The End of Bullbars????

Hi Fella's

This could be interesting.A few companys could go under if this happens.Maybe we could wrap our trucks in cottonwool???

Check this link for the news.
Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association
http://www.aaaa.com.au/news.asp?id=65

Hope this doesn't happen.

Shane

They make a good point that the European situation is much different to the Australian situation. The same argument is plied every time this discussion comes up and usually wins.

Usually these regulations are not retrospective, so buy a 4x4 now, fit a good bullbar, and don't sell it!

Talk of making bullbars safer for pedestrians and or banning them altogether has been going on for well over 15 years and nothing has happened yet. As with most decent arguments there can be points for and against but no matter how many good points are put forward for the banning of bars it's still not going to be something any of today's governments will want to put their name on in a hurry.

Not sure about other states by some fool in Victoria even tried to convince the government that taxing 4wd vehicles based on the suburb they were registered in was a good idea. Of course once the idiots who thought it was a good idea realised all their 4WD and AWD Beemers and Mercs also came under that law and Toorak would be the hardest hit by the tax the idea fell by the wayside. The media still try to bring it up now and again but it just doesn't instill enough fear for the press stories to run for longer than a few days

Bullbars are no different, someone decided it's time to re-visit the story and see if there is any chance they can get a following so it's re-introduced to the government and the media pick it up. The AAAA might be trying to make some sort of stance here and suggest that bullbars aren't the evil pedestrian killers that some people think but there is very little factual evidence other than quotes that such things are going before parliament and that we may be obliged to follow the Europeans. Stupid proposed laws like this get presented to governments on a regular basis and laws pertaining to bullbars have been presented on many occasions but as yet nothing has come of it and I don't really see any new evidence being brought to the table now that would make any difference to vehicles with bullbars.

If the world really does go to hell in a hand basket then like Pro-Nav said buy now and be done with it, it would be a silly government who banned bullbars to begin with but it would be an even sillier government who ordered the removal of bars on existing vehicles.

It wouldn't surprise me if AMBRA was sponsoring the new push. It's better than greasing brake pads or getting people to buy Toyota's "unlimited acceleration" hybrids, or Ford's "Cruise Forever" soccer-mom car.

I've got a good tip for pedestrian safety:

- Don't walk in front of a f*cken car!!!

I don't think bullbars will get banned. The design of them has come a long way in the past few years and i think ADR changes in making the design of bullbars safer will be the only thing that will happen in this lifetime - not banning.

the government is ruining everything. they want environmentally friendly vehicles with airbags at every corner. its bs.

anyway i personally cant see the bull bar going, there is a huge demand for them and they have to meet adr which ensures pedestrian as well as driver safety.

navman_dave said:

the government is ruining everything. they want environmentally friendly vehicles with airbags at every corner. its bs.

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The problem with that statement (for this bullbars argument atleast) is that you are assuming way too much. No government has been smart enough to think up this themselves it's taken some individual with a dislike for bullbars to think it up then a bunch of like minded people to make a scene and then a political party to introduce it to the non thinking government.

It has been "discussed" in parliament since before Little Johnnies arse was even warming the seat and no one has ever been able to make compelling enough evidence to get any law happening. Like WIR35 has said designs have come a long way and that's in part due to rules brought in by governments at the requests of these people complaining but no government has been silly enough to ban them altogether.

The thing that has always got me about this argument is the concentration of the effect banning bullbars will have on the 4WD community. The actual reach of such legislation goes way beyond just the 4WD community and it's even wider now than when it first began. By the time you take into account the number of trucks, utes and even family sedans now having some form of bar installed, whether it be for protection or just a mounting point for lights the number of effected people would be a fair proportion of road users and while governments have a habit of making rules people don't like, for such a small topic (compared to other topics in the big scheme of things) it's a hell of a law to enforce and risk putting so many off side.

I'm all for making cars safer but there has to be balance. That is what I think the article is trying to point out. What makes no sense to me is that they say that bull bars are killing people but then they start allowing road trains into busy outer suburbs!!! At least thats what they are doing here in Adelaide. I'd rather be hit by a bull bar equipped fourby thana ANY truck and that's a fact.
Also whay don't they treat all Fourbys as equal. What I mean by that is that a new patrol HAS to meet more stringent safty ANCAP tests than Navaras because aparently ute drivers are not important enough

Hey soon they'll be back to banning 4WD's in the city altogether. I'm with WIR35, don't walk infront of traffic! Don't we still teach people to look both ways before crossing the road?

I'm waiting for them to ban cars altogether. Then we'll have to have stables and guys scraping up the horse$h1t from the road ... pedestrians get hit by shovels and flying horse manure will claim compensation demanding that the horses be removed and cars brought back.

If the idiots want to walk in circles, nail one of their feet to the floor and let 'em be, so the rest of us can get on with our lives.

The bullbar is only going to injure someone if they're standing in the way of the car in the first place. If the vehicle owner is driving responsibly and obeying the law, and the pedestrian is walking in a similar manner, then neither will get hurt.

What on earth does it take to make people just follow the damn rules?

This debate has been going on for so long it's crazy, but it's news to people who are relatively new to the 4wd scene.

Personally, I think it's a worthwhile debate - if it helps improve the quality of the product then all good. Can anyone deny that bullbar designs these days are more pedestrian friendly than they were 20 years ago? Yet they realistically still provide adequate protection for modern vehicles...

What irks me is that some people will whinge and moan about the possibility of bullbars being banned, then still go around with fishing rod holders attached to their bullbar when its not being used, with big spotlights protruding past the front of the bullbar etc...the list goes on.

In my humble opinion, in a country like Australia there will always be a place for frontal protection equipment on vehicles. Whether it is regulated in a firmer way or not, that remains to be seen.

But the debate has been going around for as long as I can recall, and probably every 18 months or 2 years, someone will post a note on a forum somewhere saying "Oh no, bullbars are going to get banned"

Old.Tony said:

What on earth does it take to make people just follow the damn rules?

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ants_oz said:

Personally, I think it's a worthwhile debate - if it helps improve the quality of the product then all good. Can anyone deny that bullbar designs these days are more pedestrian friendly than they were 20 years ago? Yet they realistically still provide adequate protection for modern vehicles...

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Right on. Fact is, mistakes are made and accidents happen. No one can say that they will NEVER have an accident . No one. If you do your a twat and in denial of reality. Otherwise by the same logic, you wont really need a bull bar cos YOU will never accidentally hit an animal either. That's just not rational.

ants_oz said:

What irks me is that some people will whinge and moan about the possibility of bullbars being banned, then still go around with fishing rod holders attached to their bullbar when its not being used

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Oooh yeah, I know some one who probably uses his holders once a year.......maybe. I mentioned it to him once and called it a meat sieve. HE just laughed. I shook my head my head at him.

My beef is with trucks. Big trucks coming into suburbia. Bull bars or not they are far less forgiving of a person getting clobbered but hey, no one seems to have noticed them. Maybe it's cos they are all whining about those nasty fourby's.