[Freeaqingme]

> are bars all that expensive?

From the article:

> The beefier, more robust rear guards would’ve cost an additional $127 each, according to industry estimates.

I'm inclined to think that 127 USD (even if the side rails were a little bit more expensive because they're larger) is not too expensive for a feature like this.

Also, I think that in Europe these rails are already mandatory. At least the rear guard is required in The Netherlands if the trailer protrudes >60cm at the rear iirc.

[tecleandor]

I think that $127 is for when then first tried to pass it in the 80s. But even after inflation, and price raises, and whatever calculations we do... That's a ridiculously cheap price for a security feature. That's not even the price for installing a bunch of airbags.

I'm not in the market (nor the region), but for a new semi-truck plus bed I guess you're going to expend north of $200K. A thousand or two in security features is absolutely nothing. So instead of a low percentage of vehicles expending a little money on security features, they want the rest of the world to buy way more expensive and ridiculously big cars? Upgrading a single vehicle to a SUV would be way more expensive than their upgrades.

Regular cars have all sorts of active and passive safety features for the people inside, and for pedestrians and other vehicles outside, and that's fine. I don't tell pedestrians to buy an armor if they want to be safe when I'm driving around.

[_trampeltier]

Yes in Europe all trucks have bars, but I'm not sure if they would hold a car or if they are more for people on bycicles.

[masklinn]

They are for cars.

The strength requirements are similar to the US standard (resistance to point loads of 50kN at 1/8th of the horizontal member from the outside, 100kN at the centerline, and 50kN at 355~635mm from the centerline), but the EU has mandated front and side guards (as well as back which the US also mandates) since 1994.

Of note: a 2012 IIHS study indicated that only 15% of collisions between cars and large trucks were rear collisions , 22% are to the side of the truck, and 63 to the front.

[Freeaqingme]

Yep. When they have bars, these bars are precisely meant to stop a car or motor bike from sliding under.

Bicyclists have way less momentum, so sliding under would be less of a risk, I think. They experience plenty of other risks though.

[Symbiote]

The side bars can help push a cyclist away from the vehicle if they collide with it while its turning.

[ehnto]

They only need to slow and control the car's stop so that it doesn't slip under too far. In this case there is no perfect, but a massive improvement in safety in just three box steel sections should be a very palatable regulation. Apparently it is too much to ask.

[hef19898]

Those hold cars. Up to a degree of course.