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You can import new tiny cars and drive them all you want on a farm or private grounds, you just can’t take them on roads if they don’t meat road safety standard

You can import new tiny cars and drive them all you want on a farm or private grounds, you just can’t take them on roads if they don’t meat road safety standards. Even the advocate highlighted in this article (Economist) admits his would probably be a “death trap” on a busy highway. Maybe the US should create separate standards for city streets and roads with low speed limits, that could be a good way to bring down vehicle sizes. But just allowing these things just anywhere seems like a recipe for increased fatalities. For every HN reader who would use theirs wisely there are 10 average Americans who would risk maiming.

kube-system 3y ago
> Maybe the US should create separate standards for city streets and roads with low speed limits, that could be a good way to bring down vehicle sizes. They already have! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-speed_vehicle https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-speed_vehicle https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neighborhood_Electric_Vehicle https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neighborhood_Electric_Vehicl... But it’s a hard sell when the US has so many high speed roads. I mostly see them used for facility maintenance, parking enforcement etc.
- jcrawfordor 3y ago
  There are several companies that import new mini-trucks titled as LSVs, too. Vantage Vehicle is one of them.
JKCalhoun 3y ago
States vary. Some disallow them on all highways, others allow them on State highways, not Federal....
- seltzered_ 3y ago
  Yep. Also depends on whether it's a 'kei truck' or something larger. For example, they recently became street legal in North Carolina ( https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookup/2019/H179 https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookup/2019/H179 )
KennyBlanken 3y ago
> You can import new tiny cars and drive them all you want on a farm or private grounds, you just can’t take them on roads if they don’t meat road safety standards. If they don't pass emissions, they cannot be legally imported. It doesn't matter whether you want to use them on private property; that private property is still within the US, and subject to EPA regs. People think the same thing about not having to register their snowmobile, ATV or whatever if they're hooning around on their farm or private property. Nope. State environmental cops will happily step onto your property, chase you down, and cite you.
- fooker 3y ago
  > State environmental cops This is not an issue for most of the states where people actually own ATVs, snowmobiles and land to use those in.
  - bombcar 3y ago
    And even so in most rural areas you’d have to piss off all the wrong people to have them even bother.
- intrasight 3y ago
  Not true as it depends on the state. Perhaps your state cops will do that, but mine will not. In PA you can import such vehicles for off-road use as long as they are modified to have a maximum speed of 25mph. In MD, it's up to local jurisdictions.

kube-system 3y ago

> Maybe the US should create separate standards for city streets and roads with low speed limits, that could be a good way to bring down vehicle sizes. They already have! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-speed_vehicle https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-speed_vehicle https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neighborhood_Electric_Vehicle https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neighborhood_Electric_Vehicl... But it’s a hard sell when the US has so many high speed roads. I mostly see them used for facility maintenance, parking enforcement etc.

jcrawfordor 3y ago
There are several companies that import new mini-trucks titled as LSVs, too. Vantage Vehicle is one of them.

JKCalhoun 3y ago

States vary. Some disallow them on all highways, others allow them on State highways, not Federal....

seltzered_ 3y ago
Yep. Also depends on whether it's a 'kei truck' or something larger. For example, they recently became street legal in North Carolina ( https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookup/2019/H179 https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookup/2019/H179 )

KennyBlanken 3y ago

> You can import new tiny cars and drive them all you want on a farm or private grounds, you just can’t take them on roads if they don’t meat road safety standards. If they don't pass emissions, they cannot be legally imported. It doesn't matter whether you want to use them on private property; that private property is still within the US, and subject to EPA regs. People think the same thing about not having to register their snowmobile, ATV or whatever if they're hooning around on their farm or private property. Nope. State environmental cops will happily step onto your property, chase you down, and cite you.

fooker 3y ago
> State environmental cops This is not an issue for most of the states where people actually own ATVs, snowmobiles and land to use those in.
- bombcar 3y ago
  And even so in most rural areas you’d have to piss off all the wrong people to have them even bother.
intrasight 3y ago
Not true as it depends on the state. Perhaps your state cops will do that, but mine will not. In PA you can import such vehicles for off-road use as long as they are modified to have a maximum speed of 25mph. In MD, it's up to local jurisdictions.