Developmental Neurosciences and Child Health, Centre for Community Child Health Research, Child and Family Research Institute, Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Traffic Inj Prev. 2012;13(1):86-92. doi: 10.1080/15389588.2011.624143.
Pedestrian injuries are a leading cause of the global death and injury burden, accounting for 65 percent of the 1.2 million annual road deaths. The purpose of this brief literature review is to examine whether bull bars, a rigid aftermarket accessory fitted to the front end of passenger vehicles, increase the risk of severe and fatal injuries to vulnerable road users in the event of a collision.
Applicable peer-reviewed research, review papers, and grey literature were identified from a search of MEDLINE; the Transportation Research Board (TRB) database composed of Transportation Research Information Services (TRIS) and International Transport Research Documentation (TRID) databases; the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews; and Google Scholar. The following search terms were used: "bull bars" OR "nudge bars" OR "sahara bars" AND "pedestrians" OR "vulnerable road users" for 1948 to March 1, 2011. A secondary set of search terms was also included "bull bars" OR "nudge bars" OR "sahara bars" OR "vehicle frontal protective systems" AND "pedestrians" OR "vulnerable road users" for 1948 to March 1, 2011.
Neither the MEDLINE search nor the Cochrane Review search returned any relevant literature. The TRID search returned 19 research articles, 9 of which were included. Searches using Google Scholar returned 110 items, of which 21 were included in the present review after excluding patents and citations. Seven of the articles from TRID were also found in the Google Scholar search, resulting in 23 unique articles being included in this review. The studies used included 12 real-world studies, 3 computer modeling studies, and 8 laboratory testing studies. Very few studies examined the road safety of pedal-cyclists and motorcyclists; therefore, we focused solely on studies examining pedestrian safety.
The literature reviewed in this study indicates that vehicles fitted with bull bars, particularly those without deformable padding, concentrate crash forces over a smaller area of vulnerable road users during collisions compared to vehicles not fitted with a bull bar. Rigid bull bars, such as those made from steel or aluminum, stiffen the front end of vehicles and interfere with the vital shock absorption systems designed in vehicle fronts. These devices therefore significantly alter the collision dynamics of vehicles, resulting in an increased risk of pedestrian injury and mortality in crashes. This literature review shows that bull bars do indeed increase the severity of injuries to vulnerable road users in the event of a collision and highlights the need for current traffic safety policies to reflect the safety concerns surrounding the use of bull bars.
行人受伤是导致全球伤亡的主要原因之一，占每年 120 万道路死亡人数的 65%。本文献综述的目的是研究安装在乘用车前端的刚性后市场配件——防撞杆是否会增加弱势道路使用者在发生碰撞时受到严重和致命伤害的风险。
从 MEDLINE 中搜索适用的同行评审研究、评论文章和灰色文献；从由交通研究委员会（TRB）数据库组成的交通研究信息服务（TRIS）和国际交通研究文献（TRID）数据库中搜索；从 Cochrane 系统评价数据库中搜索；并从 Google Scholar 中搜索。使用了以下搜索词：“bull bars”或“nudge bars”或“sahara bars”以及“pedestrians”或“vulnerable road users”，时间范围为 1948 年至 2011 年 3 月 1 日。还包括了第二组搜索词：“bull bars”或“nudge bars”或“sahara bars”或“vehicle frontal protective systems”以及“pedestrians”或“vulnerable road users”，时间范围为 1948 年至 2011 年 3 月 1 日。
MEDLINE 搜索和 Cochrane 综述搜索均未检索到相关文献。TRID 搜索返回了 19 篇研究文章，其中 9 篇被纳入。使用 Google Scholar 的搜索返回了 110 项，其中 21 项在排除专利和引文后被纳入本次综述。从 TRID 中找到的 7 篇文章也在 Google Scholar 搜索中找到了，这使得 23 篇独特的文章被纳入了本次综述。研究中使用的包括 12 项真实世界的研究、3 项计算机建模研究和 8 项实验室测试研究。很少有研究检查骑脚踏车者和骑摩托车者的道路安全；因此，我们仅专注于研究行人安全的研究。
本研究综述中的文献表明，安装防撞杆的车辆，特别是没有可变形衬垫的车辆，在碰撞时会将碰撞力集中在弱势道路使用者的较小区域，而不是没有安装防撞杆的车辆。刚性防撞杆，如钢或铝制成的防撞杆，会使车辆前端变硬，并干扰车辆前部设计的重要减震系统。因此，这些装置极大地改变了车辆的碰撞动力学，导致在碰撞中弱势道路使用者受伤和死亡的风险增加。本文献综述表明，防撞杆确实会增加弱势道路使用者在碰撞事件中的受伤严重程度，并强调当前交通安全政策需要反映围绕防撞杆使用的安全问题。
