Thread: How Safe Is Your Ride?

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With all the arguments about rat rods and how unsafe some of them are, has anyone ever purposely pushed the limits to see how wild they could throw together a vehicle and still get it passed their state’s safe inspection rules? (no fair if your state doesn’t have such rules!) So they could be legally driven on the highway.

The standard items inspected are seat belts, brake system, exhaust system, fuel system, turn signals, brake lamps, tail lamps, head lamps, steering mechanism, tires, and windshield wipers. So maybe you can only push the state law so far!

Even so I would like to hear about them.

And is it true that these states do not require any form of vehicle safety inspections?
Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin. These must be rat rodder heavens!

We dont need no steenking inspections!

mike in tucson

Originally Posted by GulfCoastGasser

Even so I would like to hear about them.

Why does it matter????

Common sense would dictate that any build should incorporate safety equipment... Don't see a lot of reason why a sensible person would even want to "get away" with not having equipment proven to save lives and endanger himself and his passengers.....

We haven't had a state inspection here for years, but if you wanna push your luck and not have the safety devices perscribed by law one of the state troopers will be glad to make you out a long and detailed list, and pull your registration and plates, until you are in compliance.....

Those of us with common sense incorporate all the legal requirements in a build and because of this have little trouble with the law and harrassment stops.... Some don't and "get away" with it, others pay the price---in one way or another....

Just got seat belts for now, hopefully a rollcage in the future.
Always favored the idea of walking away from the crash, myself!

But.... some believe it's better to be dead and cool, than alive and un-cool.

Dave is absolutely right …… just because a State like Arizona does not have a safety inspection it does not mean they don’t have laws governing vehicle equipment.

Here in Arizona unless you are starting with a vehicle with a clean in state title your vehicle will be subjected to a one time level I, II, or III inspection in order to register it.

Additionally

“…….28-982. Vehicle and equipment inspection: notice of repair or adjustment
A. If at any time there is reasonable cause to believe that a vehicle is unsafe or is not equipped as required by law or that a vehicle's equipment is not in proper adjustment or repair, the superintendent of the highway patrol, members of the highway patrol, other officers and employees of the department of public safety as the director may designate and any peace officer may require the driver of the vehicle to stop and submit the vehicle to an inspection and such test with reference to the inspection as may be appropriate.
B. If the vehicle is in an unsafe condition or any required part or equipment is not present or is not in proper repair and adjustment, the officer shall give a written notice to the driver. The officer's department shall retain the original of the notice. The notice shall state:
1. That the vehicle is required to be placed in safe condition and that the vehicle's equipment is required to be properly repaired and adjusted.
2. The particulars with reference to the requirements provided in paragraph 1.
3. That a certificate of correction or adjustment of illegal or faulty equipment shall be obtained within five days.
C. The director of the department of public safety shall prescribe the form of the notice required by this section…..”

I built my car to the NSRA Safety 23 list plus have added amongst other things a drive shaft loop, 4 wheel disc brakes, high intensity LED signal lights, 4 point safety harnesses, and halogen headlights. Then I painted it a bright '08 Mustang GT orange. I may be an OF now, but I want to get (much) older plus I have no death wish except to possibly die at about age 105 or so while making love not in some POS junkyard refugee car that's gone beyond pushing the limits of safety

Add Arkansas to the list. I figure for the most part the vehicles on the road here are safe. I have seen a few over the years that really made me wonder....followed a 72ish Ford pickup yesterday with what appeared to be a massively bent rear axle housing end. I swear he had at least 20 degrees of camber angle.

I agree with the other folks. Why just get by.

Which leads me to the discussion of seat belts. At first I was going to do without the belts (cars built without seat restraints dont have to have them here), but after careful concideration I decided I didnt want my melon bouncing around inside an all metal body on impact. I witnessed an accident at a light recently. The lady....like soo many folks....was on the cell phone. Blew through a red light and nearly (notice I said nearly) rearended a fella making a turn into the same lane. She hit the curb and wouldve been just fine if she hadnt ended up in the passenger seat from the jolt. From that point was where the accident really happened. Back into oncoming traffic the truck went, crossing two lanes of traffic and plowed into two other vehicles. A little girl, passenger in a small car, ended up in ER but is okay now. If she had been wearing her seatbelt she might have been able to maintain control of the truck. Guess I'll be adding seatbelts now!

Ratrods! LOL's. Have you seen some of these cats on Youtube. Seriously scary when a fella make a hard launch and the entire body is flopping soo bad that the door pops open. Dont get me wrong....I know most of them are built safe and I love the look....but some seriously need to stay in the garage until they get the saftey bugs worked out of them.

Dave G

ad mississippi to your list of "Rat rodder heavens" list im starting to believe you dont purposely piss folks off but its more of a natural gift..

CO doesn't have required safety inspections-- unless you've recently built a car or truck(primarily rods)and go to license them. You need to have them inspected by the state patrol or a state licensed inspection station for safety and vin number and they then attach a tag to the car if it passes--by law.
Many get around this if they have the CO title in hand and just take the title in to the DMV and license the car in that manner...but I've been told that if there was an accident or incident the owner could face a stiff fine/loss of DL and the vehicle could never be licensed again.
And all officers have the discretion to ticket/impound a vehicle if they deem it hazardous/unsafe.
If you bring a non-CO registered vehicle in all you have to do to get it licensed is get a vin inspection...go figure

I see no need to "push the limits" concerning the safety issue of any vehicle. Most governing bodies have minimums that you need to meet, so your vehicle will pass, or be considered safe under their rules. That is your lower limit right there. As for states that so far, don't require inspections prior to a vehicle being licenced, "pushing the limits" will get you noticed, and then, they push back with rules your not going to like. The rules and laws are there to protect others from you, and you from them. I'm not to keen on the idea of meeting something on the road that was glued together with questionable welds, poor design, and lack of common safety equipment. Unseen problems can arise from good designs, and good mechanical practices, why build it in deliberately? Ok, getting off my soapbox now. Sniper

Add Alabama to the list,
but Ala is much like AZ in it's vehicle code,any law enforcement officer can stop you if he believes that there is a problem with you vehicle.They will stop you for a tag light out and depending on his mood proceed to inspect your whole vehicle and can write you a ticket for each and every infraction that he finds which can get expensive fast. My idiot neighbor got mouthy to a county sheriff that stopped him for no brake lights and his mouth cost him 300 bucks when the man got done. I found out later that all he would have got was a warning ticket but he gave the man a hassle and it cost him.
We don't have much problems here most people keep their vehicles up, but according to my son-in-law(a city police officer) the people that they have the most trouble with is the ricers .They think that they are smarter than the police and the law doesn't apply to them.
His chief came to one of the local show n shine and told some off the people there if everyone took care of their cars like they did they would have far less problems.

Kenny
Progress:Man's ability to complicate simplicity

You guys are all correct.
Texas has mandatory yearly safety inspections, but you can still see cars that appear to be held together with rubber bands and spit.
I drove a '59 Edsel for years that had no seat belts and my excuse was that I was trying to keep it period correct, however I never really felt safe on busy streets or the highway.
Every other restoration or rod I have owned has had at least safety belts and the best brakes I could afford.

In Virginia, we only have to have the safety and emission equipment that was required for the year the vehicle was built. My '34 really doesn't have to have much more than tail lights, headlights, windshield wiper, brakes, horn, exhaust system and emergency brake. However, I put a lot more into it than that. My momma didn't raise no fools.

same here for Ny... only what came with the car is required.. my '51 is all stock, with no seat belts right now, but b4 it goes on the road, I'm putting in lap seatbelts.. I could get away with no seatbelts if I wanted too, but nah, I'll be safe.. never felt secure without a seatbelt..