Hemmings article...Texas revoking dune buggy & kit car titles
- Thread starter Pete Kaczmarski
- Start date
MarPar
Meat Man with a Hat
This, while many states now allow golf carts on public streets.
At least a dune buggy owner has plates, paid taxes and should have insurance.
Are plastic body street rods next?
At least a dune buggy owner has plates, paid taxes and should have insurance.
Are plastic body street rods next?
Bombardier did make street legal golf carts, signals, brake lights, etc. They cost a good bit, but were street legal as to "older vehicle" safety equipment.
Texas did have a very detailed publication of how to legally build a "kit car", as in a Miami Vice "car" using a Corvette chassis, for example. I have no doubt this also included "build-it-yourself" kit cars, too.
I've seen a multi-passenger ATV running around my neighborhood in town, on weekend afternoons, headed toward the local convenience store. Probably not "legal" as such, but I also feel the driver has more sense than to get on a busy street in it.
While the classic dune buggy looks neat and has its own following, especially near the coastal beaches, to try to regularly drive on in traffic has its perils! That steel tube frame might look tough, BUT against an 8000lb HD2500 diesel pickup with an aftermarket front bumper replacement/grille guard, at normal OEM ride height. If it's been "lifted" 6", on top of that, visibility of the smaller vehicle CAN become a problem! Even with the requisite beach flag on a stick on the vehicle, that can still get lost in traffic or against other backgrounds other than sand.
Then figure in the bare-bones safety things (who knows what hand signals mean any more? other than the "1 finger salute"???) Smaller stop lights, non-fixed-aim headlights, etc.
The ONE time I rode in one, strapped into a padded fiberglas racing seat, I decided I wanted more sheet metal around me. They have their place, but not on our increasingly-crowded streets. Streets increasingly-populated with "hi-ride" HD2500 4wd pickups.
There's a LOT more involved than just scant safety equipment or exhaust emissions. How quickly might one vanish into Dallas rush hour traffic on LBJ Freeway at 6pm, just after sunset this fall? In this case "vanishing" can be detrimental to the physical integrity of the driver of the "buggy".
CBODY67
Texas did have a very detailed publication of how to legally build a "kit car", as in a Miami Vice "car" using a Corvette chassis, for example. I have no doubt this also included "build-it-yourself" kit cars, too.
I've seen a multi-passenger ATV running around my neighborhood in town, on weekend afternoons, headed toward the local convenience store. Probably not "legal" as such, but I also feel the driver has more sense than to get on a busy street in it.
While the classic dune buggy looks neat and has its own following, especially near the coastal beaches, to try to regularly drive on in traffic has its perils! That steel tube frame might look tough, BUT against an 8000lb HD2500 diesel pickup with an aftermarket front bumper replacement/grille guard, at normal OEM ride height. If it's been "lifted" 6", on top of that, visibility of the smaller vehicle CAN become a problem! Even with the requisite beach flag on a stick on the vehicle, that can still get lost in traffic or against other backgrounds other than sand.
Then figure in the bare-bones safety things (who knows what hand signals mean any more? other than the "1 finger salute"???) Smaller stop lights, non-fixed-aim headlights, etc.
The ONE time I rode in one, strapped into a padded fiberglas racing seat, I decided I wanted more sheet metal around me. They have their place, but not on our increasingly-crowded streets. Streets increasingly-populated with "hi-ride" HD2500 4wd pickups.
There's a LOT more involved than just scant safety equipment or exhaust emissions. How quickly might one vanish into Dallas rush hour traffic on LBJ Freeway at 6pm, just after sunset this fall? In this case "vanishing" can be detrimental to the physical integrity of the driver of the "buggy".
CBODY67
One issue is that parents buy golf carts more as toys for the kids, like mopeds, jet skis etc, we now have unlicensed young kids driving these things in traffic. This became a big issue up at the cottage. When some people go on vacation all common sense is left back home.
Presuming they had any to start with?
In my younger times, I'd run on the Trinity Trail in Fort Worth. One sunny day, after Christmas, I went down for a run/walk interval run. I'd done the first .1 mile and was walking the second one. During that segment, a young guy had apparently gotten a new bike for Christmas. His father and his grand father were walking beside him, one on each side, to keep him "up" and rolling. As they approached me on the trail, from the back, I then felt the bike's front tire contact my shoe (heel area). I looked back to see what it was. I saw the young guy wobbling and trying to keep the bike rolling. He looked terrified. I smiled and said "That's OK" as they were more focused on keeping him balanced than what he'd just done. Obviously, the kid saw what was about to happen and "froze", not knowing how to react. I got to my next tenth and put some space between me and them, for good measure.
That day, too many people treating the bike/run trails as if it was a sidewalk in front of their house. No "keep right" orientation. I got my time and distance in and went home. I retuned a few days later when the "normal" users were there.
CBODY67
MrMoparCHP
Old Man with a Hat
If safety is the issue then they might as well ban motorcycles.
Alan
Alan
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