If you've been in a little accident that did some or no visible damage to your bumper, you may not even have worried about it. It's just a bumper, after all, and they're kind of expensive to fix, but you may think they're not particularly important to fix. It is time to rethink that assumption.

First off, think about what that collision would have been like if you didn't have bumpers on your car. Would it have damaged your grill? Broken your headlights? If it was your rear bumper, what would have happened to your backup camera? Your trunk, even your fuel lines might have taken damage. This is because your vehicle is heavy.

Autolist.com says that in 2018, the average weight of a car was over 4,000 pounds, or two tons. Even smaller vehicles tend to be in the range of 2000 lbs. If you remember back to grade school, you may remember that force is equal to mass times acceleration. Even at 2mph, that's still a lot of force to apply to anything.

However, now that your bumper has taken some damage, that may mean it won't protect your vehicle next time. According to familyhandyman.com, most modern bumpers have a type of foam in them that's there to absorb the energy of the impact. The foam takes damage, even from very low-speed impacts (remember, cars are heavy and apply a lot of force even at low speeds). That's what it's designed to do, but that does mean that your bumper will need to be worked on after such an accident.

In addition, occasionally these little bumps can knock the bumper just a bit loose, so it's not sitting quite right. You may not even notice it, but a lot of the protection that bumpers offer come from being attached where they are expected to be attached. This is especially true if you have a fairly modern vehicle because that means there are all kinds of wiring and sensors that may be in your bumper that you may not be aware of. Airbag sensors can be in bumpers, the wiring for your lights can also be in your bumper, just to name a few very important ones.

Most common bumper repairs cost several hundred dollars, depending on what repair you will need. Hopefully, you understand why that is not as expensive as it might have initially seemed to you. If your bumper is not in good repair, it could lead to a more costly repair bill down the road, at the minimum. More importantly, a bumper that is damaged can also compromise the safety of you and your loved ones while driving.

Contact a local auto body shop to learn more.

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