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
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
> On Behalf Of
> Chris Sanderson
> Sent: Thursday, 17 February 2011 10:35 AM
> To: Birding-Aus (Forum)
> Subject: [Birding-Aus] Bullbars banned in Australia?
>
> 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/Pedes
> trian_safety_RIS_PUBLIC_CONSULT_FINAL.pdf
> <http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/environment/files/Pede
> strian_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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