§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what is his policy in respect of the addition of bull bars to motor vehicles. [90728]
§ Ms Glenda Jackson[holding answer 13 July 1999]: Following a consultation exercise on the possibility of taking action on the bull bar issue, we are now in the process of identifying how best to take matters forward. As a part of this process we have asked the Transport Research Laboratory to do some test work comparing a range of bull bars and base vehicles.
We are also awaiting the opportunity to examine the detail of a European Commission proposal for a pedestrian protection Directive, which we understand will be put forward later this year. As well as making car fronts safer, such a Directive could provide a Europe-wide mechanism for preventing aggressive bull bars being fitted to vehicles to make them more pedestrian friendly. Increasing the pedestrian friendliness of cars has the potential to reduce significantly the numbers of vulnerable road users who are killed and injured each year.