Can’t have monolithic metallic structures plowing through people
I don't think that's how regulation works either.
As far as I'm aware (I could be wrong) EU legislation lays out some maximum permissible results for specified tests involving collisions between a number of parts of the human anatomy and a number of parts of the car (combinations of lower leg inc. knee, upper leg, adult head, child head, bumper, bonnet leading edge, bonnet top face and windscreen). There is no prescription regards materials from a pedestrian safety point of view provided such limits, where actually specified, are not exceeded.
If you can still pass these tests I'm sure it's possible to use either materials, but as with the interior and other exterior brightwork, it's often just cheaper (and lighter) to make things out plastic and plate it.
-- ! tangent incoming ! --
ABS with ~70µ chrome plating. Raw ABS moulding in the background.
Actual metal badge... 16g, chunkier looking one made from ABS, 7g
Interior Satin finish metal looking air vent trim... ABS...
Some sinkage where the mass of plastic contracts after it's cooled...
Hollow, less plastic mass, still just chrome plated ABS
It's pretty much all the same, cheap, made to look expensive. It's why I find many conversations about 'quality' based how things look so irrelevant.
-- ! end of tangent ! --
