Safety Bars For Jeep?

[Nishan.dj]

Hello there,

Could anyone explain the legal aspects of having safety bars for a jeep (4DR5)? I understand that safety bars are applicable for off road situations but is it legal to drive with those in the city in case if needed (assuming that an off road tour is organized and need to drive the jeep to the location it starts) ?

Also do we need to get special permission to have those fixed to the vehicle? Kindly expect replies with legal matters and related details please. Thanks so much in advance.

[sample image - Jeep with safety bars]

[tiv]

Machan thats a variant of a roll/cage bar ne, i'm no expert but i don't think theres any issue as long as there is any thing attached in front, brush guard/bullbar etc

http://www.police.lk/index.php/traffic-police/55

Q10, No mention of a roll/cage bar though.

[Nishan.dj]

http://www.police.lk/index.php/traffic-police/55

Q10, No mention of a roll/cage bar though.

Yes. It's not mentioned anywhere on that page. Thanks tiv for the info.

[Watchman]

The restriction is only on the FRONT. The crash/bull bar is made illegal as it could cause greater harm to a pedestrian who could get run over by the vehicle.

[Hoonigan]

It's actually an exoskeleton isn't it? I remember seeing a Defender 90 in Colombo with one. As others have said, the issues were with the front bull bars and metallic bumpers for safety of pedestrians and any vehicle involved in an accident. This shouldn't be a problem.

[Watchman]

Btw Nisha, I hope you realize that in cases such as the photo you've shown, this is more a cosmetic modification than an actual safety device. Having stripped a 4DR5 down to the chassis, I can say that this wont do much cos none of the mounting points are strong enough. The front of this cage is mounted onto the sidestep, which is merely a metal step that is bolted to the body (not chassis) with 3 screws. The mid and rear points appear to be bolted onto the sheet-metal of the body. And there's no structural reinforcements in those parts of the 'bin'.

It's not the same as fitting a roll-cage on a car, because on a car, the entire body shell happens to be the chassis, hence much stronger.

In fact I think this would cause mo harm to the vehicle/passengers than protect them. In the case of simply toppling over when off roading instead of the force being distributed throughout the canvas-cage, door and panel, the rollcage will take the force and apply it on those 3 soft spots potentially tearing the metal, and the rigidity of the cage would mean the body panel on the side that didnt even make contact will get deformed. In case of a high speed accident/rolling, the cage will just rip right off like a tin can, and won't do much good.

Edited April 11, 2014 by Watchman

[Nishan.dj]

Btw Nishan, I hope you realize that in cases such as the photo you've shown, this is more a cosmetic modification than an actual safety device. Having stripped a 4DR5 down to the chassis, I can say that this wont do much cos none of the mounting points are strong enough.

Of course. 100% agreed with you. The modification shown on the picture is not a good one and may be it can damage to the body (and passengers) more than expected whenever there is a hit. It has to be the chassis that the cage should be mounted to provide maximum safety.