Rational Law or Nanny State ?

Platonic Solid · Aug 18, 2008

My son will be going back to college next weekend. When he discovered a leak in the windshield of his Escort, I knew what I'd be doing this past weekend. I removed the windshield, ground all the rust off, acid etched, Por15'd and primed. I didn't have time to wet-sand and paint as I had to bring the car to the mechanic Monday morning for an ABS system problem which has been plaguing this car. (Basically ABS system is always active and my mechanic claims the rotors are also likely warped). Anyway, my son wore a pair of my motorcycle glasses and drove the car to the mechanics without a windshield. No highway, just back-roads for about 3 miles. Now I really didn't think much of it as it's really rather comfortable driving without a windshield - much like riding a motorcycle without a helmet. Monday afternoon, I get a call from my mechanic stating that he can't test drive the car since driving a car without a windshield is illegal. (Note that I did leave the motorcycle glasses with the car). My immediate response was, "you're joking right?". Apparently he wasn't. Annoyed, I told him to do the repair without test-driving it then.

This leads me to the thread title: "Rational Law or Nanny State". I live in Connecticut, where - if I so chose - could legally ride my motorcycle in nothing more than a pair of shorts. No shirt, shoes, helmet, safety glasses or windshield required. I'm not suggesting that it would be the most intelligent way to ride, but it would be legal. With that in mind, I'm at a total loss to justify the purpose of a law requiring a vehicle with 4 wheels to have a windshield.

~ end rant ~

StangDreamin' · Aug 19, 2008

My brother-in-law -who nowadays comes across as slightly more "Progressive" than FDR- used to have a term we used regularly in our younger days: "They're trying to make the world NERF!"

Pretty much says it all.

D.Hearne · Aug 31, 2008

I think before passing judgment on the guy, look up that law first and see if what he was telling you was true. If it is, then driving a CJ series Jeep with the windshield down would be illegal too.

65stanger · Sep 7, 2008

D.Hearne said:
I think before passing judgment on the guy, look up that law first and see if what he was telling you was true. If it is, then driving a CJ series Jeep with the windshield down would be illegal too.

Not necessarily, depends on how the law is worded....If all it states the vehicle must have a windshield, then the CJ qualifies, because the windshield is still present, just not in a vertical orientation!

Have to agree with StDr and PS though.....the goverment tends to go overboard in trying to protect the stupid to the point of inanity.....seriously, whatever happened to "natural selection"?

bnickel · Sep 7, 2008

i believe it is illegal to drive any car in most any state with no windshield, there are various reasons i can think of.

1) no place at affix inspection or registrations stickers
2) no way to prevent foreign objects from entering the car
3) no way to prevent passengers not wearing seatbelts from exiting the car in a collision
4) no way to prevent rain from entering the vehicle
5) this may sound funny, but here in Texas all passenger vehicles are required to have windshield wipers so you would naturally need a windshield right? well sort of, certain cars that qualify as off road vehicles, jeeps, dune buggies, etc aren't required to have windshields but they are required to have some sort of windscreen even if it's only 4 inches tall...why you ask? see rule number 1... seriously

65stanger · Sep 7, 2008

bnickel said:
i believe it is illegal to drive any car in most any state with no windshield, there are various reasons i can think of.

1) no place at affix inspection or registrations stickers
2) no way to prevent foreign objects from entering the car
3) no way to prevent passengers not wearing seatbelts from exiting the car in a collision
4) no way to prevent rain from entering the vehicle
5) this may sound funny, but here in Texas all passenger vehicles are required to have windshield wipers so you would naturally need a windshield right? well sort of, certain cars that qualify as off road vehicles, jeeps, dune buggies, etc aren't required to have windshields but they are required to have some sort of windscreen even if it's only 4 inches tall...why you ask? see rule number 1... seriously

Not being argumentative, but..............
1) I've seen annual registration stickers applied to the corners of the license plates.
2) foriegn objects still get in thru open side windows, and convertibles w/ the top down.
3)people still get ejected thru windshield (front and back) (I've mopped more than a few of 'em off of the pavement)
4) see #2

RMODEL65 · Sep 8, 2008

/\
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libertarian/republican

as long as your not hurting somoene else do what ever you want, now with the no glasses part i disagree only because if you were to get a bug in your eye you could lose control and hit someone or damage property

my 2 cents

bnickel · Sep 8, 2008

65stanger said:
Not being argumentative, but..............
1) I've seen annual registration stickers applied to the corners of the license plates.
2) foriegn objects still get in thru open side windows, and convertibles w/ the top down.
3)people still get ejected thru windshield (front and back) (I've mopped more than a few of 'em off of the pavement)
4) see #2

all true, however most states are now going to the registration stickers on the windshield and the state inspection stickers have always been on the windshield (for the states that do that anyway, not all do though)

i used to be a state inspector here in Texas and there are sometimes some pretty strange rules, the one i pointed out earlier about the small windscreen was one of them, but even those are reqiured to have working wipers...like it would do any goood

0

65stanger · Sep 8, 2008

<------- Says it all for most of the laws on the books. The one thing to remember is that if it weren't for stupid laws the beauracrats would be out of work and Lord knows they're all too stupid to be flippin' burgers at BK's or McD's!

bnickel · Sep 8, 2008

65stanger said:
<------- Says it all for most of the laws on the books. The one thing to remember is that if it weren't for stupid laws the beauracrats would be out of work and Lord knows they're all too stupid to be flippin' burgers at BK's or McD's!

true dat

ForceFed70 · Sep 9, 2008

Most unibody vehicles consider the windshield a major structural component. Getting into a crash without one, etc would probably be bad.

Out here it's technically not legal to drive a car withour a horn that works. Course nobody enforces the law unless the cops stick you with a vehicle inspection.

65stanger · Sep 9, 2008

I can see how the windshield would be considered part of the vehicles structural integrity for a coupe or sedan, but in a convertible?
And a rollover in any vehicle that doesn't have a rollcage is usually very bad!

67topless · Sep 9, 2008

bnickel said:
all true, however most states are now going to the registration stickers on the windshield and the state inspection stickers have always been on the windshield (for the states that do that anyway, not all do though)

i used to be a state inspector here in Texas and there are sometimes some pretty strange rules, the one i pointed out earlier about the small windscreen was one of them, but even those are reqiured to have working wipers...like it would do any goood

Pretty interesting change in the North Carolina news today; they are now going to make vehicle inspections required in the same month as your registration where as your registration can not be renewed until you get (and pass) a state inspection. A benefit they were reporting was there will no longer be any inspection stickers. Either your car has a current registration (meaning it passed inspection), or it doesn't. I'm sure I am missing some details as I just heard about it for the first time an hour ago... but I thought that was a pretty interesting new approach.

Final cool note for us North Carolina residents... if your car is 35 years old (or older), you aren't required to have an inspection of any kind. Pretty darn cool!

Sorry for the sidebar...

StangDreamin' · Sep 9, 2008

Wow- you guys back east have it rough! Here in AZ; inspections are held at first registration by a new purchaser. Dealer sales have a surity-bonded report from said dealer that states that the vehicle passes all related vehicular safty standards.

Now, Maricopa (Phoenix metro) and Pima (Tucson metro) counties have annual smog checks for vehicles under 25-30 years old (I forget the exact age); but the "rural counties" (the rest of us) are exempt - which is why I don't even worry about the exact age!

bnickel · Sep 10, 2008

here in Texas we have yearly safety inspections that check various things; all lights are to be functional, tires have to be within wear limits, brakes, suspension systems, steering components, smog controls, belts, windshields, wipers, seat belts, etc. and in some counties, Houston, Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio areas plus some others the vehicle is also required to pass a smog check at the time of the safety inspection. all of this in addition to your annual registration as well

67MustangManiac · Sep 11, 2008

Yeah, and in Austin you will get a ticket for riding your bicycle without a helmet but you can zip right on by doing 70 on your Harley without one....

Beyond stupid...

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