Door Dings

Most gas stations deploy protective barriers around their gas pumps.

Typical Barrier

These barriers are like door magnets.

Look Close. That's a lot of dings!

Like everyone else, I blame myself for not being more careful.

But wait. Here is a design that puts the user first:

Whack it hard. I dare you!

 Home Depot's cart barrier is made out of hard plastic.

Can't dent this.

Nice. Now I don't feel stupid when I hit the barrier.

Understandably gas pump barriers have to be more robust, since runaway shopping carts aren't nearly as problematic as leaking or exploding gas pumps; but does that prevent designers from making pump barriers more user friendly?

Perhaps a thick rubber strip attached to the pole where door meets barrier?

No more dings.

The way these poles are shaped and the materials involved make this a non-trivial fix. There are certainly other ways to solve this problem, some of which are more radical than others. Or maybe the problem will go away on its own once we have fusion powered vehicles that don't need refueling.