The drivers of said cars probably aren't 'happily' going past... they're probably thinking "holy ****! I hope that doesn't hit the car!"
Up here I've never seen a column unearthed before removal, that just sounds completely irresponsible as has been proved with this tragic story. Here, often both columns, old and new, are left connected up side-by-side until the old one is removed. Of course this is a waste of electric but it's better than the dangerous situation which seems to occur on the south coast by all reports.Same up here. When it comes to replacements, a fairly narrow trough is dug out (probably a couple of inches wide at best) in front of both columns and the cable transferred across... OR, the new column is bedded in, then the contractor comes to connect the new column and takes up the tarmac, connects the column and then re-lays the tarmac without him leaving the column unearthed. SOmetimes we get both columns connected, other times we have neither connected... but never a column leaning over at a stupid angle.