Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

danwilkerson.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

191–200 of 409 posts

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#191

Post by dragonwriter »

walrus01 wrote: post #98
brigade wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

States are not required to register cars just because the federal government allows them to be imported or sold. They can add requirements consistent with their own laws, as California infamously does causing 49-state cars and parts. Whether categorically blocking kei car registrations is consistent with the laws of some of the states doing it is a question in some ongoing lawsuits, though.

Different US states' very unique interpretation of laws on certain things is something I have seen that needs explanation to foreign visitors and people who immigrate, from countries where there is one consistent legal code and regulation system of various products at the national level... Marijuana regulations and firearms (and limitations of different types of firearms) are two obvious examples. Other things like p…

> Different US states' very unique interpretation of laws on certain things is something I have seen that needs explanation to foreign visitors and people who immigrate,

Your examples are actually different state laws, not different “unique” interpretations of laws, which is a pretty big mistake for someone who talks about needing to explain the situation to others.

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#192

Post by renewiltord »

habosa wrote: post #183
thebigjewbowski wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was thinking about something similar the other day — why does anyone besides my family really care if I wear a seatbelt or not? You know what vehicle I see all the time that doesn’t require a license or minimum age, doesn’t have any safety features and can go 15-20 mph alongside traffic and often on a city sidewalk amongst pedestrians? A bicycle ;)

I’d really prefer not to kill anybody else I’m sharing the road with, all else equal. It would be quite traumatic for that persons family and for me too.

True. Which is why I would like to make it the law that all motor vehicle occupants should wear helmets. This will mean saving billions of life years lost through traumatic brain injuries.

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#193

Post by SoftTalker »

KennyBlanken wrote: post #179
causality0 wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's such bullshit when motorcycles are allowed on the road.

...or when my local inspection station, and the cops, don't even blink at a Ford 350 with a huge-ass lift kit, mud tires that don't grip for shit and extend inches (or more) past the fenders which is insanely dangerous, a front bumper that has been replaced with a thick sheetmetal version, and the rear plate is covered by a tinted, a glossy plate cover that makes the plate virtually impossible to read, and the cherry…

Wait until you hear about the “Carolina Squat”

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#194

Post by 13of40 »

caconym_ wrote: post #173
kelnos wrote: post #158

I went back and forth on the idea of sharing such a negative take here, but... here goes. > You'll need to find a truck that is at least 25 years old. In the US, cars more youthful than that must comply with FMVSS (safety standards). > No air bags, [...] power steering, or crumple zones. I feel like this sort of thing is a fantastic illustration of the irresponsible level which most drivers (in the US at least; can't…

> The thing that boggles my mind his how this 25-year-old grandfathering thing works. I think it's totally fair to allow old vehicles on the road that may not comply with today's standards, but did comply when they were originally made and titled (in the US). But there's no good reason we need to allow people to import old, unsafe vehicles like this. If safety was a primary concern for U.S. regulators, large consumer…

I think it might be a little more nuanced than that. I have a friend who's still alive today because he was driving a Lexus SUV when a Honda Accord blew through a red light and collided with him at speed. Should he downgrade his car so he's more vulnerable next time?

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#195

Post by SoftTalker »

criddell wrote: post #40
manuelabeledo wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You can do the job of a $50,000 pickup... I would say that a non insignificant portion of pickup truck owners, don't even need a pick up truck to begin with.

I think that’s why big shared fleets will never really take off. People don’t seem to mind spending a lot more on their vehicle than what they really need to. People spend $50k because they want that truck, not because they need it.

Same reason many people buy Teslas

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#196

Post by joecool1029 »

kelnos wrote: post #158

I went back and forth on the idea of sharing such a negative take here, but... here goes. > You'll need to find a truck that is at least 25 years old. In the US, cars more youthful than that must comply with FMVSS (safety standards). > No air bags, [...] power steering, or crumple zones. I feel like this sort of thing is a fantastic illustration of the irresponsible level which most drivers (in the US at least; can't…

A kei truck is still safer than taking a bicycle or motorcycle on public roads. Do you propose banning those?

How about the giant trucks with huge blindspots known to roll over kids in driveways, where's the outrage there?

> But there's no good reason we need to allow people to import old, unsafe vehicles like this.

Sure there is, there's a gap in the market for small efficient light trucks/vans for around town and in urban environments, things that don't need to go on interstates. Light vehicles that don't mess up the roads like 6000lb+ vehicles. But we aren't allowed to have nice things like this due to the tariff situation, so the 25yr loophole is currently the only way.

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#197

Post by amrocha »

coryrc wrote: post #180
amrocha wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny how these supposedly unsafe vehicles come from a country with way less traffic deaths than the safer USA

Because it's cars that kill people and ours are too big, too many, and driven by every idiot. Washington State legislature was going to reduce the number of DUIs before prison from FIVE to FOUR (not 1 like it should be), but they chose not to because it'd be "too expensive". Yup, keep feeding us into the orphan killing machine.

Yep it sucks. Even in "better" places cars still find a way to ruin things though, so it's a constant battle.

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#198

Post by o1y32 »

AussieWog93 wrote: post #162
kelnos wrote: post #158

I went back and forth on the idea of sharing such a negative take here, but... here goes. > You'll need to find a truck that is at least 25 years old. In the US, cars more youthful than that must comply with FMVSS (safety standards). > No air bags, [...] power steering, or crumple zones. I feel like this sort of thing is a fantastic illustration of the irresponsible level which most drivers (in the US at least; can't…

I'm not a car guy, but I do know that people get really passionate about them, join local clubs and make new friends through their shared love of some particular old vehicle. They also put huge amounts of effort into maintaining them, learn new skills and keep themselves busy. So while vintage cars and the culture around them do obviously cause deaths due to accidents, I'd suspect they also perform a huge amount of s…

That's a real stretch and a weak argument.

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#199

Post by o1y32 »

joecool1029 wrote: post #196
kelnos wrote: post #158

I went back and forth on the idea of sharing such a negative take here, but... here goes. > You'll need to find a truck that is at least 25 years old. In the US, cars more youthful than that must comply with FMVSS (safety standards). > No air bags, [...] power steering, or crumple zones. I feel like this sort of thing is a fantastic illustration of the irresponsible level which most drivers (in the US at least; can't…

A kei truck is still safer than taking a bicycle or motorcycle on public roads. Do you propose banning those? How about the giant trucks with huge blindspots known to roll over kids in driveways, where's the outrage there? > But there's no good reason we need to allow people to import old, unsafe vehicles like this. Sure there is, there's a gap in the market for small efficient light trucks/vans for around town and i…

Nah, this is some terrible whataboutism. Stick to the topic.

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#200

Post by Swizec »

caconym_ wrote: post #173
kelnos wrote: post #158

I went back and forth on the idea of sharing such a negative take here, but... here goes. > You'll need to find a truck that is at least 25 years old. In the US, cars more youthful than that must comply with FMVSS (safety standards). > No air bags, [...] power steering, or crumple zones. I feel like this sort of thing is a fantastic illustration of the irresponsible level which most drivers (in the US at least; can't…

> The thing that boggles my mind his how this 25-year-old grandfathering thing works. I think it's totally fair to allow old vehicles on the road that may not comply with today's standards, but did comply when they were originally made and titled (in the US). But there's no good reason we need to allow people to import old, unsafe vehicles like this. If safety was a primary concern for U.S. regulators, large consumer…

> I am not aware of any comparable headline figure for how pedestrians fare against them but I would put money on their pedestrian safety performance

USA is world no1 at killing pedestrians. Most pedestrian deaths per mile driven of any country. 7000 pedestrians die in traffic collisions annually.

Freakonomics just started a 3-part series on this.

https://freakonomics.com/podcast/why-is-the-u-s-so-good-at-k...

Post reply on HN