The Delhi high court on Tuesday sought response from the Centre on a petition challenging its December last year notification directing action against vehicles fitted with metal crash guards or bull bars.
The ministry of road transport and highway had on December 7 directed all states to act against crash guards, installed at the front and back of vehicles, saying that they "pose serious safety concerns to pedestrians as well as occupants of the vehicles".
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar sought response from the ministry on the plea filed by the manufacturers and dealers of bull bars.
The petitioners have challenged the notification claiming bull bars as "useful safety accessories" and that there is no rule or law dealing with it. The ministry had said that bull bars falls under the purview of section 52 of Motor Vehicle Act and attracts penalty.
The petitioner claimed bull bars does not come under the section as it pertains to modification in a vehicle and not after market fitments. It claimed that the decision to ban bull bars was taken without any scientific survey on its safety quotient.
The High Court is seized of another petition which has sought banning such metal bumpers guards as they pose a threat to lives of pedestrians as well as passengers. It has issued notices to the transport ministry and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), asking them to make clear their stand on the issue.
The petition had claimed that in high speed accidents they would defeat the in-built safety features of the car resulting in serious and fatal injuries to the passengers. It contended that the crash guards would also knock down pedestrians in low and high speed impacts, causing serious injuries apart from putting their lives at risk.
"Use of crash guards interferes with and defeats all safety features of a vehicle. They also cause inadvertent and premature deployment of air bags," it said.
