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Crash Data

Discussion in 'General Truck Info' started by David Tucker, Feb 23, 2021.

  1. David Tucker

    David Tucker New Member

    Anyone ever seen stats on kei truck crashes in the states that they're street legal? Doubt that anyone is tracking that information, but just curious. Seems like most states that don't allow them often cite safety concerns even for the 25+ yr old models.
     
  2. Arty

    Arty Active Member

    I don't know anything about the rules in the US, but here in Saskatchewan, one of the many things I was required to do to legalize my MiniCab, was to add a length of 4" channel iron to the front of my truck for crash protection. - - It took a bit of work , but I was able to hide it under the front bumper. - At the time, I was unhappy about it, but of the many silly things I was required to do, at least that one did make some sense in terms of front impact surviveability.
     
    Last edited: Feb 24, 2021
  3. matt167

    matt167 Active Member

    In the states, they are DOT legal through exemption as long as they are over 25 years old, but the states have their own right to reject paperwork which is where places like NY get hung up.... However these trucks will fail a crash test without question. It isn't like R33 Skylines where they were able to crash test a number of them and get them to pass with relative ease..

    I used to daily drive a '92 Carry in NY before they banned them from being registered and it was cool. But then I bought an older F250 and now have a 2021 Ranger. It was quite dumb for a daily driver... I have a 1993 Suzuki Jimny for a fun vehicle but even it's getting old
     
  4. Jigs-n-fixtures

    Jigs-n-fixtures Well-Known Member

    I doubt that anyone is gathering mini truck specific data. There just aren’t enough of them on the road to study. There is data indicating that rhd vehicles do have a higher incident of low speed crashes. But, that may be because the vast majority of rhd vehicles in the US are USPS trucks, which have terrible rearward vision, and turn into and out of traffic at several hundred times the frequency per day of a typical vehicle.

    The National Association of State Licensing Officials, are the ones who were instrumental in getting minitrucks banned in many states, because when they first showed up they were low speed off highway vehicles, which were redesigned from their Japanese Domestic Market configurations, to be off-highway not capable of exceeding 25-mph. This allowed import without crash testing or the more stringent emissions testing.

    Think of the LHD Hijets importer in the late 80s, and early 90s. they added a black box on the speedo cable, and an extra solenoid at the carb. If the truck hit 25-mph, the solenoid pulsed in and out of the main jet to restrict fuel flow. They also machined a groove in the High/Low shift shaft for the transfer cases, and installed an E-clip to lock the trucks out of high range. So even without the black box and modified carb, you couldn’t get above about 35-mph. Those LHD Import trucks really were “low speed off highway vehicles, not intended for on street use.” The Feds have a big hammer they use to keep the States from licensing Off Highway Vehicles )OHVs): If a state decides to treat OHVs as normal on highway vehicles, the Feds have to withhold the Federal Highway funds from the State. I was working the Nevada Department of Transportation in the late 80s. The Feds were paying for 98% of Nevada’s highway budget at the time. So, there was a big hammer persuading the Nevada Legislature to ban the OHVs from licensure and registration.

    Our 25-year old trucks, (20-year in Canada I think), are designed for on highway use at highway speeds. But, many states still have statutes on the books dating from the 1980s which exclude the trucks from registration and licensure, treating them as if they are off road vehicles.
     

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