I own a jeep. I've always owned jeeps. From the old 70s CJ models to the newer, way more comfy (or so my wife tells me) cherokees. I don't know why I do, but I've always loved them.
Recently while driving my jeep through the outback of Australia, I hit a kangaroo. I was only meandering along at the time so I didn't damage the jeep, (and the kangaroo bounded away with little more than a fright) but it really got me thinking about bullbar protection. If I was going any faster, I could have seriously damaged my 4X4 to the extent that I was stuck, waiting for another offroad buff to get me out of trouble.
So I called my mates at All Vehicle Accessories in Melbourne. They told me about these innovative new "plastic bullbars". Having not heard about them before and being a bit bewildered by the chat (I mean, how can plastic protect my jeep?) I decided to do some research. This is what I found out.
Frontal protection products are designed to do 3 things in a collision. They are designed to 1. Protect the passengers in the vehicle. 2. Protect the vehicle in a collision. 3. Pretect the object being struck in a collision. So that was my first point of reference. Which product did a better job in a collision, the bullbar or the smartbar?
Its pretty funny when you look around for information on the relative safety performance of bullbars and smartbars. People who love bullbars keep pointing out that at 150kms/h a collision will be fatal. So to be clear, we are not looking at the 150kms/h collission. Rather we are comparing performance of these products at speeds up to and including fatal impact, but not exceeding it. That means at speeds which are less than and equal to the point where a collision becomes fatal to the vehicle, passengers or pedestrian.
The difference between the performance of bullbars and smartbars comes about because bullbars are rigid (Ie they have no give in them) while smartbars are not. (Ie. they are made from polyethylene with a hollow internal structure so they have some give) Despite all the opinion to the contrary, at speeds leading up to fatal impact, smartbars work better than bullbars in protecting you, the car and the person you hit. The manner in which they absorb impact minimises the force of the collision and thereby reduces injury and damage. The cushioning effect of this absorbtion actually acts to decelerate the colliding forces at the point of impact. This has been proven by independent child head-form impact tests. You just have to do a little research to find the studies.
To put this point in perspective though, into words you can feel, smartbars are made out of similar materials that they make those big wheelie bins from. Imagine you fell over in the street and smacked your head into a big iron postal box. It would hurt right? Now compare the same fall if your head hit the middle of one of those big wheelie bins. The bin would cushion the impact somewhat and the damage to your forehead would not nearly be so bad. (Or painful for that matter) Thats the way the smartbars work.
If you enjoy your vehicle, performance will always be a topic on your mind. The cost of fuel, tyre wear, suspension wear, handling in extreme weather. They are all issues for regular drivers. One thing that no-one questions, is that smartbars are significantly lighter than bullbars. Do you know what this means? Better fuel efficiency, longer tyre and suspension wear, easier and safer handling. Smartbars by their lighter composition allow your vehicle to perform better. Simple.
Topic 3. Maintenance - Metal rusts. Metal looses its lustre. Metal reflects. A rusting bullbar requires significant work to clean up. A dull bullbar requires significant polishing to make it shine again. And a reflecting bullbar will effect your vision everytime another set of headlights hit it. This is one of the defining features of the smartbar. Maintenance requires a bucket of soapy water, a sponge and a quick wipe down. Thats it. The plastic parts do not rust, they do not require buffing or polishing and they will never reflect light from another source.
These are the facts I found when researching frontal protection products for my Jeep. The protection of my family was my #1 consideration, so getting this right was important to me. If you are considering frontal protection products I encourage you to do your own research, try to seperate fact from the immense amount of image based opinion out there, and pick the product that best suits your purpose.
Following an accident, Damian Papworth realised the best way to protect his family was with a smartbar. Frontal Protection isn't what is used to be.
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