RTO officials begin crack down on bullbars

A few years ago, the use of bullbars or crash guards was banned in India. After the new rule, police teams from different states started the crackdown on vehicles with bullbars. However, there are still many vehicles across India with massive bullbars. Tamil Nadu Police has now started stopping such vehicles to remove the bullbars on the spot and issue a fine.

Also read: Meet India’s Toyota Innova that has done more than 10 Lakh Kms

A new video shows a team of police stopping a Toyota Innova with a massive bullbar at the front. The bullbar was removed on the spot and a traffic challan was issued to the owner for the illegal accessory. In the second part, another Toyota Innova was going through the same process. However, the owner of the car was talking to the cops and telling them why the installed the bullbar.

The exact fine amount is not known but it can be different based on the laws of the states and UTs. It is also not known if the bullbar was given back to the owners or the cops kept it. Most likely, the cops seize such illegal accessories to ensure that they are not used again. Towards the end of the video, the cops can be seen removing the bullbars installed in the rear of the vehicle too.

Bullbar for early deployment of airbags?

Yes, that’s what the owner of the second Innova says to the police. In the video, he says that he has installed the bullbar so that it detects a crash and deploys the airbag. That’s misinformation. The RTO officer on the spot explains everything to the owner of the vehicle. The officer says that the sensors are positioned inside the bumper and if there is a bullbar, the sensors may not detect the crash at all and may not deploy the airbags. He also explained how installing the bullbar can also cause a delay in the deployment of the airbag, which can cause grave injuries to the occupants. The officer also tells him that the bullbar is bolted to the chassis of the vehicle. In case of an accident, the chassis might get damaged too. After understanding the officer, the owner of the vehicle does not argue and pays the fine.

Bullbar can be extremely dangerous

Every car is designed in a way to absorb the impact during an accident. The front and rear bumpers, the crumple zone and a lot of other things go into the manufacturing of a vehicle to ensure that the shell of the car absorbs maximum impact. In turn, the occupants remain safer. If a bullbar is installed, the impact never reaches the crumple zone or the bumpers. It hits the bullbar and the chassis takes the wrath of the crash, creating a lot of trouble for the occupants of the vehicle.

Bullbar can also be way too dangerous if they are installed in the cars with airbags. Since manufacturers use a lot of calculations and put in the effort to time the deployment of the airbag perfectly, the bullbar blocks the impact or delays it by microseconds. Since airbags deployment uses a chemical reaction and a blast happens, the face of the occupants might be too close to the airbag due to the delay in deployment. It can cause major injuries to the face and other body parts. Bullbars are also not very pedestrian-friendly. Any vehicle with a bullbar hitting the pedestrian can cause massive injuries. This is one of the primary reasons for banning bullbars in India.

Mahindra is one of the manufacturers that offer airbag friendly bullbars. It is made out of soft foam-like material that transfers the impact quickly to the sensors. However, we are not sure if they are legal on the road.

Also read: Beat-up 2006 Mahindra Bolero transformed into the latest version