ARB Summit Bumper and safety

[my2019ranger]

I have a 2019 Ranger and have already gone ahead and had an ARB Summit bumper installed. I have now stumbled upon a lot of chatter about the safety issues with "bull bars" in general that in fact they increase risk of injury not only of pedestrians (no surprise- I knew that in advance) but of occupants of the vehicle with these bumpers.

Now the particular video that started it was this smartass aussie guy

Now ARB insists the bumpers work with air bag sensors and are safety compliant and they put a lot of effort into testing but as the youtuber above asks "Why don't they publish these results?" I have spent a lot of time searching online and can't find any serious proof of actual crash testing. I've heard they only do computer modeling testing. My bumper does not interfere with parking and radar sensors which is good. But haven't had a crash yet so no idea how the airbags would perform. The other serious concern raised is the bumper takes away crumple zone effects which absorb a lot of the shock rather than your body. In the comments sections there are people claiming to be EMT types or whatever who've seen people's legs being crushed and steering wheels in the chest - again lack of crumple zone. I don't think the horror stories specifically mention ARB summit's but....

I would love to hear from anybody with first hand knowledge of the summit bumper in real world crash conditions if possible but would appreciate anyone with any info on the subject to share what they know.
Thanks!

 

[Curious Hound]

Your crumplezone still exists. The bumper is in front of it. I don't see how the bumper would negate the crumplezone. It should reduce damage to your vehicle.

The steering column is supposed to telescope (crumple) to minimize chest injury. Bolting on a stiff bumper won't change that. Frame rails are designed to crumple or telescope. Bolting a bumper on the front shouldn't change that. In many cases things are designed so the engine gets pushed down under the cabin to minimize injiries. Bolting a bumper on shouldn't change that.

 

[my2019ranger]

Your crumplezone still exists. The bumper is in front of it. I don't see how the bumper would negate the crumplezone. It should reduce damage to your vehicle.

The steering column is supposed to telescope (crumple) to minimize chest injury. Bolting on a stiff bumper won't change that. Frame rails are designed to crumple or telescope. Bolting a bumper on the front shouldn't change that. In many cases things are designed so the engine gets pushed down under the cabin to minimize injiries. Bolting a bumper on shouldn't change that.

Right but that's the point. A strong stiff steel bumper like the Summit would stop the oncoming car or tree or whatever from even reaching the crumple zone, no? So all the force from the initial impact would transmit thru the frame... It would be nice if crash tests were done to see what happens to steering wheels and crumple zone.

 

[Curious Hound]

The crumple zone is still free to crumple behind the bumper.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Australia fusses over everything. If they are legal to have on the road there I doubt they are too bad.

I wouldn't be surprised if he is looking for something to stir the pot to get clicks.