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This Pole In A Walmart Parking Lot Causes So Many Car Accidents, There’s A Whole Facebook Page Dedicated To It (14 Pics)
InterviewCrashing your car is a horrible experience that can put you off from driving for a long, long time. But sometimes, there’s nobody to blame but yourself for not being careful enough and driving headlong into a bright yellow pole. You might have been distracted. You might have wanted to cut a corner. Or you might have fallen prey to one of the most infamous parking lot poles in the United States.
There’s a pole in the Osceola Walmart parking lot that is infamous for how people keep driving into it. It’s so well-known for causing accidents that someone actually took the time to create a satirical parody page dedicated to it on Facebook. Check out some of the best photos from the page below, upvote your fave ones as you scroll on down, and let us know if there are any legendary car-walloping objects in your local area, dear Pandas.
Bored Panda interviewed both the Osceola Walmart Pole, as well as the founder of the Facebook page dedicated to it. "I get knocked down but I get up again!" the pole told Bored Panda. Meanwhile, the founder of the page said that they created the account in the middle of the 2020 pandemic. "It was a way to lighten the mood and provide some humor in a trying time." Check out the full interview below.
Does this story sound familiar to you? Are you getting an odd sense of déjà vu? That’s because this isn’t the first time that Bored Panda’s written about an object that people keep crashing into. You can find our post about the W Maple Omaha Rock right here.
Image credits: walmartpole
This post may include affiliate links.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1! We're Going On A Trip In Our Favorite Rocket Ship Zooming Through The Sky, Little Can’t Drive
#tbt Oof Right Down The Middle
My Cousin Is The Toughest Pole I Know. I'm Just Carrying On An Old Family Tradition
It's on the driver side! How do you miss it right in front of you?
The pole is located in Osceola, Arkansas, around 40 miles north of Memphis. If you're ever in the area, dear Pandas, be sure to send us a photo of the infamous pole or post it in the comment section!
The founder of the Osceola Walmart Pole page said that they never thought that the Walmart Pole would be an inspiration for those who are facing adversity in their lives right now. "So many turn to it as an example. It gets hit, it might lean or even fall, but it always gets back up, most of the time with some help, and it keeps doing its job. We could all learn something from the Pole."
They also revealed to Bored Panda that it's become a local joke how much the pole has been hit. "The pole has become a local celebrity and people love stopping by and seeing the pole and taking their picture with it," they said.
"People keep hitting the pole because they are distracted and not paying attention. They cut the corner too sharp. If they stayed in their lane, it wouldn’t happen. The pole is there to protect parked vehicles from turning vehicles and from coming out of the pharmacy drive-thru. It has accomplished its goal many times."
Thanks For Pointing It Out. There's One In Every Family. Two In Mine, Actually. And They Always Manage To Ruin Special Occasions.
This one is slightly understandable. The pole is the driver's blind spot.
Red Lights, Stop Signs I Still See Your Face In The White Cars, Front Yards Can't Drive Past The Places We Used To Go To 'Cause I Still Freaking Love You, Babe, Ooh
i kinda wanna know if they were listening to that song when they ran into it
"The Pole Strikes Again"
The Osceola Walmart Pole page was created in June 2020 and since then it’s grown to have over 4.7k followers. We’re pretty sure that the pole deserves a lot more attention. And, who knows, sharing info about it could actually make people driving around the Osceola Walmart parking lot keep an eye out and act more carefully behind the wheel.
According to the National Safety Council, America’s leading nonprofit safety advocate, driving safely in parking lots is harder than we realize because we can get distracted by a lot of things: from GPS systems and text messages to social media notifications and even… taking photos of ourselves while we’re behind the wheel.
Staying safe means staying alert. Focused. Aware of both pedestrians and other drivers. If you obey all of the signs and stay on-mission, there’s no reason why you should end up totaling your car because of a chonky yellow bad-boy parking lot pole.
I'm On A Roll, With All The Cars I Know- The Other Poles Don't Got To Know- I Know They Wanna Hit That! 7/20/2020
Some People Got Jokes But I’ve Got The Punchline. Just Wait Sir, Your Time Will Come And You Can Adjust That!
I think this one it's on purpose, just don't know why. Also, the driver smiles at the photographer.
I Like That Boom Boom Pow
Just when you thought things couldn’t get wilder, you realize that the Facebook page admin even posted a poem about the pole:
When the bones are good, the rest don't matter
Yeah, the paint could peel, the glass could shatter
Let it rain 'cause you and I remain the same
When there ain't a crack in the foundation
Baby, I know any storm we're facing
Will blow right over while we stay put
The pole don't fall when the bones are good
Beautiful? Beautiful. You can bet that we’ll be taking a selfie near the pole when we’re in the area. Do let us know in the comments if you’ve been to see the mythical Walmart pole yourselves, dear Readers.
How is this possible? This pole is higher than the car, it's yellow, the visibility isn't that bad ...
Rollin With My Homies. 5-8-2020
How fast are these people driving (in a parking lot!) that it damages their car that badly?
Fly High 02/12/2020
Uh, Social Distancing, Ma'am. Rip 6/2/2020 Cause Of Death: Covid-19
Hit so hard the boot popped open, but the pole did not budge an inch! It is getting stronger by the minute!
Tapped That 02/19/2020
Not to mention bright yellow and made intentionally to avoid lol XD
Load More Replies...It takes a lot of effort to not notice these poles. Are all the visitors of Osceola Walmart visually impaired and if so, why are they all still driving cars?
And it's not like they just touch it, they full-on crash against it! How do you even have that much speed on a carpark that you manage to get up on that thing? I don't think I'd feel safe on that parking-lot
Load More Replies...Man, some of those cars have serious damage. Imagine how fast they were going when they hit that pole! Those people don’t need to be driving like that in a parking lot.
"People keep hitting the pole because they are distracted and not paying attention. They cut the corner too sharp. If they stayed in their lane, it wouldn’t happen. The pole is there to protect parked vehicles from turning vehicles and from coming out of the pharmacy drive-thru. It has accomplished its goal many times." This pole is an excellent incentive to pay attention!
Whoever kept saying the pole was yellow (I didn't pay attention to the name) needed to stop at the third image. We get it, it's yellow.
IN LONDON, Piccadilly there is a set of traffic lights which has been knocked down by cars so many times over the past year or so, just like this pole!
Notice too, that the drivers would be on the wrong side of the road if they did not hit that pole. I'm guessing that is why it is there. See pic 4.
Given that the pole is stationary I wouldn't place the blame on it "caused accidents".
Pitssburg Kansas walmart had one too. We also had a fb page. I think it was the 4th time in 5 days when they finally removed it completely.
I really need to see a view of the whole parking lot because I don't get how a large, bright, stationary object is causing accidents. It's highly visible and in a place clearly marked to not be driven on. I don't see a lot of fog or weird lights blinding people. What makes people hit his pole? Bad depth perception?
Looking at their phones. Or digging out the giant candy bar they just bought.
Load More Replies...They could have installed the plastic ones with air but in any case is the driver's fault to pay attention to his surroundings.Whether is a pole or small child running the road/parking is driver's responsibility to always pay attention and adapt to circumstances.In any case i wouldnt get in any of these drivers cars for a ride.The pole seems just to resemble their destiny waiting to happen.
Seems like a good spot to put in an island with a curb. But yeah... don’t cut corners
Wally World owners aren't gonna spend the money to do anything sensible like that!
Load More Replies...These people should have their licenses removed permanently if they can't observe a huge yellow pole.
Other than the guy in the red pickup truck, and the big semi truck (lorry for European Pandas), every one of these is due to stupidity on the drivers' fault - zooming out of the lot because they're in a hurry & more important than anyone else in the vicinity, or looking at their cell phones instead of where they're going, or trying to dig out the giant candy bar they just bought.
I don't know, it look like that Walmart customers are pure moron's inside and out the shop
It's in a yellow striped area which means no driving/no parking, and believe it or not, it's there to keep drivers from turning too closely to the actual parking spaces & hitting parked cars or pedestrians.
Load More Replies...This needs a f**k ton of context like where the pole is and all the surroundings to explain why it gets hit so often
In case anyone’s wondering, the only qualification you need in America to get a drivers license is do you have the money for a car?
I don't know if Bored Panda knows this, but that "poem" is lyrics from a song with one word changed.
These are hilarious but how can’t they see it or why haven’t they moved it
Probably because it prevents any further and more serious accidents with other cars
Load More Replies...Why? It stands there for a reason. It's not the poles fault if so many people are blind or stupid.
Load More Replies...Not to mention bright yellow and made intentionally to avoid lol XD
Load More Replies...It takes a lot of effort to not notice these poles. Are all the visitors of Osceola Walmart visually impaired and if so, why are they all still driving cars?
And it's not like they just touch it, they full-on crash against it! How do you even have that much speed on a carpark that you manage to get up on that thing? I don't think I'd feel safe on that parking-lot
Load More Replies...Man, some of those cars have serious damage. Imagine how fast they were going when they hit that pole! Those people don’t need to be driving like that in a parking lot.
"People keep hitting the pole because they are distracted and not paying attention. They cut the corner too sharp. If they stayed in their lane, it wouldn’t happen. The pole is there to protect parked vehicles from turning vehicles and from coming out of the pharmacy drive-thru. It has accomplished its goal many times." This pole is an excellent incentive to pay attention!
Whoever kept saying the pole was yellow (I didn't pay attention to the name) needed to stop at the third image. We get it, it's yellow.
IN LONDON, Piccadilly there is a set of traffic lights which has been knocked down by cars so many times over the past year or so, just like this pole!
Notice too, that the drivers would be on the wrong side of the road if they did not hit that pole. I'm guessing that is why it is there. See pic 4.
Given that the pole is stationary I wouldn't place the blame on it "caused accidents".
Pitssburg Kansas walmart had one too. We also had a fb page. I think it was the 4th time in 5 days when they finally removed it completely.
I really need to see a view of the whole parking lot because I don't get how a large, bright, stationary object is causing accidents. It's highly visible and in a place clearly marked to not be driven on. I don't see a lot of fog or weird lights blinding people. What makes people hit his pole? Bad depth perception?
Looking at their phones. Or digging out the giant candy bar they just bought.
Load More Replies...They could have installed the plastic ones with air but in any case is the driver's fault to pay attention to his surroundings.Whether is a pole or small child running the road/parking is driver's responsibility to always pay attention and adapt to circumstances.In any case i wouldnt get in any of these drivers cars for a ride.The pole seems just to resemble their destiny waiting to happen.
Seems like a good spot to put in an island with a curb. But yeah... don’t cut corners
Wally World owners aren't gonna spend the money to do anything sensible like that!
Load More Replies...These people should have their licenses removed permanently if they can't observe a huge yellow pole.
Other than the guy in the red pickup truck, and the big semi truck (lorry for European Pandas), every one of these is due to stupidity on the drivers' fault - zooming out of the lot because they're in a hurry & more important than anyone else in the vicinity, or looking at their cell phones instead of where they're going, or trying to dig out the giant candy bar they just bought.
I don't know, it look like that Walmart customers are pure moron's inside and out the shop
It's in a yellow striped area which means no driving/no parking, and believe it or not, it's there to keep drivers from turning too closely to the actual parking spaces & hitting parked cars or pedestrians.
Load More Replies...This needs a f**k ton of context like where the pole is and all the surroundings to explain why it gets hit so often
In case anyone’s wondering, the only qualification you need in America to get a drivers license is do you have the money for a car?
I don't know if Bored Panda knows this, but that "poem" is lyrics from a song with one word changed.
These are hilarious but how can’t they see it or why haven’t they moved it
Probably because it prevents any further and more serious accidents with other cars
Load More Replies...Why? It stands there for a reason. It's not the poles fault if so many people are blind or stupid.
Load More Replies...