Kankku take Frontal Protection Seriously

I was invited to go to the Windermere by Kankku the off road driving and adventure company, as they had just bought 3 Mitsubishi Shogun/Pajeros and wanted to have the same type of pedestrian friendly frontal protection as the 3 Land Rovers they already had.

I advised them that they needed to be sure that the FPS that they chose was to the new approved EU standard, (2005/66/EC) this they already understood as they had been reading the information on this web site.

After looking at the limited offerings currently on the market which are EU approved, they chose the Endura FPS as it offered better pedestrian protection than the low bars. They thought that covering all areas of pedestrian protection important and as the other bars did not do this, therefore Endura FPS’s were the product of choice.

They then took me on a 3 hour off road drive through the fantastic Lake District countryside. (I would recommend that if you do decide to go there take a friend, as it is very hard to concentrate on driving the tough terrain and enjoy the fantastic views).

Nick at Kankku takes safety very seriously and that is why all of his vehicles have frontal protection to provide maximum safety for the community he operates in.

Will new EU legislation outlaw the dangerous, metal bull bar?

The answer is yes.

Unfortunately, I bear bad news for all bull bar users, distributors and suppliers. As from 25th May 2007, a revolutionary item of EU legislation will come into force banning the fitting and selling of old style metal bull bars and encouraging new, energy absorbing Frontal Protection Systems (FPS) which enhance the safety of vehicles.

The purpose of this new EU legislation is to ban rigid structures on the fronts of vehicles and thus introducing objective, performance standards for FPS with the purpose of reducing the potential for vulnerable road users to be killed or seriously injured in collisions with vehicles.

The May legislation will effectively ban all old style metal bull bars and make it illegal to fit or sell such products. Directive 2005/66/EC makes requirements that a Frontal Protection System (FPS), such as a ‘bull bar’, whether fitted to a vehicle as original equipment or marketed as a separate technical unit, must now comply with a set of technical standards for both construction and installation which require them to enhance the safety of the vehicle.

From the 25th May, all FPSs (including bull bars) need to pass stringent tests at an accredited testing facility and be granted type approval, effectively; this will outlaw the old and dangerous metal bull bars while endorsing energy absorbing FPS products. If an FPS does not pass the stringent tests at an accredited testing facility - this cannot be fitted to that specific vehicle tested or indeed any other vehicle in Europe.

Date of news item upload: Monday March 26th 2007