There was a news story on an all news radio station I listen to that was about bumper effectiveness on todays cars. Insurance companys and other organizations claim that a 10 MPH crash will cause $10,000 damage on a lot of cars. They want all bumpers to be the same distance from the ground on cars and trucks,front and rear. They want an impact resistant bumper that will not cause so much damage at 10 or 15 MPH. Engineers are working on this concern and soon there will be changes. It seamed like I have heard all this before, say 1973. I thought about all you small bumper guys. If you are in the market for a new car mabe you should buy now. Who knows what they might come up with. What happen to those bumper guards they used to use?
Has anyone ever seen a study on the cost/benefits of the crash resistant bumpers? Seems like the guys that tell industry how they have to build products should face some accountability. I'd bet that the addition initial costs, and higher repair costs when the bumpers ARE damaged, are larger than any savings they produce. Just wondering.
I saw the news story. What they (Government) want to do is make SUV's hold to the same standards as cars. Right now, bumper design on most SUV's is straight off the truck line. They do not have to follow the same rules as car bumpers. The claim is that when an SUV hits a car, the car looses big (duuuh.....). If SUV's have to have the same height and design as cars, the overall effect is less damage to the car. If SUV's get this, pickup trucks are next. Somewhere, a Scoobie Doo villian is shaking his fist and shouting ... "I would have gotten away with it, if it weren't for those meddling kids" :16suspect
If there's money to be made and the insurance company wants it...they will get it. Look at the biggest/tallest building in any town. Most likely it's an insurance company's building. The insurance company has the government in it's pocket
so when or if it passes you cant lower or raise your car so if your truck comes with 16'' rims and you put some 24'' rims on it you will have to lower it to stock spec's
Why don't we just go back to station wagons? These silly "crossover" SUV's are 95% there anyway. Do you really need that ground clearance?
