Need for End Plugs?

In case you wreck you wont be missing a chunk of skin.

The penalty is actually not being able to bring your bike into transition (if they check, i've only ever been to one race that actually checked as you were entering)

Frankly, I've never quite understood why, only thing I could think of is in a crash maybe you'd "core" yourself or someone else.  Never heard of that happening on the road though

OK, thanks.  I guess I never considered the consequence of crashing without end plugs.  Come to think of it, the speed I ride, crashing might give me a relative advantage.  Hmmm.... Something to think about.

Thanks, guys.

Scott 

My guess is safety as well, just like motorcycle levers have rounded ends to them.  Of the two races I've been to this is a subject both RDs addressed specifically.  The first race had end plugs on hand in case you didn't have them.  The next much larger race they actually walked through the 700 bikes and announced the numbers of the bikes that DID NOT have end plugs and that they needed to comply.  Not sure what became of it, but I'd show up with plugs in your bars.  

I was racing with a friend when I was a kid, he crashed and was screaming in agony!
It wasn't until we pulled him and his bike apart that we realized the brake handle had
punctured and gone right thru his inner thigh! No ball on the end of the brake handles
back then. He was lucky it just missed a major artery! Same reason...

Just because they didn't check as you brought it in doesn't mean they didn't check.  Usually this is one of the things the officials are checking for once transition closes...they walk through once all the athletes are out looking for bar end plugs and helmets without stickers and such.

Personally I don't really understand this one either.  I know "why" (the whole goring thing) but the possibility seems so small that I'm not really sure why it's such a big deal.  I mean, those things aren't always tight...they could actually fall out during a crash too.  And why single out bar ends?  I can think of a few other sharp places on a bike...like some rear hydration mounts.  I'd rather seem them spend as much effort on DQ'ing rule-breakers who wear their iPods on the run.

Many of the local races I've done, a USAT official walks around transition and inspects bikes, if one is found without plugs, the bib number of the owner is called and they have to get plugs in them.  If they don't, not sure what happens, but my guess is that they don't let you go out on the bike.

Generally, we talk to the RD when we first start to talk about the event so that they will have a bunch of extra bar ends available.  The last thing that we want to do is keep someone from racing because of bar ends.  The fact of the matter is, however, that it is a safety issue.  My regional director calls it "the most painful liver biopsy known to man".  There are many instances where in a crash that the cyclist did not have end plugs, the skin was punctured and there was a severe injury.  Usually, it is not to the cyclist that didn't have the end plugs, but the other person that they crashed with. 
It also isn't just a matter of a puncture wound.  Four years ago there was a death in a crash where one of the cyclists did not have end plugs.  The aluminum punch happened to contact the jugular of another rider.  The man had bled to death before help could even be notified.  Better safe than sorry, ya know. 
Many times RD's don't have the volunteer staff to check for end plugs when people are coming into transition.  USAT officials spend a good deal of time before the race in transition looking for missing plugs and helping to solve the problem before it becomes an issue that will result in a DQ.  That's why you see those people in red shirts walking around sanctioned events, going up and down the aisles.  They are looking for end plugs missing, improper helmets, and proper racking and set-up, as well as answering questions that athletes may have.