Bull Bar Ban

[haysie]

She probably drives a f*&king big 4WD with a f*%king big bull-bar - this is what, as a regular cyclist, scares the shit out of me. The less bull-bars (and 4wds) the better.

Well F*&KING good on her if she does, with or without a bullbar she and the other ipod idiot pedestrians wont notice the difference between a bull bar or a bonnet or a windscreen when their 6 feet under.

Do you want to ban trucks too?

 

[tourist]

I agree with this one! But then how could we tell when someone is an ignorant, racist bogan if they aren't wearing the Aussie flag as a cape?

Their bull bar.

Well F*&KING good on her if she does, with or without a bullbar she and the other ipod idiot pedestrians wont notice the difference between a bull bar or a bonnet or a windscreen when their 6 feet under.

Sorry - you lost me here.

Do you want to ban trucks too?

I never said I wanted a ban on anything, but from my perspective I would LOVE to see less bull bars, 4WDs, trucks, overpowered cars (with or without dickhead drivers), pollution and excessive consuption of just about everything.....

 

[haysie]

So by the same logic, you should be allowed to put some kind of pedestrian-killing spikes on the front of your car just cos you want to?

I dont agree with fishing rod holders etc

Vehicles (that drive on public roads regulated by governments) are designed to have crumple-zones for a reason. Putting a bull bar on your car negates the crumple-zones that have been designed for driver, passenger and pedestrian safety.

A 66 Mustang, 57 chev, XY GT, etc etc etc have crumple zones as you call them?

If the government bans them and you need a bull bar for your off-road bush-bashing then fair enough but you should get a trailer to transport that vehicle while on public roads - just like people do for off-road bikes, tractors, back-hoes, combine harvesters, ride-on lawn-movers and other vehicles that are not safe for public roads, etc etc etc

Maybe we could put street lights every 100 mtrs and pedestrian lights every 1km on all our regional and rural roads. Another levy maybe similar to the milk one we still pay.

Or maybe we could get bull bars like roof-racks - that can be installed and removed easily - if you need them off-road work but not on roads then why not whack 'em on and pull them off when you need to?

Theres an idea :blink:

 

[Peteoz77]

So by the same logic, you should be allowed to put some kind of pedestrian-killing spikes on the front of your car just cos you want to?

Where can I purchase these Dan? They would be fantastic! (yes this is a joke)

But seriously.. a bull bar has a definite use, and if you feel you need one, you should be allowed to purchase and use one. Where as the pedestrian killing spikes really don't seem to have a logical use (other than for the killing of pedestrians).

I don't own or ever plan to own a bull bar.. because I don't live rural. However if I lived rural and had to travel at night, I would be pretty upset if the Government wouldn't let me protect myself and my means of transport because someone in town is worried that I might hurt them with my bull bar.

 

[leiothrix]

but thats just me and I am very concious about it as I believe all drivers should be.. I believe "everyone" who has held a liscence for 5 years should have an advanced driver course, much like the system now for 'learners'. Adults make bad driving habbits quickly that become 2nd nature and there are few fo us who cant learn more about better car behaviour and handelling.

The problem with that is it will probably make the roads more dangerous. People that can drive already can, and you're not going to be able to teach those that can't.

The driving course just gives those that can't more confidence, so they do dumber things.

On the other hand, those that can drive will probably have fun driving around a skid pad.

 

[drew9242]

She probably drives a f*&king big 4WD with a f*%king big bull-bar - this is what, as a regular cyclist, scares the shit out of me. The less bull-bars (and 4wds) the better.

Just a question do you cyclists pay for the road? no never. Maybe if you started paying some money for som nice bike paths you wouldn't have to worry. I have driven a bike my whole life and have never had a problem with sharing the road. And we have a lot of grain and log trucks, plus 40% of the cars would be 4wd with a bull bar. Seeing as the cyclists don't own the road maybe we should just ban them, then the drivers would be a lot safer.

 

[leiothrix]

Do cyclists pay for the road? Of course they do. Everyone pays taxes (income & GST), they pay for roads.

Most people that cycle also drive cars, so they're still paying the fuel levy anyway.

And the various councils should build more bike tracks. Safer, and encourages people to move a bit more.

 

[drew9242]

And the various councils should build more bike tracks. Safer, and encourages people to move a bit more.

But that is the problem. Here we have a lot of bike paths, but hardly any cyclists use them, like to clog up the road instead. But i don't mind everyone using the road. But why single out the Bull Bar to solve all the problems.

Just another side note the bull bar industry is worth $300mill a year. Would be a few people out of pocket me thinks.

 

[MarkBastard]

The way I see it roads work like this.

1 - Anyone using the road for life and death situations (e.g. Ambulance, Fire, Police) have the most right to be on the road.
2 - Anyone doing important work while using a road (e.g. truck drivers) have the second most right to be on the road.
3 - Anyone using the road to get to their important job (e.g. car drivers, cyclists, motorcyclists on the way to / from work) have the third most right to be on the road.
4 - Anyone using the road for things like getting to shopping, picking the kids up, on their way to a holiday etc are next.
5 - Then you have the people at the bottom which IMO barely have a right to be on the road and should never ever complain about anything to do with the roads. These are people that have road use as a leisure activity. This includes dickheads doing laps of a busy area in their shitty milo-tin noisy cars, lawyers and homos wearing spandex doing laps around town on their bikes as a form of 'training', and old fat balding wankers driving around on a sunday afternoon with a hat on in their convertible.

You know what's funny, when people in category 5 complain. They seem to do it the most as well.

 

[leiothrix]

Perhaps that's because the bike paths don't actually go anywhere useful? A lot of the tracks I see are fine for recreational riders that just want some exercise, but they're pretty pointless if you actually want to get anywhere.

OTOH it shits me when I'm driving behind a cyclist and there's a perfectly good bike track 3m to the left of them.

And pedestrians shit me anywhere they are. If you're on a bike track stick to the left people! Don't wander about aimlessly, listening to your music and blocking out the rest of the world! It is fun flying past them and scaring the shit out of them though.

 

[MarkBastard]

It's also funny that bike riders complain about pedestrians on bike paths without understanding that's the exact way cars feel about cyclists on roads.

Not saying you do that, but it's something I've observed.

 

[leiothrix]

Well, from what I've seen of cyclists on roads, it's just that they're that's a pain in the arse. In general they're well behaved, but when they're travelling at 20-30km/h and you want to do 60-80km/h, it causes a bit of frustration.

Depending on the road they have the option of staying to the left of the lane and riding on all the shit that has been pushed out of the lane, and risk getting collected by a mirror (or worse), or they can ride in the middle of the lane to stop traffic passing them, but gives everyone behind them the shits, and makes car drivers do retarded/dangerous things to pass them.

One roads I drive to work is three lanes each way, 80km/h, and in an industrial area (i.e. BHP all over the place) so it's full of trucks. There is a bike track, yet I regularly see bicycles on the road. They're entitled to be there by law, and stick to the left and generally behave themselves, but I can't help thinking that they've got a death-wish.

 

[MarkBastard]

I think by law they're allowed to ride side by side as well and block a whole lane. I've seen them do this, so they can chat to each other. Never mind the traffic behind them.

I dare say pedestrians can legally walk where ever they want on combined paths as well, and 'social walking' is much more common and less of an arsehole practise than riding side by side on a public road.

I just think it's a bit hypocritical.

You're right, most bike riders on roads do the right thing. At least where I live in Brisbane. The ones were I used to live in Sydney were HORRIBLE. I remember once I was the first at a set of lights, right on the line, and this wanker in spandex lane-split between me and the car next to me, then stopped right in front of my car, in the intersection. People like that are the reason why everyone hates cyclists and they need to take responsibility for the negativity they receive.

 

[leiothrix]

I have no problem with a couple of pedestrians walking side-by-side and talking. It's when they wander about in an unpredictable fashion that I both don't like, and think is very dangerous.

That, and not managing their kids & dogs. I've almost hit a toddler (around 3-ish years old) that ran on to the path with his parents just behind him. I've grabbed the breaks & locked both wheels and made a lot of noise skidding. The parents thought it was funny and laughed. Wanted to punch them because that could have been nasty/fatal, but they just had no clue.

Just to clarify, they weren't on the track, but walked onto it from 90* angle. Couldn't see them coming due to the vegetation around. Better a bicycle than a car I suppose, but not by much.

 

[Lecterfan]

Awesome question/topic. I have a bullbar. I don't think Australians need to have access to automatic or semi-automatic weapons but I support the right to have a bull bar. Does my logic match up? Or am I just falling prey to something Mark^******* has referred to in another thread (hypocrites not caring about rights infringement of others, only caring about myself)?

I don't think the analogy between weapons and bullbars is appropriate. Bull bars aren't the problem - driving skills of individuals are the problem (but is that the same with guns...hmmmmm?).


I live in a semi-rural area and visit a "properly" rural area probably once every 1 - 2 weeks. Does that qualify me as "needing" a bull bar? Don't know...

I love these conversations, unfortunately I piss most people off as I don't have a rigid one way or the other stance.


And completely off topic, I just watched a VB ad during the cricket that was completely and outwardly homophobic (the guy that colour matches things) and it makes me ******* sick.

 

[The Pope]

Don't ban the bullbar (is a round tube bar really any worse then a flat steel bumper anyway?)
BUT I do believe they should fine every S.O.B that have those exposed rod holders on the front. Anything that sticks out infront of a front bar is illegal and unsafe for due reason...

 

[MarkBastard]

Awesome question/topic. I have a bullbar. I don't think Australians need to have access to automatic or semi-automatic weapons but I support the right to have a bull bar. Does my logic match up? Or am I just falling prey to something Mark^******* has referred to in another thread (hypocrites not caring about rights infringement of others, only caring about myself)?

I don't think the analogy between weapons and bullbars is appropriate. Bull bars aren't the problem - driving skills of individuals are the problem (but is that the same with guns...hmmmmm?).


I live in a semi-rural area and visit a "properly" rural area probably once every 1 - 2 weeks. Does that qualify me as "needing" a bull bar? Don't know...

I love these conversations, unfortunately I piss most people off as I don't have a rigid one way or the other stance.


And completely off topic, I just watched a VB ad during the cricket that was completely and outwardly homophobic (the guy that colour matches things) and it makes me ******* sick.

I think the main difference between something like a bullbar and guns is that the main problem with guns is not the legal owner of the gun, but the owners kid finding it and playing with it, or someone breaking into the house and stealing it, or people stealing guns before they get to the shops to be sold etc.

Unless people are stealing cars with bull bars and then driving them into pedestrians I don't think it's really the same thing at all.

 

[leiothrix]

I really think the American "John Wayne" attitude to guns is kinda funny. We all need to have 50 guns each for self-defence, because if someone broke into my home i'd put a bullet into them blah-blah-blah.

If however the weapons were actually stored properly you're house would be all nice and robbed before you got it out of the safe, assembled it and loaded it.

Keeping a pistol on the night stand where your three year old can reach it is pretty much the opposite of making the house safer.

 

[Cocko]

Can I just ask WHO THE F*CK has hit more than 20 animals?

WTF are you doing, driving through paddocks of sheep on the way home from work?? You know bugs don't count yeah?

I understand, country areas bring a lot of animals on the road and up north you get a few kangas and emu's but seriously, 20+ animals?

You don't need a Bull Bar you need glasses and better brakes.

 

[philw]

rant on

Harold Scruby and the pedestrian council can GAGF

Scruby, in case you are unaware, is the crank who petitions the government with mostly crackpot schemes for "improving pedestrian safety".

I've got nothing against people petitioning Government, even crack-pots, Mr Scruby can petition till he's blue in the face.

My distaste for Scruby's hot air isn't just because it's so rabidly anti-driver (and fails to acknowledge any responsibility on the part of pedestrians); no, my biggest issue with the guy is that I'm anti-stupid. A lot of the stuff that comes from his "Council" is the kind of thing you'd expect out of a university satire newspaper.

they want us to take on the Euro standards and ban bull bars

why don't they just ban pedestrian's from running in front of cars or 4x4's or take there ear buds out of there heads and have some situational awareness for what is around them. How about pedestrians take some responsibility for their own actions?

what are they going to do have a buy back for everyone that owns a bull bar... watch out for that Levy