Bumpers, R.I.P. (Facebook 4/2/11)

April 2, 2011 at 3:35pm

For the last 20 years, car and van "bumpers" often have been little more than plastic shells filled with air.  Recently, auto stylists have begun omitting even this pretense of protection from the front of the vehicle.  

Once upon a time, bumpers not only had to protect the riders from injury, they also had to protect the car, AND the bumpers themselves had to survive an impact and still be serviceable.  But auto stylists have always hated government interference.

[WK] I noticed many years ago that, even among non-commercial transport vehicles, "bumpers" or what remained of them no longer had to be of some standard height. Out here in Eastern Washington, it has been very popular to jack up trucks another few feet, so bumpers were pretty much aimed at the neck and shoulders of the drivers and passengers of normal vehicles ... and headlamps shown blindingly down into their eyes.

[LL] Funny you should bring up this "Frequently Asked Question"... Check out the official FAQ (esp. item #13). Amid the bumper-licking mis-information is some useful factual content: http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/problems/studies/bumper/index.html

[WK] Very interesting. I noted item #15 as well. It strikes me as incredibly stupid that bumper mismatch has not been regulated away (although I understand that a car that is braking, for example, could still slip beneath a standardized bumper in front of it).  Another long-standing peeve are automobile windows that are so heavily tinted that I cannot tell whether the driver is aware of my approach or, indeed, whether an automobile even has a driver. Here in Washington, the usual objection is that law enforcement folks cannot peer in an see whether a driver is pointing a gun at them. But we ordinary drivers lack that access to reading the alertness of other drivers and the odds that another driver is aware and inclined to yield the right of way.

[WK]  I liked the part about a shield made of plastic. So comforting, reassuring that that plastic's there to shield us.

[LL]  Plastic shield seems to have both legitimate and fraudulent functions. A notorious and pathetic example of fraud is to convey "brawn" in an SUV.