Crash Bar(Guard) for Cars - Is it worth ?

mithun · 13th February 2006, 17:57

I plan to fit a crash bar for my Omni E.

I know that a crash bar will not protect the car from major accidents. Will it able to guard the front of a car(headlights etc) from small crashes that happen at low speeds ?

Or is it just a style statement ?

Or will it break during the accident itself ?

DCEite · 13th February 2006, 18:02

It will do more damage to your car bumper in case of an accident. Its just a poor style statement, nothing else.

Zappo · 13th February 2006, 18:03

A crashbar is not of much use at moderate to hi-speed accidents. However on low speeds it may save the headlights etc provided the gaps between the bars do not let anything reach upto the headlights. Beyond that I feel it is only more of a problem than anything else. It increases the load on the vehicle. Also, it may actually cause serious injury to a pedestrian or a cyclist at even low speeds and thus get you into more trouble.

GTO · 13th February 2006, 18:20

Most of the after-market crash bars you see around lack the most minimum of safety design. In short, they do more damage than good.

However, some manufacturer OEM bull bars rock!

GTO

Beeman · 14th February 2006, 10:43

If i were you i would avoid a bull bar, they tend to do more damage than good. Your bumpers are supposed to absorb the energy from an impact. Hence they transfer all the impact sending minimum vibrations to the passenger. A bull bar tends to maximise that.

jkdas · 14th February 2006, 10:53

It should be helpful if its of a good make and teh car company have given the car a provision to fit it. I guess that fitting it to a car which dotn have a provision for it would only damage the car's structural design.

Now a days I see bull BAAAR of trucks and mini lorries. Phew. It sure would help small cars frm going under a truck in case of rear collision.

tsk1979 · 14th February 2006, 10:54

Bull bars are for bulls, literally.
They are used mostly in australia to guard vehicles against Kangaroo hits. So if you hit a lot of bull get a crashguard

GTO · 14th February 2006, 11:07

Quote:

They are used mostly in australia to guard vehicles against Kangaroo hits.

Thats my the guard on my Mahindra Classic is actually called the Kangaroo guard. It was specifically designed for Australia.

GTO

Irwin · 14th February 2006, 11:08

As far as I am concerned I dont think the bull bar in the front is as much as necessary as it is at the back. One can more or less take care with one's own judgement and care manage to keep the front of the car relatively safe (not 100% though). My biggest worry has been in the past with my M800 and even now with my SWIFT is how to safeguard the tailgate (rear) of the car either from the rickshaws, bikes or from the new drivers of cars etc who stick their noses so close right behind the tailgate, either at the signals or while driving in slow moving traffic. One small knock at the back and its goodbye to a couple of thousands of rupees. One cannot argue or reason with anyone who has knocked into your tailgate. The most common retort is "why did you apply the brakes?" People here still dont own up to their mistake, as it is the worldwide practice, regardless of what the person ahead of you does, if one bangs the car ahead of you its your mistake, plain and simple! One has to keep the distance to react to whatever happens ahead of you! And the police dont seem to care, all they are interested is to fillup their daily quota of hafta money.

Zappo · 14th February 2006, 12:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Irwin

As far as I am concerned I dont think the bull bar in the front is as much as necessary as it is at the back....
how to safeguard the tailgate (rear) of the car either from the rickshaws, bikes or from the new drivers of cars etc who stick their noses so close right behind the tailgate, either at the signals or while driving in slow moving traffic...
The most common retort is "why did you apply the brakes?" People here still dont own up to their mistake...
One has to keep the distance to react to whatever happens ahead of you! And the police dont seem to care, all they are interested is to fillup their daily quota of hafta money.

You said it. I always feel that the rear needs more protection than the front. I see so many reckless buffoons everyday. I even had a case where I was waiting on a signal and a Santro came at high speed lurching and ducking like a mad elephant running amock. He swerved and saved from crashing into my cars rear but his mirror scraped my car's C-pillar. Yet his retort after doing all this was "itna darr lagta hai to gaadi ghar mein rakhne kaa".

So what can you do but to think of taking your own precautions

And no the traffic cops are of no help. He simply waves you to quickly clear up the signal and almost comes menacingly towards you... the offender invariably runs away within that time.

Rtech · 14th February 2006, 12:51

For the sake of pedestrians and motorcyclists, please do not fit one! It will not help prevent any damage to your car (and may cause adidtional structural damage) but will surely cause serious injuries to the person on the other side of it.

I know. I was knocked down from my bike by a Tata Sumo. I can still remember that bullbar heading straight towards me and thinking "this is gonna hurt...". not a pretty thought.

nitrous · 14th February 2006, 13:02

Quote:

I know. I was knocked down from my bike by a Tata Sumo. I can still remember that bullbar heading straight towards me and thinking "this is gonna hurt...". not a pretty thought.

What happened next??

I removed the bull-bar from my tata sumo ,last month.

Rtech · 14th February 2006, 13:08

What happened next was that the Sumo took off leaving me lying in the middle of the road. Luckily no serious injuries, just a hairline fracture to my wrist and ankle.

And thanks for removing your bullbar!

speedsatya · 14th February 2006, 13:27

your vehicle manual clearly states that fitting crash guards is not safe..as the shock from an impact can be transmitted to the occupants ...also when used in small cars they can scrape against speedbreakers ...

and like rtech says ,its unsafe for other road users as well

Mpower · 14th February 2006, 20:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rtech

For the sake of pedestrians and motorcyclists, please do not fit one! It will not help prevent any damage to your car (and may cause adidtional structural damage) but will surely cause serious injuries to the person on the other side of it.

Europe has now implemented pedestrian safety laws which means no more bull bars allowed on cars.
On top of that cars have to be designed with soft surfaces so that it causes minimal damage when it hits a pedestrian. That is why you will
see a lot of new cars with bulbous bonnets.
I feel we need this desperately in India because of the large number of 2 wheelers and pedestrians.

13th February 2006, 17:57	#1
mithun BANNED Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Cochin Posts: 2,195 Thanked: 268 Times	Crash Bar(Guard) for Cars - Is it worth ? I plan to fit a crash bar for my Omni E. I know that a crash bar will not protect the car from major accidents. Will it able to guard the front of a car(headlights etc) from small crashes that happen at low speeds ? Or is it just a style statement ? Or will it break during the accident itself ?
	() Thanks

13th February 2006, 18:02	#2
DCEite Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: NCR Posts: 3,588 Thanked: 3,479 Times	It will do more damage to your car bumper in case of an accident. Its just a poor style statement, nothing else.
	() Thanks

13th February 2006, 18:03	#3
Zappo Team-BHP Support Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 5,915 Thanked: 2,746 Times	A crashbar is not of much use at moderate to hi-speed accidents. However on low speeds it may save the headlights etc provided the gaps between the bars do not let anything reach upto the headlights. Beyond that I feel it is only more of a problem than anything else. It increases the load on the vehicle. Also, it may actually cause serious injury to a pedestrian or a cyclist at even low speeds and thus get you into more trouble.
	() Thanks

13th February 2006, 18:20	#4
GTO Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 71,803 Thanked: 321,122 Times View My Garage	Most of the after-market crash bars you see around lack the most minimum of safety design. In short, they do more damage than good. However, some manufacturer OEM bull bars rock! GTO
	() Thanks

14th February 2006, 10:43	#5
Beeman BHPian Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Treasure island Posts: 335 Thanked: 2 Times	If i were you i would avoid a bull bar, they tend to do more damage than good. Your bumpers are supposed to absorb the energy from an impact. Hence they transfer all the impact sending minimum vibrations to the passenger. A bull bar tends to maximise that.
	() Thanks

14th February 2006, 10:53	#6
jkdas Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Thiruvananthapu Posts: 9,687 Thanked: 1,496 Times View My Garage	It should be helpful if its of a good make and teh car company have given the car a provision to fit it. I guess that fitting it to a car which dotn have a provision for it would only damage the car's structural design. Now a days I see bull BAAAR of trucks and mini lorries. Phew. It sure would help small cars frm going under a truck in case of rear collision.
	() Thanks

14th February 2006, 10:54	#7
tsk1979 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 23,695 Thanked: 23,484 Times View My Garage	Bull bars are for bulls, literally. They are used mostly in australia to guard vehicles against Kangaroo hits. So if you hit a lot of bull get a crashguard
	() Thanks

14th February 2006, 11:08	#9
Irwin BHPian Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: MUMBAI Posts: 75 Thanked: 43 Times	As far as I am concerned I dont think the bull bar in the front is as much as necessary as it is at the back. One can more or less take care with one's own judgement and care manage to keep the front of the car relatively safe (not 100% though). My biggest worry has been in the past with my M800 and even now with my SWIFT is how to safeguard the tailgate (rear) of the car either from the rickshaws, bikes or from the new drivers of cars etc who stick their noses so close right behind the tailgate, either at the signals or while driving in slow moving traffic. One small knock at the back and its goodbye to a couple of thousands of rupees. One cannot argue or reason with anyone who has knocked into your tailgate. The most common retort is "why did you apply the brakes?" People here still dont own up to their mistake, as it is the worldwide practice, regardless of what the person ahead of you does, if one bangs the car ahead of you its your mistake, plain and simple! One has to keep the distance to react to whatever happens ahead of you! And the police dont seem to care, all they are interested is to fillup their daily quota of hafta money.
	() Thanks

14th February 2006, 12:51	#11
Rtech Team-BHP Support Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 5,765 Thanked: 369 Times View My Garage	For the sake of pedestrians and motorcyclists, please do not fit one! It will not help prevent any damage to your car (and may cause adidtional structural damage) but will surely cause serious injuries to the person on the other side of it. I know. I was knocked down from my bike by a Tata Sumo. I can still remember that bullbar heading straight towards me and thinking "this is gonna hurt...". not a pretty thought.
	() Thanks

14th February 2006, 13:08	#13
Rtech Team-BHP Support Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 5,765 Thanked: 369 Times View My Garage	What happened next was that the Sumo took off leaving me lying in the middle of the road. Luckily no serious injuries, just a hairline fracture to my wrist and ankle. And thanks for removing your bullbar! Last edited by Rtech : 14th February 2006 at 13:11.
	() Thanks

14th February 2006, 13:27	#14
speedsatya Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2004 Location: bangalore/manga Posts: 3,167 Thanked: 741 Times View My Garage	your vehicle manual clearly states that fitting crash guards is not safe..as the shock from an impact can be transmitted to the occupants ...also when used in small cars they can scrape against speedbreakers ... and like rtech says ,its unsafe for other road users as well
	() Thanks