A cute, cheap death trap? Japanese Kei cars banned by yet another US state
Limited in size and power, Kei cars are like fishes out of water on US roads.
Jonathan M. Gitlin – 8/15/2024, 3:36 PM
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Kei cars are the antithesis of the big American SUV. Where EPA regulations effectively penalize automakers for building smaller, more efficient cars, Japan’s Kei car regulations cap size, weight, and power to just fractions. Kei cars aren’t just small, they’re also pretty cheap, a fact that has made them a sales success in Japan and highly desirable as a gray-market import, particularly by people who think new cars have gotten too large, too complicated, and too expensive. A few years ago, Ars even wrote a guide on how to go about importing one from Japan.
But not everyone is a fan of the diminutive Kei import. As far as the federal government is concerned, as long as it’s more than 25 years old, an imported car does not have to comply with federal motor vehicle safety standards or fuel economy standards; just makes sure you pay all your import duties.
That’s because the federal government doesn’t license vehicles to operate on public roads. That task belongs to the individual states, and increasingly, they are giving Kei cars the thumbs down—sometimes even in cases where previously those cars posed no problem.
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Mungus the Unhyphenated
The root of the problem stems from an organization called AAMVA — the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. It’s an organization that’s part non-governmental regulatory organization (managing the Commercial Driver License system), part advisory organization, and part lobbying organization. They create more or less ready-to-deploy rules and legislative proposals.
AAMVA has had it in for “mini trucks” (Kei trucks) for years, and has expanded their efforts to all Kei vehicles now.
Do we really want an organization like this — which isn’t answerable to the public at all — effectively dictating to states’ motor vehicle departments? My thought is “no”, but how many average people even know of its existence, let alone agendas, to speak up about it?
August 15, 2024 at 8:43 pm
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Just what we need an entrenched bunch of bureaucrats for the benefit of Gooferment bureaucrats. What could POSSIBLY go wrong? Everything!!!
The Federal Gooferment is worried about Google? How about worrying about stuff closer to home. Here’s an organization that is a non-governmental regulatory – advisory – lobbying organization. Argh!
Close the borders and open up trade.
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Reinke Faces Life 