Bumpers Don't Bump

Q. What speed were these cars crashed at?




A) Both cars were crashed at the same speed – just 6 m.p.h

The most expensive car to repair was the Alfa Romeo MiTo, which cost nearly £6,000 for this 6 m.p.h. crash. The front repair cost was £4591, and the repair at the rear cost £1254 – nearly £6,000 in total. The expensive frontal repair cost was due to the wide variety of parts damaged including: the front panel, bumper beam and cover, headlamps, wings, air conditioning condenser, bonnet, radiator and grille! The Toyota Urban Cruiser showed very little damage in this low speed bumper barrier test. At the rear only the rear bumper beam, cover, reflectors, and clips needed replacement. Whilst this might seem like it should cost very little, the total cost of the repair amounted to £721. The cost of the parts is high and this prevented the Urban Cruiser from being rated as Good, and the rear of the Urban Cruiser only received an Acceptable rating despite having so few parts damaged.

Thatcham Bumper Ratings

Thatcham has been running bumper tests for several years now to encourage manufacturers to fit better bumpers. This year in 2009 we have seen for the first time some bumpers that can actually protect the front and rear of cars at speeds as high as 6 m.p.h. However, repair costs are still too expensive meaning that damage in these crashes are still at levels where insurers pay for repairs – hence affecting premiums for all.