outlaw cars

[Dan Cordon]

> Here is a verbatim transcript of a conversation I had with a State of
> Florida Motor Vehicle Inspection Station (before the governor fired them all).
>
> "Your car fails inspection - it doesn't have a tailpipe."
>
> "It is an electric car, there's no exhaust at all"
>
> "Gotta have a tailpipe, them's the rules."
>
> "If I go buy a hunk of pipe and hang it off the rear bumper, will that make
> the rules happy?"
>
> "Yup."
>
> So I did.
>
>
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Mike Arman

We have similar problems in Idaho. I work with a group on campus that
builds hybrid and electric cars. On one of our electric race cars (yes,
that's right....race car), they wanted to make it street legal to use as
a "parts getter." They couldn't get it registered until it had a
muffler. We kept a muffler sitting in the trunk and that was enough to
pass.

Also, I have an old Land Cruiser. It was purchased w/o glass in the
windshield frame. When I went to register it, they asked if the
windshield wipers worked. I told them "I don't know, I've never tried
them. As you can see, there's no windshield anyway." According to Idaho
laws, you must have functional windshield wipers, even though you don't
have a windshield at all.

--
Dan Cordon
Mechanical Engineer
University of Idaho - Engine Research Facility