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Massachusetts could be about to ban cute little Japanese micro-trucks
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Would love someone to explain
why these are unsafe, but the giant wankpanzers are OK, and the cars with giant computer screens in the middle of the dashboard are also safe and OK. But I also wonder why it's pretty much legal to run someone over in this state, so clearly there's a lot about driver culture I don't get.
Lack of safety features
No airbags, ABS, etc. Would be fatal in an accident.
So?
My early 90s Nissan sports cars also don't have ABS or airbags and they are totally fine to drive around on the road. Or motorcycles.
You can't compare 25+ year old vehicles with safety standards of today, which is why we have the rule at the federal level that you can only legally import cars that are 25+ years old. Like any other vehicle, Kei cars/trucks is a pretty broad category, and some do have airbags and other safety features.
Agree
I don't know anything about the design of these cars but it would not surprise me if it's something like no passenger airbags.
To your point, this certainly raises the question: safe for whom?
Edit: it might also be that the manufacturer did not pay to certify that the vehicle meets safety standards.
Also Probably does not meet
Also Probably does not meet the Commonwealth's Vehicle Emissions standards.
There are none
Massachusetts does not do emissions testing for ODB1 cars and earlier, only safety inspections. If the Kei truck is younger w/ odb2 (~''96-99 which would be the only ODB2 years that are legal right now), then they would have to pass.
There's thousands of criteria
There's thousands of criteria that a vehicle needs to meet under Federal safety standards. Some you might consider important, and others are just a bureaucratic checklist. Either way, it's a big expense to design and certify a vehicle.
These trucks don't meet the standards. They can be imported because Federal law allows importing any vehicle older than 25 years regardless of whether it meets the standards. But the RMV can decide whatever it wants about a vehicle being too unsafe to register here. It would make too much sense to have the state regulations agree with the federal ones.
The important thing to remember is that your permission to drive, or register a particular car, is up to the whim of the Registrar. If you don't like it, you're free to walk wherever you need to go. Never mind that a whole lot of roads around here don't have sidewalks, and have been built exclusively with cars in mind for the last 75 years, maybe even explicitly banning pedestrians.
Kei cars were never designed to be sold outside of Japan
And are subject to a host of rules and regulations for that market. From Wikipedia:
"[S]ince October 1998, the law consistently specifies a maximum vehicle length, width and height under 3.4 m (11.2 ft), 1.48 m (4.9 ft) and 2.0 m (6.6 ft) respectively, and engine displacement under 660 cc (40.3 cu in). A 'gentleman's agreement' for a maximum power of 64 PS (63 hp; 47 kW) was reached between Japanese automakers and lawmakers."
They do have all the usual accoutrement of safety features, but largely due to their small size they do not meet U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. AFAIK the only way to own and drive one legally in the United States is to import one that is >25 years old, which is how old a vehicle must be to be exempt from the emissions/safety/etc. standards set forth in the Imported Vehicle Safety Compliance Act of 1988. In other words, regardless of whether the Bay State bans kei cars, you are extremely unlikely to see one on the roads, because the owner 1) has to find a >25 year old example that is 2) in good enough condition to justify 3) the incredible headache of trying to import, register, and license the thing.
Isn't that hard to import them
Due to how Japan's car market works, there are in fact a ton of older well maintained and very low mileage cars. There is already a pretty big market of importing 25+ year old Japanese cars to the states, and Kei trucks and be bought and imported for a few thousand using services that take away most of the headaches.
Harms race
The problem is that it wouldn't be safe to be riding in this if it gets T-boned by a giant wankpanzer. And that's a reason to ban the small car, not the big car.
The majority of pick up truck
The majority of pick up truck drivers only use them for commuting(and letting people know how dumb and insecure they are). They don't even tow or haul anything. So pedestrians are put in even more danger by these ridiculously big trucks for literally no reason.
They aren't compliant with
They aren't compliant with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. Nor the Imported Vehicle Safety Compliance Act of 1988. They have a higher roll over rate, lack roll over bars and crumble zones, lack airbags and seatbelts. They do not meet emissions standards but I am not clear on the why. There are minimum power and engine size standards for street legal vehicles.
What?
Since no one has every paid to get them tested, we don't know if they pass federal safety standards (but probably don't).
Anything over 25 years old is exempt from the Imported Vehicle Safety Compliance Act.
Kei cars are a pretty board category. Some have airbags and other safety features. Pretty much the same as you would see in any mid/early 90s or older USDM car.
Massachusetts
Why does this state insist on f*ckin everything up. I don't get it. Kei trucks are great on fuel, perfect for delivering in a city with tiny one way streets and no parking. Absolutely absurd that these idiots on unregistered scooters are flying down sidewalks endagering pedestrians and this is the hill they're choosing to die on. Way to go Massachusetts.
(O)kei cars
When you think about it, a kei car would be a perfect solution to the big cars that roar through the streets, and especially for those who want to use them as a runabout car. That's why they're popular in Japan (and conversely, why you don't see monster SUV's and vanity sports cars there).
However, to bring them to US safety standards, kei cars would have to have a lot of things altered, thus raising the price of an inexpensive kei car to very expensive (even with duty taxes) runabout car.
This just didn't appear out
This just didn't appear out of nowhere. Who instigated it, and what's their motivation.?
Someone at the RMV probably noticed them
And other states have also moved to restrict their registration. Part of it may just come down to popularity. When there are just a few of these vehicles on the road it's easier to just let them slide. If you're talking about the potential for thousands on MA roadways then there are some legitimate safety concerns.
letting the auto industry write the laws
that's what you get.
If I had to guess
More like the insurance industry...
As Deep Throat would say,
As Deep Throat would say, "follow the money."
Clarification
Are they banning them completely or banning them for use on public roads? I know in many more rural states these trucks are becoming very popular for farmers and other rural workers who need a small, simple, reliable "drive out to the pasture" vehicles, but they can't get them registered and use on public roads. Was just wondering if this was the situation in MA or they're trying to outlaw importing them completely, etc.
Public Streets
This would prevent them from being registered and getting plates. The RMV can't ban off road/vehicles from driving on private property.
Attention, centrists
When you do stupid (expletive) like ban small trucks, you legitimize people like Ron DeSantis, and you give people a reason to move from Massachusetts to Florida. Try to at least pretend that's a problem.
No, banning small trucks
No, banning small trucks doesn't legitimize Christian nationalists and their anti-trans, anti-abortion, pro-censorship, pro-Confederacy policies.
People aren't moving to Florida because they want to be able to drive little cars--they're moving because they hate our winters more than they fear hurricanes, or because they like the Florida political culture, or to save on taxes. And they're not leaving Florida for that sort of trivial reason either--they're leaving because of the scary legal climate there, and maybe because they're more afraid of hurricanes than of winter.
Will has a point
Dispositionally I am a solid believer in the rule of law and in the power of regulation to effect positive changes, and I am committed to protecting the environment. And yet…
Experiences like that help me to understand that the people howling for the dismantling of the administrative state are not necessarily bad people or dupes in thrall to the oil industry; some are just frustrated by personal experience with the rough edges of well-intentioned but not well thought through regulation.
Massachusetts Low Speed Vehicles
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/low-speed-vehicles
As an alternative to Kei trucks.
Surprised these haven't caught on more.
Ya, they are golf cart but what more do you usually need.
https://www.gemcar.com/low-speed-vehicles/
Rather expensive
You can import a Kei truck for a couple grand. Building one on that site that is comparable features (heat, radio, etc), is like $40k+. Not particularly comparable, and I can completely understand why they haven't caught on. At that price range you can get a fully loaded Subaru Outback in the top trim (Touring XT).
Although I'd maybe agree a middle ground could be legal Kei cars, but not allow them on the highway.
A driver's license, for one thing
I was looking at the website and while they're low-speed vehicles, they still require a driver's license, seatbelts, etc. Golf carts do not.
Classic cars and older cars
Classic cars and older cars are diminishing in number and most are special use, to the car show, or event and not day-to-day vehicles, whereas encouraging and inviting a growing market and roadprevalence of a light vehicle (possibly with a relatively massive load) is risky. Let’s build safe versions of these cute lil’ midges right here in the good ol’ U.S. of A.