Res. No. 208
Resolution urging the State Legislature to ban the use of grille-guards/bull bars on the front of all motor vehicles that operate in the city of New York.
By Council Member Vallone Jr.
Whereas, According to the World Health Organization's "World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention," the grille-guard, also known as a bull-bar, brush-guard, or roo-bar, are rigid or soft metal bars fixed to the front bumper of motor vehicles, originally designed to prevent damage on contact with animals in rural areas; and
Whereas, According to various auto part accessory distributors, the benefit of grille-guards in metropolitan areas is to protect vehicles against minor bumps incurred within city limits or often used as a cosmetic accessory; and
Whereas, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states that modern vehicles are designed with softer materials at the forward end to create a crumple zone at the front of the vehicle that cushions impact and reduces the risk of injury or fatality to the occupants in an accident;
Whereas, Driver accounts have noted that the grille-guard can delay the front end from crumpling, potentially causing additional injury; and
Whereas, Many automakers such as Lexus agree that a grille-guard can prevent airbags from deploying in an accident, as they guard the sensors required to read any impact; and
Whereas, The European Union has stringent regulations on grille-guards, stating that they pose a greater threat to pedestrians and cyclists because in a collision with a pedestrian or cyclist, the extra rigidity of grille-guards would cause greater direct injury, and since the point of impact tends to be higher, the victim bears the full brunt of the impact; and
Whereas, Grille-guards pose a greater threat to the drivers and passengers of other vehicles because in collisions with other cars, the force of impact tends to be higher on the struck vehicle, which may directly hit the chest or head of the occupants; and
Whereas, A 1998 study by Australia's University of Adelaide found that damage to a child's head when struck by a vehicle equipped with a small diameter steel grille-guard was 10 to 15 times worse than damage inflicted by a vehicle without such a guard; and
Whereas, In January of 2004, Rob Schneider from Fresh Meadows, NY, was severely injured when his vehicle was struck by another fitted with a steel grille-guard which at 35 mph deflected the force into him rather than absorbing the energy; and
Whereas, In October of 2002, 18-year-old Dereck Lopez of Fort Worth, TX, was killed in an accident when her Cavalier was side-struck by a Silverado equipped with a rigid, steel grille-guard, smashing into the driver's side window and fracturing Ms. Lopez's skull; and
Whereas, Although the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards prohibits making "inoperable" any safety feature or element of design in a motor vehicle, grille-guards violate two important standards by making airbags inoperable and by reducing the amount of available crush space and crumple zones of motor vehicles; and
Whereas, New York City has a greater number of drivers, cyclists and pedestrians than most cities in the United States, demonstrating the clear necessity to protect these vulnerable groups from serious injury or fatality in the event of an accident; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York urges the State Legislature to ban the use of grille-guards/bull bars on the front of all motor vehicles that operate in the city of New York.
AC
Res. 0103/2006
LS# 837
4/6/10