Near me there is regularly parked a G-reg Shogun. I have rarely seen the owner but I did yesterday as I saw him carefully strapping a baby in to a baby-seat on the rear seat. Good for him.
Then he got in the driver seat and drove away, unbelted himself . I say drove away- more of a crawl, as this Shogun has on the front of it about half a ton of bull-bar metalwork. So he is aware of the dangers to his child, but apparently not those which threaten him , or the menace he creates for other roadusers with the junk sticking out from the front of his ugly car.
I know it's illegal now for bull-bars to be fitted to a new car, but there still seems to be many older vehicles around with them on. What about banning them altogether?
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Bull-bar argument aside (and I think they should be banned simply for looking stupid) it's an unfortunate side-effect of increasing passenger safety measures that cars are becoming more and more dangerous to those they crash into. Two mini-metros slamming into each other would share the impact force evenly and occupants of both cars may be ok. But crash a metro into something modern with a 5-star NCAP rating (let's use an S-Max as an example) and you're in a lot of trouble. The strategy appears to try to be the car that ends up on top of the heap - so a modern car will ride up over the top of an older smaller car, crushing it in the process, but not deforming too much itself, structurally.
And therein lies the moral dilemma. Do you have to be as concerned for the people that crash into you as you are for yourself and the precious family you are transporting? When cars slam into each other at speed someone is going to get hurt. Who is it going to be, them or you?
A bull-bar, however, bolted firmly to the underpinnings of a vehicle, can make a minor impact deadly for a pedestrian. Fortunately, most bull-bars are cosmetic and made of tin, fitted to the bodywork of the car by idiots with sellotape and cable ties.
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Fortunately, mostbull-bars are cosmetic and made of tin, fitted to the bodywork of the car by idiots with sellotape and cable ties.
Aren't they tested on real bulls, like in a Which? report? Or may be kangaroos, for the Australian market.
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I think protection against stray deer is more of a reality than bulls and roos
Now that deer hunting is all but banned the place is over-run with the things! *
*I admit that's an exaggeration but I see considerably more road-kill deer on my journey to work than bulls and kangaroos.
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Aren't they tested on real bulls, like in a Which? report? Or may be kangaroos, for the Australian market.
Some will be. But whenever someone mentions bull-bars my mind immediately pictures a Suzuki Vitara soft-top with low-profile tyres on bling-bling alloys and bull-bars made out of plastic guttering stuck to the front of the car with staples in a Blue Peter stylee. Possibly the least-cabable off-road vehicle since the Reliant Regal.
I suppose it's always the case that when something designed for utility becomes fashionable it will end up getting used in situations where it is completely unsuitable. By "utility" I mean somewhere where it has a purpose, like in the outback, on the racetrack etc. Now I'm not going to go into the argument about whether you need a 4x4 in London, but you definitely *don't* need bull-bars, or pedestrian-bars as they become, the moment you enter an urban area. Millions of people drive around Britain every day without slamming into the side of an elk, so why do you need bull-bars on your 4x4? They're not just unsuitable, they're dangerous.
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Tin bull-bars ?? You are going up-market, Jonny. I have seen after-market plastic ones !!! Never seen anything so ridiculous, especially, in one case, on the front of a Honda Civic.
Regarding "Which" testing for Roo-bars in Australia,I understand that they are legal for vehicles which drive in outback areas, but have to be certified to be able to throw the roo out of the way without the shock setting off the other safety gear such as air-bags. Some of those big-reds are heavy enough, and can lope along at 25 mph.
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Angryjohnny,
you make a good point and one that I have been thinking off myself. I have just changed to a S-Max and it feels like it would be a 'safe' car to be involved in an accident in (are any cars safe? No.) My previous car, a 2004 3 series BMW, not an old car or poorly built, felt nothing like this in comparison. I just think that if the S-Max hit my old beemer, I'd be toast in the Beemer.
I think that with big, safe (to the occupants), modern 5 star cars comes an obligation to drive like you are actually driving a 2 or 3 star safety car and not to get lulled into a feeling of invincibility.
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I think that with big, safe (to the occupants), modern 5 star cars comes an obligation to drive like you are actually driving a 2 or 3 star safety car and not to get lulled into a feeling of invincibility.
Crumple-zones, airbags and lifetime-protected no-claims discounts have a lot to answer for.
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I recall a reasonably long-running thread about bull bars, or roo bars, or whatever anyone likes to call them, a few years back, which ended with some very badly ruffled feathers, if memory serves.
If people wish to equip their cars with metal bars on the front that add weight and increase aerodynamic drag, thus adversely affecting performance and fuel consumption, that is their affair entirely. If they wish to do this because they think it makes them look hard, then again, that is their affair (I would beg to differ on how they consider they will be perceived, but that's by the by).
The fact that any pedestrian they hit with a vehicle thus equipped will suffer greater harm that would otherwise be the case is for them to have on their conscience if they do ever hit someone. Personally this is not something I'd care to have to carry with me for the rest of my life, but there you go.
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Roo bars are for roos, bull bars are for bulls. Pick-up trucks in some parts of Africa often used to have substantial bars at the back, like roll bars but tapering from the top of the cab backwards. Probably do work as roll bars, and give the outside passengers something to hold on to or hide under.
I doubt if these bars are much more dangerous to pedestrians than the front of a Land Rover defender without bars (i.e. pretty dangerous, but not guaranteed lethal). So if people want them and are prepared to carry the weight etc., I really can't bring myself to give a damn. They can't be said to be needed though. No roos, bulls chained up and under control, few outside passengers in pick-up trucks (probably get run in straight away if any are seen these days. Tchah!).
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