4 ms·

Yes, the safety equipment standards I listed are for new vehicles. Existing/used vehicles only need to comply with the standards that were in effect when they w

Yes, the safety equipment standards I listed are for new vehicles. Existing/used vehicles only need to comply with the standards that were in effect when they were new (and even then those standards are only enforced in the 15 states with mandatory safety inspections). The only exception I think is seatbelts since it's illegal to drive a car without wearing one in all but one state.

UncleEntity 8y ago
> The only exception I think is seatbelts since it's illegal to drive a car without wearing one in all but one state. I know in Arizona if the car didn't originally come with seatbelts then you don't have to install them. Used to have a '53 Dodge that didn't have them and it was fine -- kind of freaked out my sister though...
- toomanybeersies 8y ago
  To be fair, it is still reckless to drive an old car without seatbelts. Even more so than driving a newer car without seatbelts.
- kbenson 8y ago
  Careful about relying on that, as while state law may not require you add safety equipment such as seat belts, county or city law might. I live in a location in California (which doesn't require seat belts in cars prior to 1965 that didn't originally sell with them), but the local laws require them to be present and utilized while any vehicle is in operation.
  - cr0sh 8y ago
    > Careful about relying on that, as while state law may not require you add safety equipment such as seat belts, county or city law might. We're talking Arizona. Here, you can get away with just about anything, and unless it's blatant, nobody really cares. Sometimes not even then.
    - kevinmchugh 8y ago
      I recently was talking about protected left-hand turn patterns and remembered a trip to Arizona in the early 2000s. I remember my parents being initially cautious but quickly thrilled about protected left-hand turns coming after yellow lights and before red lights. It seems like it ought to reduce congestion and accidents. So I started looking into it, and I found that that isn't even an all-Arizona thing. Municipalities decide their own light patterns. Some places even change the pattern from morning to night coincide with commutes. I never did figure out if there were any safety or congestion benefits. I'm still shocked that that level of localism doesn't cause chaos.
      - UncleEntity 8y ago
        Mostly just Scottsdale does that and it does cause a bit of confusion when people don't expect it and are playing with their phones but overall it's better since people don't clog up the left turn signal running the red.

UncleEntity 8y ago

> The only exception I think is seatbelts since it's illegal to drive a car without wearing one in all but one state. I know in Arizona if the car didn't originally come with seatbelts then you don't have to install them. Used to have a '53 Dodge that didn't have them and it was fine -- kind of freaked out my sister though...

toomanybeersies 8y ago
To be fair, it is still reckless to drive an old car without seatbelts. Even more so than driving a newer car without seatbelts.
kbenson 8y ago
Careful about relying on that, as while state law may not require you add safety equipment such as seat belts, county or city law might. I live in a location in California (which doesn't require seat belts in cars prior to 1965 that didn't originally sell with them), but the local laws require them to be present and utilized while any vehicle is in operation.
- cr0sh 8y ago
  > Careful about relying on that, as while state law may not require you add safety equipment such as seat belts, county or city law might. We're talking Arizona. Here, you can get away with just about anything, and unless it's blatant, nobody really cares. Sometimes not even then.
  - kevinmchugh 8y ago
    I recently was talking about protected left-hand turn patterns and remembered a trip to Arizona in the early 2000s. I remember my parents being initially cautious but quickly thrilled about protected left-hand turns coming after yellow lights and before red lights. It seems like it ought to reduce congestion and accidents. So I started looking into it, and I found that that isn't even an all-Arizona thing. Municipalities decide their own light patterns. Some places even change the pattern from morning to night coincide with commutes. I never did figure out if there were any safety or congestion benefits. I'm still shocked that that level of localism doesn't cause chaos.
    - UncleEntity 8y ago
      Mostly just Scottsdale does that and it does cause a bit of confusion when people don't expect it and are playing with their phones but overall it's better since people don't clog up the left turn signal running the red.