Elderly drivers face restrictionsThe AgeFriday 23 April 2004 |
||
By Darren Gray https://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/22/1082616263520.html?from=storyrhs# Tens of thousands of elderly motorists will be restricted to three-year licences under an overhaul of road safety laws. |
||
Car makers aim for a bullbar on every carThe AgeFriday 23 April 2004 |
||
By Andrew Webster https://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/22/1082616263514.html?from=storyrhs Not only are Melbourne's four-wheel-drives and weekend utes sprouting bullbars in ever greater numbers - the vehicle accessory with attitude is becoming increasingly common on a wider range of vehicles. Vince Failla, co-owner of Melbourne's largest fitter of bullbars, TJM Megastore in Coburg, says vehicle makers now cater for virtually every 4WD and ute on the market and are expanding into bars for vans and sedans. Mr Failla says the bullbar business in Melbourne alone is worth millions a year. He says changing lifestyles are persuading customers that they and their vehicles need extra protection. "A lot of people are adventuring in Australia," he says. "Maybe they use their vehicle around town for 80 to 90 per cent of the time and then for the kids' holiday they drive out to the country." Commuters on the urban fringe, wary of night collisions with wildlife, are big customers. So are operators of small commercial vehicles who want to cut down on the cost of daily bumps. But increasingly drivers of ordinary cars are fitting bullbars - usually small loops of steel to shield bumpers. "A lot of people fit them for car park knocks and scrapes," Mr Failla says. "You touch a bumper and it can cost you $2000 to replace the whole unit. An approved, air-bag-compliant bullbar fitted to a sedan is $450." |