How legal is it to drive a caged car in your vicinity? I know rally cars are required to be plated, but I'm pretty sure the safety Nazis here , if they wanted to, could put one off the road, particularly if you removed the air bags. Does a guy just drive in a fashion that doesn't give them an excuse to stop you, or is there a work-around?
I thought I looked into it a few years back, and there was nothing illegal about it here in Ontario.
It's not illegal, just really stupid. Do you plan on wearing your 6 point harnesses and helmet while you drive around? If not, and you get into a crash, plan on braining yourself on the cage.
Removing airbags = illegal
Tech sticker on windshield (size of quarter) = illegal (true, I failed state inspection for it)
Stickers on totally useless rear quarter windows of mustang = illegal (again, fail, also for tint on same windows)
Removal of rear sway bar on miata (hot STS setup) = Illegal (again, inspection fail. basis, if there are brackets, it must be installed. would hate to be a camaro owner, some years left factory with brackets and no bar. Tech knew diddily about miatas, asked me if it was FWD )
non-operative foglights on E30 ("I" valence on an "e" without wiring) = illegal (failed, but passed when I borrowed screwdriver and removed them)
yet they never looked twice at my seat install on the mustang (is safe, but they didnt even look at it) and I know of cars that passed with a welded in 6 pt cage.
Apexcarver wrote: Removing airbags = illegal Tech sticker on windshield (size of quarter) = illegal (true, I failed state inspection for it) Stickers on totally useless rear quarter windows of mustang = illegal (again, fail, also for tint on same windows) Removal of rear sway bar on miata (hot STS setup) = Illegal (again, inspection fail. basis, if there are brackets, it must be installed. would hate to be a camaro owner, some years left factory with brackets and no bar. Tech knew diddily about miatas, asked me if it was FWD ) non-operative foglights on E30 ("I" valence on an "e" without wiring) = illegal (failed, but passed when I borrowed screwdriver and removed them) yet they never looked twice at my seat install on the mustang (is safe, but they didnt even look at it) and I know of cars that passed with a welded in 6 pt cage.
a couple of those must be area-specific.
Here, you can have stickers all over the quarter windows if you desire....and the back windshield. None on the front windshield though, except for military base stickers.
Also, the swaybar rule sounds bogus. For example, my e30 318i has brackets for a rear swaybar, but the car wasn't sold with the bar (the brackets are just there because the body is shared with the 325, which has a rear sway)
Splitting hairs though.....street driving a caged car without a helmet is not a very good idea....
btw, I thought in MD you only have to get inspection when you buy the car, and then only emissions after?
docwyte wrote: It's not illegal, just really stupid. Do you plan on wearing your 6 point harnesses and helmet while you drive around? If not, and you get into a crash, plan on braining yourself on the cage.
+1
Live in a state with no inspection? Problem solved.
irish44j wrote: btw, I thought in MD you only have to get inspection when you buy the car, and then only emissions after?
This was for the onetime inspection, but to split hairs, you could get a fixit ticket from the police for them if the officer has a bug up his you-know..
Not gonna argue the cage safety point.
I think you can get away with adding a bar with relative safety with some care (head clearance) but a HALO bar, not looking good.
I believe it's legal here.
Interesting thought; I wonder what the best way to deal is for a car to be used for street/autcross/hillclimbs/track days. The last two suggest a cage for safety, the first one suggests no cage for safety, and all four would benefit (a lot) structurally from a cage...
On a car with a fair amount of headroom, how much worse is a cage than just having a roof (or door edge) closer to your head?
I'm somewhat less concerned due to planning to use Schroth four-points, but I'm still curious for general future projects. Perhaps anything serious enough to get a cage should get the harnesses as well...
Pretty sure cage is legal here, my track car passes every year, and as an inspector I don't recall a specific rule against it. The air bag thing is another story. My car pre-dates airbags. I don't adviise driving a caged car on the street regularly. I do once in awhile, and yes I wear the 5 point harnesses but no helmet as that is illegal here last I checked, you have to wear one on a bike but not allowed to in a car. I also put padding on all bars I can come in contact with to do my best to mitgate the cage.
I agree about the cage/no helmet situation. I do occasionally drive my IT car on the road for breakin, that sort of thing, and everything is padded- I do wonder whether braining yourself on a padded bar is worse than hitting the door frame...
I'm just curious about the legalities of it.
Nice of the Nannies to show up nonetheless.
Zomby woof wrote: Nice of the Nannies to show up nonetheless.
Had one in my mini. Had Kirk build it tight and away from the driver in case of an accident. Granted, a custom cage made it that way.....
As far as I know, my Targa Miata is 100% legal on my roads - as long as I have the hardtop off. The Lexan rear window is not.
Three cheers for dual-density padding!
It's legal if you don't get caught.
In a Serious accident, dual density padding won't keep you from being de-brained. Just saying. DOT legal helmet is okay here in VA.
OK, the people who've been here a while have probably already read the Jack Baruth article Five-Point Belts Will Paralyze You and Other Fun Safety Facts. The basic argument of it is
Jack Baruth said: There’s a race-car safety system, and it consists of a full cage, five-point harnesses, helmet, and full race suit. There’s a street-car safety system, and it consists of three-point inertia belts, airbags, and soft interior surfaces. Don’t mix the two. The results are never good.
That's what I - and, I suspect the other "Nannies" had in mind. Feel free to debate the validity of this article. I've always wondered, myself.
It would be great if some TV show with deep pocketbooks (e.g. mythbusters) would buy some identical cars, set them up with different combinations of equipment and test this. (Of course, I proposed that on their forum and got laughed at)
Having been pulled over... more times than it is worth mentioning in a rallycar, I haven't had a problem yet to do with the legalities of driving said rallycar on the street.
Having said that, without proper protection, yes, it is stupid. Having also also said that, what is the first thing you do after clearing the finish control of a stage? Remove your helmet.
YMMV.
BTW, OP is Canuckistanian.
HiTempguy wrote: BTW, OP is Canuckistanian.
Can he introduce me to the Canadian FedEx Lady
I personally have a custom designed and welded 4 point rollbar in my time trial car because I do drive it to and from the track.
The day I transition the car to towing it to the track is when I take it back to the fabricator and ask him to build and install the front half to make it a full cage.
Until then, this is the best compromise for a street/track driven car.
The make inoperative prohibition (and so the exemptions) do not apply to individuals modifying their own vehicles, as long as they do not intend to make the changes for the purpose of resale. If you are making a modification to your own vehicle, Federal law does not apply, so you can do whatever you want (subject to any restrictions your state may impose). However, NHTSA urges individuals making such modifications to avoid unnecessary elimination of safety features.
docwyte wrote: I personally have a custom designed and welded 4 point rollbar in my time trial car because I do drive it to and from the track. The day I transition the car to towing it to the track is when I take it back to the fabricator and ask him to build and install the front half to make it a full cage. Until then, this is the best compromise for a street/track driven car.
Same here. Also, driving around strapped into a race harness is no fun. I can barely twist my body enough to check blind spots. Not to mention the race seat parts blocking all other lines of sight.
Legality is state dependent. In my state you can register a vehicle as special use, and that basically skirts everything mentioned up thread, however you are then limited to the amount of time it's legal to be on the road.
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