Why do rear pannier racks have a raised "nose"? I am tempted to saw off the raised "nose" on my unbranded 2nd hand pannier rack because it's forcing me to lift the child seat substantially, which obviously has implications on stability. But I feel there must be a reason so many racks have this raised nose thing. I had a look at this article, and it hints towards stability/structural integrity, but I cannot see how the nose would help (I'm in engineering but not a structural engineer). My only other thought is that it's an added measure to stop items sliding forward, but it feels like there's something else I'm missing. Does anybody know what the nose is for? Has anyone cut it off and how did that go?

NB I purposely avoided using "the F word" ("opposite to rear") to describe where on the rack the nose is - this is meant to avoid this cropping up in searches related to f***t panniers.
I think you are correct that it’s only to prevent items from sliding forward and falling off or colliding with your legs/hips. This is only really important if you use the spring loaded clamp. A lot of racks (I think all of them without the spring loaded clamp) don’t have this “nose”.

Since there is still another horizontal bar right below it I don’t think removing it will affect stability. Just make sure to cut it cleanly, remove any burrs, plug the hole and apply some paint to prevent rust.