Raging bull bars
Page 16
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by Lee Kimber • Bull-bar manufacturers are accusing the RAC of deliberately manipulating statistics to fool the public as the row over protector bars turns into a macabre body count.
A spokesman for the Association of Protector Bar Manufacturers (APBM), says anti-bar campaigners, including the RAC, are confusing different figures to arrive at wild estimates for the number of people killed by the controversial protector bars.
The RAC claims bullbars kill up to 70 people every year. It says its figures are based on 1992 estimates for bull-bar fatalities, which it doubled to take account of a doubling in the number of vehicles fitted with the bars.
However, a 1994 survey of police accident records carried out by the Transport Research Laboratory showed only five people were killed in bull-bar accidents, says the APBM.
"On further examination, none of these cases show that death was caused by the bull-bar," he adds.
RAC bull-bar campaign director Edmund King agrees the statistics are confusing but believes the 1992 figures are more reliable than the 1994 police survey.
He adds: "The APBM is being absolutely insensitive and outrageous."
This week the Transport Research Laboratory, which is preparing research into bull-bar accidents, stood by its claim that bars probably cause 350 serious injuries plus 20 adult and 15 child fatalities per year.