New Standards for Front Bumpers??

[Frank 03SRT]

Read that the Ford GT will stop production in 2006 because of new Federal standards on height of front end of cars. It must be a safety issue with front ends being so low that they either put the occupants or pedestrians at risk. Also read somewhere that BMW (I think) is considering redesigning their Z4 to raise the front end, and it looked horrible. If this standard is coming, that would seem to be the death of the future Viper coupe, at least as we would know it.

Anyone know anything about this?

 

[BADVENOM]

Thats just another reason to take care of our snakes as they are the last of their kind making them more valuable to us now and others in the future!

Adam

 

[Viperzilla]

First, exhaust emissions which killed the muscle and pony cars. Now it's front bumper height? They just want all cars to be bland like the Toyota Prius, Chevy Metro, Pontiac Asstek, etc. This is *****.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Zilla, is right. There needs to be a change in the way people look at safety. So many people have this "no expense too great for safety" attitude. Well, contrary to extremists beliefs it IS possible to go overboard. Freedom cost. In this case, the freedom to purchase/build a safer car than another. Let the people vote with their money.

 

[AviSarfaraz]

I say, We can all be safer by having SAFER AND BETTER DRIVERS. Its not the cars fault, Its idiot drivers that hurt and kill people.... People should vote with their money...not with goverment regulations.

Zilla I have to agree on you with this one.

 

[Janni]

The best way to survive an accident is to AVOID one. Make the cars handle and stop better. Get rid of hugely top heavy SUVs that can easily roll in an accident avoidance manuever, improve braking and tire adhesion in ALL cars. Have (gasp!) STRICT licensing requirements where you actually have to demonstrate some proficiency behind the wheel - not just have to not kill anyone on your road test.

Will having bumpers 3' off the ground make us safer? I think not. Maybe when everyone is having rollover accidents while at a four way stop these idiots will figure out that making driving safer is not as easy changing an arbitrary regulation.

 

[Daffy Duck Viper]

The best way to survive an accident is to AVOID one. Make the cars handle and stop better. Get rid of hugely top heavy SUVs that can easily roll in an accident avoidance manuever, improve braking and tire adhesion in ALL cars. Have (gasp!) STRICT licensing requirements where you actually have to demonstrate some proficiency behind the wheel - not just have to not kill anyone on your road test.

Will having bumpers 3' off the ground make us safer? I think not. Maybe when everyone is having rollover accidents while at a four way stop these idiots will figure out that making driving safer is not as easy changing an arbitrary regulation.

Amen!! Well said!

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[Ulysses]

I think I saw something about this on 20/20 or Night Line where some guy from SoCal with a lifted Cherokee took out a whole family while he was showing off on the street. It was determined that his vehicle was too high. So the NHTSA headed up a movement to regulate bumper heights. No one shall be too high or too low sayeth the government. I don't remember what the limits were but I do remember that it was a pretty narrow window.

 

[lleone]

My next hot rod:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2420236163&category=6728

at least until they make the bumper regs even higher...

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

I think I saw something about this on 20/20 or Night Line where some guy from SoCal with a lifted Cherokee took out a whole family while he was showing off on the street.

It was determined that his vehicle was too high.

So the showing off didn't do it, it was the lifted bumper? Hmmm, people don't kill people, lifted bumpers kill people.

Freedom - if losing another freedom saves just one life, it's worth it.

Dunno what all those men at Normandy died for.

 

[BlueGTS]

I read about this in one of the car mags, R&T or C$D. The theory was many fatal pedestrian accidents are due to sloping hood lines. The legislators feel that if the hood and bumper were higher, not all pedestrians hit would die.

I don't know about you but that sounds like a band aid on the problem. The problem is not that low hooded cars are killing pedestrians. The problem is bad drivers are hitting people! Lets see, people die when I hit them with my car… What to do… I know, lets make the front of my car people friendly so the pedestrians will not mind being hit. Did they ever think the problem might be with the driver, or intersection and not the car???

 

[Daffy Duck Viper]

I read about this in one of the car mags, R&T or C$D. The theory was many fatal pedestrian accidents are due to sloping hood lines. The legislators feel that if the hood and bumper were higher, not all pedestrians hit would die.

I don't know about you but that sounds like a band aid on the problem. The problem is not that low hooded cars are killing pedestrians. The problem is bad drivers are hitting people! Lets see, people die when I hit them with my car… What to do… I know, lets make the front of my car people friendly so the pedestrians will not mind being hit. Did they ever think the problem might be with the driver, or intersection and not the car???

Good points.
Not only that, but I rather be hit by a car with a low hood and be flung over it and free of any more kinetic energy then hit by a car whose flat front strikes me with every bit of its kinetic energy because there is no natural path of least resistance for my body to go. Hello! What kind of across-the-entire-board stupid thinking is this? I don't get it.

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[TSR6]

Half the time it isn't even "idiot drivers" that hit people. It is the idiot pedestrians who feel they can walk where ever they want, whenever they want.

Yes, Pedestrians do have the right of way, but sometimes it is just ridiculous. They feel that even if they do get hit, it's a lucky day, because they can go home, contact a lawyer, and live off some poor guy for the rest of their life.

 

[McGuireV10]

What is the source of your information? According to studies funded by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and conducted by the by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), described at the URL below, LOWER bumper heights REDUCE injury.

I'm not saying I expect the government to rely on such messy things as facts to support their decision-making, but I was unable to find any references to any proposed changes. This was a government study, and as other parts of the page describe, the study did lead the NHTSA to conclude that changes weren't necessary.

http://www.iihs.org/safety_facts/qanda/peds.htm

An Institute-sponsored study of pedestrian injuries found that virtually all leg and pelvic trauma/fractures were caused by contact with the vehicle. Bumper contact caused 55 percent of such injuries, and contact with the front structure above the bumper caused 42 percent. Researchers also found that knee injuries are more likely to occur when vehicle bumper height rises to one-quarter or one-third the relative height of the pedestrian. Vehicles with bumpers located at a height of approximately 20-21 inches caused the highest incidence of knee injury. Pelvic injuries were more likely when the hood rose to a pedestrian's midline. According to the data, lower bumpers on automobiles with square front-end designs appeared to reduce the likelihood of pelvic and leg fractures among pedestrians.

 

[GTS Dean]

An Institute-sponsored study of pedestrian injuries found that virtually all leg and pelvic trauma/fractures were caused by contact with the vehicle. Bumper contact caused 55 percent of such injuries, and contact with the front structure above the bumper caused 42 percent. Researchers also found that knee injuries are more likely to occur when vehicle bumper height rises to one-quarter or one-third the relative height of the pedestrian. Vehicles with bumpers located at a height of approximately 20-21 inches caused the highest incidence of knee injury. Pelvic injuries were more likely when the hood rose to a pedestrian's midline. According to the data, lower bumpers on automobiles with square front-end designs appeared to reduce the likelihood of pelvic and leg fractures among pedestrians.

Does anyone else here want to join me in a hearty round of: "Well DUHHHHHH!"

I can make the report quite a bit more succinct by saying "pedestrians will sustain the most serious injuries at the exact height of the bumper they were struck by." So what's better - a front splitter to break their ankles, or a tall grille that deals out head injuries?

My opinion is this whole deal is simply that if the danged pedestrians would dive for the gutters while I'm driving on the sidewalks, they wouldn't keep getting injured.

(Oh, and Janni - what's with your attitude on SUVs?)

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Dean, you cynic. Somebody got a 1.5 million dollar grant to perform this study. It was much needed.

I propose we replace our bumpers with airbags. We already have them inside the car. The time is now to surround the entire car with them. We won't stop making cars safer until a person can stand in the middle of the road, be hit at 150mph and walk away unscathed.

SUVs exempt.

 

[Viperzilla]

This crap is fault of drivers and/or pedestrians when this stuff happens. They are the ones that need to watch out for each other. My imagination would be that the owners of lower-hooded cars (most of them are exotics I'd imagine) are always on the look out to save their high-dollar cars from damage.

The only reason I could originally think of that they would increase bumper height is so that these low hooded cars wouldn't go under semis or SUVs, not to protect pedestrians. I had a friend of the family that was killed because he either fell asleep or had a heart attack and drove his C3 Vette under the rear of a semi, the cause of death is still unknown (wether by possible heart attack or injuries sustained from collision).

 

[Andrew2KRT10]

How about an electromagnetic reverse polarity device to repel two cars should they get to close to eachother?

AC

 

[Viperzilla]

Andrew, you're idea would have to have a sensor to detect speed as well to recognize when and how far back to slow/stop the car. Like if you're parking in a parking lot, parallel parking, or coming to a stop behind another car. Also, what about the "plastic" cars? The technology would be extremely expensive, IMHO, and most car manufacturer's would not be able to compensate for it.

I believe it is Mercedes that has the light sensors that detect when your car is getting to close to the one in front. It beeps at you and slows down for you if you do not respond.

 

[ChoiceViper]

Just make all body panels out of six inch thick NERF!!

 

[Andrew2KRT10]

Better yet. Mount coil springs horizontal on the front bumpers

AC

 

[Viperzilla]

The coil springs would be fun for the doctors to pull out of pedestrians!!!

 

[ceieio]

Anyone remember the article "a nice morning drive" from Road and Track (circa 1973)? I was still in elementary school but remember it well. It helps that a great bunch of Canadian Rockers (Rush) turned the article into the basis for a great song (Red Barchetta). Check this out:

http://members.aol.com/redbarche/ANiceMorningDrive.html

It comes around again and again and again...

There is an old quote (and if anyone can remember who made it I would appreciate the reminder) "Everyday congress is in session, your freedom is in jeopardy."

 

[Gerald Levin]

I rather be hit by a car with a low hood and be flung over it and free of any more kinetic energy then hit by a car whose flat front strikes me with every bit of its kinetic energy because there is no natural path of least resistance for my body to go. Hello! What kind of across-the-entire-board stupid thinking is this? I don't get it.

I was hit by a Ford F250 while stopped at a stop sign on a bicycle. The truck was going about 20 mph. It knocked the sheit out of me, but it knocked me backwards and I was not seriously hurt. I would have experienced more trauma if I was thrown upward possibly into the windshield. BUT, this is just like the helmet controvery with motorcycles and the Feds slamming their sheit down our throats. Just another reason to hold on to your cars as the value may be going up if the Feds go thru with their infringing on our freedom AGAIN.

 

[AviSarfaraz]

Get weapons built into our cars....

whoever shoots first survives the CRASH!