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We live in a society where things are legal by default. Why would adding a jet engine to a car be a priori illegal? If he harms somebody or otherwise causes dam
by mindslight 3y ago
We live in a society where things are legal by default. Why would adding a jet engine to a car be a priori illegal? If he harms somebody or otherwise causes damage, that itself is what's illegal and he'd be liable regardless of motor vehicle regulations. If this mod became a larger trend, especially consumer-available, then regulations would be implemented to head it off. But for a few lone instances it's not particularly necessary.
- lawlessone 3y agoI am not in the US, but where i am afaik anything that modifies the car like this would have to go through some sort of recertification process. It would be perfectly legal on private property but not public roads
- throwaway20304 3y agoWell not sure where you are, but where in EU I am, you can modify the insides of your car (people attach entire apartments to the insides of their cars...), and there's nothing wrong about stuff sticking outside - you just need to attach a red flag if it's over 1.5m out of the car (maybe red flame would be enough?). The modified rear door might be a problem, but where I am you could simply keep the original open, or detach it.
- jamiek88 3y agoRoad traffic laws are absolutely not harmonized across the EU. French, Portuguese and German rules of the road for example are all different in statutory strictness and enforcement strictness.
- dahart 3y agoI’d guess that’s true in the US too, if you modify the engine or transmission or exhaust system, etc. But adding something to your car without modifying the existing systems has no regulation and no certification process, which he sorta talks about in the article re: police inability to enforce. As long as there aren’t other laws you violate, hanging a big fan out the window might not count as modifying the car.
- shortcake27 3y ago20 years ago in Australia my car got canaried because I had LPG and a pod filter, which was illegal because you were only allowed 1 modification to the intake system. I am 100% confident that if I strapped a jet to the car, it would be illegal. As it should be. If you want to do extremely dangerous modifications, do it on your own property. Not a public road where you risk killing a family of 5.
- mindslight 3y agoYou're speaking from an Australian perspective about what is, to make an otherwise unsupported argument about what should be in the US. I'll be one of the first to point out problems and blindspots from the American conception of "freedom", but in this case it seems highly appropriate. You yourself even got bit by overregulation for something seemingly reasonable and forward-looking, and yet you're still reflexively defending it! In my estimation your example "family of 5" is at much more risk from widespread unnecessarily-high bro-dozer trucks than a single engineer personally adding a jet engine to his car while seemingly being very in touch with the dangers of operating it. In fact given the severe disparity in other vehicle crash survivability statistics between coupes and trucks, I've got to wonder if this car isn't still individually safer than a casually-driven pickup truck.
- gafferongames 3y agoAs an Australian-American living in the US I can confirm that the Australian concept of law (aka Nanny State) would ensure that this modification is illegal by default. Think of the children.
- civilitty 3y agoChildren don't really fit in the intake so it shouldn't be a problem
- jamiek88 3y agoI was shocked as a Brit American living in the US how nanny state Aust is. Even more than Britain. Certainly when it comes to cars and driving. The whole ‘anti hoon’ thing seems shocking to me with my now mostly American sensibilities. But I guess that’s why we both live here rather than blighty or down under.
- olyjohn 3y agoIn this case the law has already been written. It's not a CARB-approved, nor EPA compliant engine. You're not allowed to run it on the street. The law is written so that everything you do to a car's emission system is illegal by default. To make any engine modifications in California, the part must be CARB approved and have a compliance sticker on it. Engine swaps in California are legal, as long as the engine being swapped is at least as new as the engine in the vehicle and meets the same regulatory requirements. Which means you swap in another EPA/CARB approved engine, but not a jet engine.
- ThePowerOfFuet 3y agoThe stock engine — and the emission control system attached to it — are entirely untouched.
- cortesoft 3y agoIn California, you have to register your car and have it pass a smog test. How would this pass that?