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Login to post Forums » Off-topic discussion » Car doors required by law?

March 7, 2010 7:04 a.m. PubBurgers Dork

Figured i'd throw this out there:

I'm wondering if i can remove the driver's side door on my beater and not get arrested. I deliver papers and not having a door in my way would make things way easier. This car is only going to be used for delivering. I'll be driving to get the papers in my Volvo, then coming home and chucking them into the Civic. 95% of my route is on side streets where the speed limit never exceeds 25mph. I spend about 3 minutes on main roads where the speed limit is 35mph. It's also 3-6am when i'm out, so traffic isn't terribly heavy.

I figure if Jeeps can do it why can't I? This is in Ohio FWIW.

thanks!

Jacques
March 7, 2010 7:17 a.m. 924guy Dork

I think EVERYTHING is illegal in ohio..... or was that illinois?

Build a tube frame lower door, do not skin, problem solved :)
March 7, 2010 7:25 a.m. pete240z Dork

My paper "guy" just retired and went onto social security. He used to drive around in a black Lincoln Mark VIII.

He gives me a calendar and envelope the beginning of December. I mail him a "tip".

Around here all you have to hit is the end of the driveway and it counts.
March 7, 2010 7:31 a.m. PubBurgers Dork

In reply to pete240z:

Unfortunately we have to hit the front porch unless they specify driveway (only two people on my route do) so i'm in and out of the car a lot.

After working the paper route for a few weeks i definitely appreciate the hell out of tips. I don't make tons of money, it's hell on the car, and the paper company nickel and dimes you to death; paper bags cost money, they charge $3 for every complaint, and it costs a couple bucks to "rent" my workstation, so tips definitely make my day and i make sure people who tip get their paper right at their front door.
March 7, 2010 7:36 a.m. Woody UltraDork

Jeeps run doorless. Just need to relocate the mirror.
March 7, 2010 10:01 a.m. DrBoost Dork

As woody said, the door isn't important, it's the mirror. That said, I ran around for years in a YJ Jeep (square headlight wrangler) with no mirrors (they are attached to the doors, not the w/shield frame on YJ's) and never got hassles for it (I figure cops are used to seeing Jeeps with no doors) but I think you would (cops aren't used to seeing Volvo's with no doors) so you should move the mirror to the a-pillar (the windshield frame) like on my CJ Jeeps (technically not the windshield frame, but the windshield hinge) so you'd still have a mirror while doorless (but not if I folded down the windshield since I think the mirrors were on the top half of the hinge, not the bottom half) I think, BTW, in case anyone was wondering, I'm trying to see how long a sentence I can type AND at the same time (like right now) include the most parentheses (these "()") that I can.

How'd I do (funny, "how'd" comes up with a red dotted line indicated a misspelling, but isn't that a correct contraction?)?
March 7, 2010 10:23 a.m. SkinnyG Reader

Out my way, Jeeps are not allowed to run doorless. Even if the doors can come off.
March 7, 2010 11:11 a.m. cwh SuperDork

Skinny- What if your car has no doors, like a Locost?
March 7, 2010 11:39 a.m. DrBoost Dork

cwh wrote:

Skinny- What if your car has no doors, like a Locost?

Than the cops can't catch you anyway (see, I didn't use any parentheses this time)
March 7, 2010 11:51 a.m. EvanB HalfDork

It is legal in Ohio to drive a car without doors as long as the mirror is there. I have asked a cop before.
March 7, 2010 12:05 p.m. Trans_Maro HalfDork

In reply to SkinnyG:

Down here in Vancouver they've managed to fix that but there's a catch.

You're only allowed to run doorless if the doors were an option on the vehicle.

CJ = OK

YJ = You're screwed.

You should carry proof of this with you in your Jeep. The guys on BC4x4.COM went through all this mess a couple years back.

Shawn
March 7, 2010 2:01 p.m. cghstang Reader

A guy I work with wanted to take the doors off his geo metro and still be able to drive it on the street (OH too).

When I looked into it via the interwebs, odot, etc the conclusion I came to was that it would technically be legal provided the mirror and seatbelts were still present and functioning but that jonny law could still deem it unsafe if he wanted to and write a citation.

I suggested some cut-down jeep style doors like a number of rock crawler types have taken to doing. For him this was the easiest solution anyway since his seatbelts were mounted to the door.

like so:
March 7, 2010 3:18 p.m. PubBurgers Dork

Thanks for all the replies guys! I may just modify the door since it's completely destroyed anyway. I'll be doing this on my Civic, not my Volvo BTW.

Oh, and sorry if my inglish is a bit of,, its hard to tipe an then too prufred my wurk wen i hav a 10 munth old to wrangle in betwen posts... at least i can spel breaks and roters rite unlike most of tha postings on craigslits.(jus rimember it culd alwasy be wurst)).

:)
March 7, 2010 3:28 p.m. shadetree30 New Reader

Reminded me of Joe Namath's autobiography where he describes driving around U of Alabama in an old car with NO doors. 'course, it WAS the '60s...
March 7, 2010 3:55 p.m. SkinnyG Reader

cwh wrote:

Skinny- What if your car has no doors, like a Locost?

With a Jeep, you could run half-doors, as long as the half reaches up to your waist. The sides of a locost reach up to your waist. The deal with the locost is you're at the mercy of however your inspector interprets the rules. There do not seem to be absolutes.
March 7, 2010 4:19 p.m. ignorant UltimaDork

Trans_Maro wrote:

In reply to SkinnyG:

Down here in Vancouver they've managed to fix that but there's a catch.

You're only allowed to run doorless if the doors were an option on the vehicle.

CJ = OK

YJ = You're screwed.

You should carry proof of this with you in your Jeep. The guys on BC4x4.COM went through all this mess a couple years back.

Shawn

I wonder if you could do skeleton door there....

like this
March 7, 2010 4:50 p.m. rebelgtp Dork

I have driven cars with no doors across town in heavy traffic it was a bit odd to say the least. I was working at a body shop at the time and was taking the car to another of our shops to have some work done.
March 7, 2010 5:25 p.m. M030 HalfDork

When I was in college in Massachusetts, I drove a Honda Civic with A/C that never worked. On a humid, 80-degree day, the power windows quit.

The heat inside the car was unbearable, so I did the only logical thing.. I took the doors off.

Within three miles, I was stopped by a state trooper and the car was impounded (!) I reasoned with the cop that Jeeps ride around with no doors all the time. He didn't care. He had my car impounded.
March 7, 2010 6:30 p.m. bludroptop SuperDork

Many, many years ago, I tried this argument with a state safety inspector. He was failing my Spitfire for a faulty inside door handle - you had to reach outside to open the door. I offered that I would just remove the door - after all, Jeeps didn't have doors so logically you could pass inspection without a door. He countered that "if you are supposed to have a door, you have to have a door and it has to work properly". This really doesn't rise to the level of a definitive answer, but is anecdotal evidence that the MAN doesn't like doorless cars. I ended up swapping in a green door from a parts car to pass inspection, and then putting the white door back on the car the next day. Never did fix the inside handle....
March 7, 2010 6:54 p.m. Trans_Maro HalfDork

In reply to ignorant:

That's pretty much what the law aroundhere wants. Like SkinnyG said, it has to come up to your waist.

The deal with the early Jeeps around here was because they guys were getting VI notices for non-compliant vehicles so they had to prove that a Jeep could actually be ordered without doors.

Apparently the only ones that actually had optional doors were CJ and earlier units.

They might be removeable but they're not necessarily optional.

Shawn
March 8, 2010 10:01 a.m. 96DXCivic HalfDork

I really think I could roll around kentucky with no door. I knew a guy in my hs that dukes of hazarded his doors.
March 8, 2010 11:05 a.m. gjz30075 New Reader

I think I prefer a door so people can't see me scratching my .....
March 8, 2010 11:08 p.m. Capt Slow HalfDork

What if you just removed the latching mechanism so your door would open and close with a push?

It might get interesting under hard breaking...

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