New Standards For Pedestrian Friendly Bullbars.

[IRON-PAWW Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close IRON-PAWW]

Ok. This issue again.

Reading in Saturday's West Australian motoring section page 28 you will find a piece by Peter Fitzpatrick "New bullbar rules designed to save lives."

You will also find an interesting piece on the Pedestrian Council of Australia's Website. Lifted from the Courier Mail.

http://www.walk.com.au/pedestriancou...asp?PageID=326


Seems the national Transport Commission has released a report for public consultation on the topic of bullbars on cars. You can go to NTC's website and read their news release.

http://www.ntc.gov.au/NewsDetail.asp...50000002000268


People. We are being grossly mis-represented as killers. Do you like it?? I do not!! I am all for overhauling bullbar design to enhance the safety features of vehicles. Of course I am! But I do not like one sided "reports"!

Passages like (Taken from NTC News release).
"On average at least 29 pedestrians are killed each year in collisions with bull bar equipped vehicles."

And then, inflammatory quotes like (Taken from Pedestrian Council website).
"Clearly, well over 90 per cent of bullbars are against that law."
And
"It is only a matter of time before someone hit by a car fitted with a bullbar sues the driver, the bullbar maker and the bullbar fitter."
As well as
The Pedestrian Council of Australia claims "well over 90 per cent" of bullbars do not meet Australian Design Rules and are responsible for up to 20 per cent of pedestrian deaths.

What I'd like to see are the full statistics! Lets see how many people are killed when hit by a vehicle with no bullbar! Let's compare the statistics with people killed by cocaine fuelled neanderthals! What is the percentage of Bullbar related deaths in the overall number of hit pedestrians?

I'd like to see a well balanced article explaining that bullbars are not weapons. And that we, the 4WD owners, do not treat them as such. That is the overwhelming sense I get from reading these articles. You are a killer, I am a killer! It stinks! I will not be branded a killer because I drive a 4WD. When any car hits a pedestrian it's going to be bad. You think a bus hitting a person is going to do less damage than a bullbar fitted 4WD. You think a Getz hitting a child outside a school will not severely injure the child! I do not like the fact that no bullbar user groups have been allowed to comment on the situation in these articles. It is not fair. It is not correct.

Too much sensational reporting with not enough balanced facts.

People die on the roads weather you like it or not. Don't single out a particular set of drivers and lay more of the blame on them. Many, many more people use roads than just 4WD owners.

Represent us fairly!!!

[IRON-PAWW Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close IRON-PAWW]

Whoah ok let me clarify. Those quotes don't all come from Peter Fitzpatrick's article. Some come from the Pedestrian Council's website article and some from the NTC's news release. Last thing I want is to attack someone personally. Unless they lie or mis-represent of course. (Now clarified this in the original post).

[D4D Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D]

Scrooby writes quotes like that because it gets him grants from the fed gov to keep his 'pedestrian council' alive :roll:

I'd say ARB would have 60-70% markest share and their bars have been ADR compliant for years. It makes a nice sound byte though.

[FlyingBushPig Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close FlyingBushPig]

I don't understand what the issue is about frankly.
A bullbar is a lump of metal designed to protect the vehicle. Naturally we're gunna need something fairly solid to do the job. If you're hit at a speed that's likely to kill you, it's not likely that plastic or a similar compound will be safer unless we start putting exterior airbags around our vehicles!

As you say, the facts i'm sure would show there's very few if any people who have died because a bullbar was attached.

[mav Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close mav]

How about the statistic of how many lives have been saved because a bullbar was fitted. :wink:

[babs Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close babs]

deadly bullbars

My bullbar will only kill you if...


a. you randomly jump in front of my truck while texting on your phone

b. You say something very unflattering about my wife

c You scratch my truck

Other than that I believe the ARB deluxe bar is there to protect me....the consumer.

[Chippy Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chippy]

Its all OK IP .... we don't need to worry ...

RACQ spokesman Gary Fites said "No doubt bullbars can be mighty useful. They can save motorists west of the Great Divide a lot of angst and vehicle damage.

Seems to be saying that these changes won't affect us :lol: :lol: :lol:

Cheers
Chippy

[Guest Close Guest]

And the one that gets me "bullbars should be banned from the city".
What are people like myself that live out in the country? Both of my cars have bullbars fitted so when I take my car to a city I have to stop on the out skirts of the city and take it off????
I reckon this is the do-good brigade having a whinge about things that they don't really understand. The thinking is if you don't do it the way I do it then you must be wrong and should change immediate :evil:

[IRON-PAWW Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close IRON-PAWW]

The Australian Automobile Association's technical services director David Lang said the first priority was to protect other road users, then the vehicle.

"When the majority of bullbars hit anything, it is a pedestrian," he said. "Most aren't fitted in the outback; they're on cars in the cities.

When the majority of bullbars hit anything, it is a pedestrian!!! What an ABSOLUTE load of rotting garbage!! Where is the evidence for this!! WHERE????

No doubt I could gather data that says "29% of all road deaths are associated with red cars." Fine, ban red cars. Seems to be the the way we deal with it!!
Where has this data come from?? Mars? Egypt?? Pluto?? Thin air??

Mav's point is a good one too. How many lives saved due to the fittment of a bullbar. Many I'd expect. That statistic though, will surely never see the light of day.

Before this "Pedestrian Council" posts any more "facts" I'd like to see their evidence that supports their claims. At the moment, I only see misinformation going out into the wide world.

This whole issue has been wrought out of thin air! Beaten to a pulp and pumped with steroids until the true facts are nowhere to be seen. Built on emotion, and goaded along by raving fanatics who do not live in the real world. "killer Bullbars!" Emotive language like that only serves to fuel said fanatics into a frenzy of anti-bullbar rage. Open your eyes! Walk down the damn street! Look at the world you live in! Australia is not Europe! We are NOT America! Not Uzbekistan, Mars or Egypt! We have thousands of kilometers of open country road. 4WD's are already modified somewhat upon arrival in Australia to cope with Australian conditions. Bullbars are no different! Once again, those who do not go beyond city limits have no idea what they're talking about!

I think most current Bullbars would be compliant with these proposed standards anyhow. Certainly the Sovereign and ARB bars just from what I read. But the way bullbars are being portrayed in this matter is quite simply.....wrong.

[Grey Nomad Member Find all posts View Profile Close Grey Nomad]

Hi all

It is about time this scare story surfaced again. I haven't seen it since 2000. Maybe I missed the 2004 edition. Howard Scrotum needs to justify his position somehow.

[rhs58 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close rhs58]

Settle down people.
It's the same old same old.
While they're picking on us then they're leaving someone else alone.
Don't honour their nondeserving argument with a response.
I love the adage "don't argue with fools, they only bring you down to their level and then beat you with their experience"
I'm off to have a nice red and to contemplate the many times bullbars have saved my vehicles and occupants (though didnt do much good for the roos and emus involved).

[ntp Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close ntp]

Don't honour their nondeserving argument with a response.
I love the adage "don't argue with fools, they only bring you down to their level and then beat you with their experience"

Hear hear! 8)

[Gingerbeer Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Gingerbeer]

I don't believe in the do nothing approach, and just hope that it goes away. This sort of thing from Harold "Scrotum" is insidious. We had the rantings from the ex Mayor of Brisbane (Soorley) and we have 4WD's and large cars paying more or banned from parking in a Sydney Council. These people need to be challenged and exposed for the idiots they are.

The other mob to watch is Monash University. They can be much worse as they are more respected than Scruby, but have just as big a case of fourwheelaphobia.

[D4D-GXL Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D-GXL]

The "Pedestrian Council" - possilby should be aptly renamed to "Lollypop worshipers" instead.
Then no-one would ever listen to their stupid gossip again.

[LenGXV6 Member Find all posts View Profile Close LenGXV6]

Bullbars

Just took a look at the pedestrian coucil website re bullbars.

personally I think they can go stuff their head up their #$%@

Now thats been said, I do see where they are coming from by the photos they have posted. AT THE MOMENT they are concered with the older type of Bullbar - the ones that run straight across the front with metal bars going down and away from the front and the tubular bars that car owners fit to their vehicles (why they need them I will never know)
Also things like fishing rod holders or any other protusion from the front with sharp or straight eadging.

Did a bit of research into Bars that we all fit, and ARB,TJM and Toyota bars all comply with current legislation, The winches if fitted are low and set back in the bar, all corners are rounded, with the bar sweeping back to follow the body contors.

So, our bullbars are legal, even under the proposed changes they want as long as nothing protrudes forward of the bar, no sharp edge items fitted etc. This means that if you have your fishing rod holders fitted all the time you are infact breaking the law now, they should be fitted when needed.

now I will sit back and await to be shot down in flames :lol: