Note - bull bar/grill guard / brush guard

[bmninada]

I have to park regularly in NY so seriously was thinking of installing a solid bull bar/grill guard for the crazies who don't know how to back into a parallel park situation. Long story short - was explicitly told by my current insurer: Geico that if the product is approved by manufacturer then in case of any frontal collision they will cover, else they might deny coverage. Furthermore, I spoke to Mazda customer support who later called me back and I believe a slightly senior person spoke to me, explaining there's over a cumulative +10,000 hrs of design on crash prevention and safety for occupants inside and outside of car which will be severely negated by introducing in the front something like that. As such, they will never certify for insurance purposes such products.

Thought I should highlight it here.

 

[MikeM.]

Yeah, it should probably be obvious, and it has been discussed here before, but thanks for passing on the official stance of both your insurer and Mazda. Protective bars might have added protection before vehicles were engineered to handle a variety of impacts but, with the high degree of crash engineering built into modern cars, such an accessory can only make matters worse by concentrating crash energy to the mounting points.

 

[bmninada]

Frankly, was discussing this with my friends at work today. Loo and behold out came a story how in an accident the car was severely crumpled resulting in categorized as a lemon primarily due to these attachments in the front. That guard hammered into the engine and the engine was pushed back INTO THE WINDSHIED. The correct way would have been that the engine would have pushed DOWNWARDS. Thankfully, no one died...but suffered 4 months of therapy.