgaters who knew what they were doing.
Matt