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
From: Peter Shute <>
To: 'Chris Sanderson' <>, "'Birding-Aus
(Forum)'" <>
Date: 17/02/11 11:24 AM
Subject: Bullbars banned in Australia?
Sent by:
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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