Bullbars on vans? void insurance?

CJhaughey

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

I've heard that in Oz when you hit a kangeroo with roo bars at speed it bursts.

Sounds a little gross! but you must remeber that in Australia's NT there are no speed limits. The main vehicles that are fitted with Roo bars are the Road trains and sure if anything hits a roadtrain at speed it will burst.

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

The law states that you must drive at a speed such that you can stop in the distance you can see to be clear,

Yes that is true but ponder this scenario:
You are driving down a wet wooded windy backroad at night 70kph is your speed, the distance you can see to be clear is 50m. suddenly from the roadside a deer emerges startled.
The deer is halfway between your headlight range and your vehicle. Another vehicle rounds the corner coming against you.
you don't have many options do you?
Unless you are a superhuman and have reflexes faster than most rally drivers you will not be able to avoid an impact.
The worst case scenario would be to panic and swerve to avoid the deer thereby potentially in danger of a head on accident.
This is the case I found myself in.
What is your suggestion? for the appropriate course of action in this instance.

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

Since you can sue farmers for damage caused by thier uncontrolled animals and the county councils for damage caused by wild animals not being kept in by fences

Farmers yes. County councils you could chance your arm but I would say that you would have as much chance as getting them to pick up the bill for a blown tyre caused by a pothole.
Have you ever seen a deer fence?
I would have to say that getting the county council to install 8ft square mesh deerfence along all back roads may be a mean feat!
Again people are looking at this in an urban context.
It is my considered opinion that 8ft fencing would considerably reduce the aesthetic beauty of most of the regions that deer are found in.
you are very unlikely to encounter quadrapedal animals in Dublin county or surrounds (maybe Wicklow) so therefore your thinking and many others seems to be blurred and biased towards urban ideas.
have a brief look at the majority of fatal accidents involving pedestrians and vehicles in the majority of cases the car is the instrument causing damage.
IMHO banning trucks would seem to be a far more effective solution than banning bullbars.


http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2000/08/bullbars.html
nice overview - including a bit about making them of compressible plastic - that's right you don't need "killer grills" to protect your SUV.
Are these available here? sounds like a good idea but I am not a millionaire
and I cannot afford to go searching the world for parts when I can buy a serviceable item right here that is guaranteed Irish for the price of two headlights and a grille. and furthermore I do not have an "SUV" we are not part of the United states.


This is the crux of the discussion here.
[/QUOTE=motherjones]
Part of the reason is that the US and Canada have fewer pedestrians than the UK. In both the US and Canada, pedestrians make up about 13 percent of traffic-related deaths, compared to 27 percent in the more densely populated UK.[/QUOTE]
how many pedestrian deaths are there here in Ireland as proportion of road deaths? how many are caused by bullbars?

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

There are two types of SUV drivers, those who need them for off road use and those who have very little consideration for the lives and rights of others.

Thank you for YOUR opinion

unkel

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

There are two types of SUV drivers, those who need them for off road use and those who have very little consideration for the lives and rights of others.

Aye. BTW I prefer your current user title to the default one you had left on for some time, Capt'n