A bumper is a part of an automobile designed to allow one vehicle to impact with another and to withstand that collision without severe damage to the vehicle's frame. Brush guards, push bars, etc. were added "after-market" to bumpers of automobiles, pickups, trucks, and utility vehicles since at least the 1920s to provide additional protection to the vehicle. While bumpers were originally made of heavy steel, in later years they have been constructed of rubber, plastic, or painted light metal leaving them susceptible to damage from even minimal contact. For the most part, these vehicles cannot push, or be pushed by, another vehicle. An entire after-market industry has developed which now produces various guards to protect these vulnerable modern bumpers.
The fun of bumping one car into another led to the creation of bumper cars at amusement parks and carnivals. These small cars are designed to fit one or at most two people and crashed into each other consistently.
History
Early bumpers was little more than a strap or flat iron. They later swelled out to chromed bumpers, especially in the 1960s. In the early 1970s self repairing bumpers was introduced and after a while they became mandatory (thus killing the Opel GT). Towards the end of the 1980s the self reparing bumpers went out of style and was replaced with fibreglass "bumpers" that cracked at impact.
Reliability
Bumper laws had been rolled back in 1982, reducing the reliability of bumpers in newer cars to sustain damage. Minor collisions may already ruin the aesthetic appearance (paint and finish) of bumpers, and cracked bumpers can only be replaced entirely, resulting in hefty repair costs even for minor collisions.
Legal issues
In many jurisdictions, bumpers are legally required on all vehicles for safety reasons. The height and placement of bumpers may be legally specified as well, to ensure that when vehicles of different heights are in an accident, that the smaller vehicle will not slide under the larger vehicle, particularly in collisions with semi-trailer trucks.
See also
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