Hi all,
I’ve had brought to my attention an interesting issue with bullbars in Australia. The guts of it is as follows:
Cars with bullbars have been found to be far more likely to kill pedestrians in a collision than cars without (particularly those with attachments such as rod holders). The government, specifically the department of infrastructure, is taking final submissions on a public consultation for a change of rules that will mean bullbars will be illegal in Australia. As far as I can tell that means unless people actually have a say on the issue this is going through. How it has made it this far along without causing a stir is anyone’s guess. One reason given for the changes is that similar rules have been introduced in Europe, which I think is pretty silly given how different our fauna is here. On the other hand, maybe it would be a good thing if people had to actually slow down for wildlife? On the pedestrian council page they talk about a flexible plastic bar that could be interesting, so maybe not all kinds of bullbars will be illegal, just rigid metal ones?
Anyway, I figured since a lot of birders probably use 4WDs with bullbars it may be of interest. I’ve included some links below so you can fill yourself in and decide which side of the issue you fall on.
Regards, Chris
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/25/3120821.htm http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/25/3120821.htm http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/environment/files/Pedestrian_safety_RIS_PUBLIC_CONSULT_FINAL.pdf http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/environment/files/Pedestrian_safety_RIS_PUBLIC_CONSULT_FINAL.pdf http://www.4wdcouncil.com.au/ http://www.4wdcouncil.com.au/ http://www.walk.com.au/pedestriancouncil/Page.asp?PageID=130 ===============================
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Peter, Chris and others
The statistics in the Regulation Impact Statement say that 11% of pedestrian fatalities involved 4WDs or forward control vans and 67% involved passenger cars. There are no statistics on bullbars but I suppose it is possible that a significant number of passenger cars involved in fatalities were fitted with bullbars.
The claim that bullbars will be banned seems to be a furphy and the proposal is to phase in new Australian Design Regulations for bullbars or “frontal protection systems” from 2013.
See http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/17/3141245.htm
Regards
David
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I can’t remember how long ago I first heard of this issue, but it’s nothing new. I’m sure I was seeing plastic bullbars more than 10 years ago, although that may be more to do with air bags than pedestrians. I assume they’re finally doing something about it because of the growing popularity of 4WDs. If the statistics quoted on the Pedestrian council are correct (bullbars involved in 12-20% of fatal pedestrian crashes) then there’s little hope things can remain as they are.
But they are, of course, there for safety in some places, so hopefully a sensible compromise will be reached.
Peter Shute
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According to that article, they won’t have to, as it will apply to new vehicles only. But that’s just something one politician said, the legislation might be a little different.
The 4WD website you linked to said “full adoption of this standard could spell the end of the Australian steel and alloy bull bar as we know them”. Maybe they feel they won’t be able to buy suitable bars anymore, or maybe they’re concerned about the bullbar manufacturers. It does sound likely (I haven’t looked at the proposed standard) that they may not be suitable for mounting a winch on, which may cause problems for some.
Peter Shute
________________________________ Sent: Thursday, 17 February 2011 4:13 PM Cc: Peter Shute; birding aus
Thanks for clearing that up David. I’m all for making bullbars safer. I suppose then that the 4WD people are more complaining about having to replace their bullbars?
Regards, Chris
Peter, Chris and others
The statistics in the Regulation Impact Statement say that 11% of pedestrian fatalities involved 4WDs or forward control vans and 67% involved passenger cars. There are no statistics on bullbars but I suppose it is possible that a significant number of passenger cars involved in fatalities were fitted with bullbars.
The claim that bullbars will be banned seems to be a furphy and the proposal is to phase in new Australian Design Regulations for bullbars or “frontal protection systems” from 2013.
See http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/17/3141245.htm
Regards
David
Please consider the environment before printing this email
(Forum)'”> Sent by: birding-aus-bounces@lists.vicnet.net.au
I can’t remember how long ago I first heard of this issue, but it’s nothing new. I’m sure I was seeing plastic bullbars more than 10 years ago, although that may be more to do with air bags than pedestrians. I assume they’re finally doing something about it because of the growing popularity of 4WDs. If the statistics quoted on the Pedestrian council are correct (bullbars involved in 12-20% of fatal pedestrian crashes) then there’s little hope things can remain as they are.
But they are, of course, there for safety in some places, so hopefully a sensible compromise will be reached.
Peter Shute
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Thanks for clearing that up David. I’m all for making bullbars safer. I suppose then that the 4WD people are more complaining about having to replace their bullbars?
Regards, Chris
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I can’t remember how long ago I first heard of this issue, but it’s nothing new. I’m sure I was seeing plastic bullbars more than 10 years ago, although that may be more to do with air bags than pedestrians. I assume they’re finally doing something about it because of the growing popularity of 4WDs. If the statistics quoted on the Pedestrian council are correct (bullbars involved in 12-20% of fatal pedestrian crashes) then there’s little hope things can remain as they are.
But they are, of course, there for safety in some places, so hopefully a sensible compromise will be reached.
Peter Shute
===============================
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