Bull bar ban

[Chas]

The Australian govt want to ban bull bars according to mag 4WD Action;

http://takeaction.4wdaction.com.au/

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

the world really has gone mad

 

[TonyP]

 

[Chas]

Now there's a country that really needs bull bars, how long before it happens here?

 

[pugwash]

Now there's a country that really needs bull bars, how long before it happens here?

they were banned 7?!? years ago here!

 

[Tommo&Claire]

yes i believe that the way to get around it is to call it a 'winch mount' rather than a 'bullbar'!

 

[Crispin]

the world really has gone mad

Nope. Root cause to all the cr@p

... a minority group wants bullbars banned, and what’s worse is that the government agrees with them.

 

[Paul]

Just fit this on your bull bar then its legal

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Model-Boat-Fittin ... 1e5d07cbcf

 

[Chas]

Apparently the Australian Govt has had a change of mind

http://www.4wdaction.com.au/news/44599- ... s-bullbars

 

[SimonD]

Actually the Oz Govt was only copying European legislation i.e. the same laws that got them banned in the UK. The 4WD community is very active in resisting the ban and the tide is turning. And why should companies like ARB would suffer despite a global market.

 

[SimonD]

Govt caved in in Oz:

MEDIA RELEASE
The Hon Catherine King MP
Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure and Transport
24 February 2011
CK006/2011


Pedestrian Safety and Bull Bars

The Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure and Transport, Catherine King, restated again that the Government will not be banning bull bars.

"Over recent weeks I have received strong feedback through the consultation process associated with the Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) proposing the adoption of an international standard on pedestrian safety," Ms King said.

"Following careful consideration of the views and concerns put by individuals and stakeholders, I have decided that the proposal is not suitable for Australian conditions and I have directed the Department to withdraw the Regulation Impact Statement," Ms King said.

"While the Government is committed to improving the safety of pedestrians, we also recognise that bull bars play a positive role in the safety of vehicle occupants.

"In no circumstances will the Government consider banning bull bars or contemplate any lessening of the protection they provide. We are committed to ensuring that people remain fully protected in animal strikes and other hazardous situations where bull bars play a key role," Ms King said.

Ms King has now asked Department to consult with interested parties on the options for improving pedestrian safety.

Media Contacts
Peter Dwyer ( King's Office ) 0409 866 054

 

[Rob]

If only our government would listen every now and then

 

[Crispin]

a 'roo hitting the front of you truck is a bad thing. An English red squirrel or hedgehog is an entirely different thing
Oh, and we're part of the EU and the softies always get their way (no wants to stand up and say "Yes, it was I who scrapped the law and caused little Billy to die from the big mean bumper")

 

[Jimbo4x4]

a 'roo hitting the front of you truck is a bad thing. An English red squirrel or hedgehog is an entirely different thing

What about a deer? I've come pretty close to hitting a couple in the past. Once it was gone before I even had chance to hit the brake but if it'd jumped out a split second earlier I would've been walking home...provided it didn't come through the windscreen and sit in my lap

 

[Graham]

I hit a sheep once, long ago.
Just appeadr to be on a suicide mission.
The damage a sheep can cause is quite amazing.

OK, it wasn't in a LC, but hitting the sheep, fully grown, still caused the drives door to push back 10mm, so no longer open.
This was on a wide open stretch of country road, 70 mph, and he must have been the only sheep for miles.
Perhaps he was the fat bast,,,,d and the one who could not fit throught the little whole in the fence, to follow all his mates from hours ago.
The car was in the garage for 2 weeks, new rad, steering rack, wing, door post, a lot of mess, I can tell you.

Graham

 

[Scott]

I saw this news on an Aussie site the other week, good on them for employing common sense and saying it's not for them.

I have winch bumpers that incorporate frontal protection systems on most of my 4x4's. I know that some people take offense to them, but for me they serve several purposes.

1) Protect the rad, to enable the vehicle to make it to it's destination after an impact, (this may mean getting back out of the country).

2) Protect the lights to enable the vehicle to remain road legal after an impact.

3) Provide a solid mounting for the winch, to effect self recovery.

4) Provide solid front recovery points.

One of my bumpers has served it's purpose several times, suffering two hard hits. First was an erant 4x4 flat out in low range, second time was a van rounding a bend on the wrong side of the road, van was written off, bumper required slight realigning. With out the bumper, both times the vehicle wouldn't have been road legal to continue, and if the rad had gone, it wouldn't have been able to.

I do try not to drive my 4x4's in an aggressive way, or speed through heavily populated areas, so that I don't give people any reason to get their backs up and feel that it needs to be their lifes ambition to ban my type of vehicle.

I find that these bumpers can also be very useful for clearing fallen trees, gently herding animals along, and persuading people not to do that silly or impatient manoeuvre that could easily result in a collision.

Cheers.

 

[Chas]

and persuading people not to do that silly or impatient manoeuvre that could easily result in a collision. Cheers.

Not always, just the other day I was on my way home when a silly woman pulled out from where she was parked right in front of me, she signalled right, I looked at her she looked at me, then did a U-turn right in front of me, it was so close you wouldn't have been able to get a fag paper between us she was very lucky I was only doing about 25mph, any faster and she would have gone to the garage in the sky

 

[chadr]

A few years ago my BiL, who lives near Inverness had a Red deer stag literally jump on to his Disco, as it tried to cross the road at night - it "landed" at the base of the bonnet/windscreen and rolled over the roof. The car was written off and BiL was lucky to escape with just a few minor cuts and bruises.

Ironically, a bull-bar would have been useless in that million-to-one occasion.