Last month, the state of Massachusetts became the lastest jurisdiction to begin an attack on legally imported Japanese cars. This particular ban is one that is best described as ridiculous because, while Massachusetts says it’s targeting Kei trucks, the state has no actual idea of what a Kei truck is, so the ban effectively bans all Japanese imports. Enthusiasts in Massachusetts are pissed off and have conducted a coordinated effort to educate and work with state politicians. It’s worked as the state has launched a review into its already universally-panned ban.
This story originally came from the Massachusetts JDM Imports Advocates Facebook group and was later reported by the Drive. Massachusetts joins a long line of states with various restrictions on imported Japanese cars including Maine, Michigan, Rhode Island, Georgia, New York, and Pennsylvania. The issue of Kei vehicle registration has reached mainstream news, but I have seen some inaccuracies in reporting. For example, Hagerty places the blame on Rhode Island because the state recently began a push to eliminate the final 30 Kei vehicles in the state.
The truth is worse than that, however. The attack on Japanese imports began in the late 2000s and hit their fever pitch in 2021. That’s when the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators recommended that all member jurisdictions–and that’s all U.S. states, Canada, Mexico, the Virgin Islands, and Washington D.C. –ban any vehicle that wasn’t originally built to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards compliance. These recommendations were authored in part by Maine BMV Registration Section Supervisor Nikki Bachelder and sure enough, Maine was the first state to enact a new ban and it followed the AAMVA’s recommendations to the letter. Colleen Ogilvie is the Massachusetts RMV Registrar and the secretary and treasurer for the AAMVA northeast region. Considering the structure of the AAMVA, this isn’t surprising.
The AAMVA, which we’ll talk about again later, is a non-governmental non-profit lobbying group that is composed of motor vehicle administrators and law enforcement from member jurisdictions. The organization has no lawmaking powers. However, that doesn’t seem to matter since it’s run by the people who run your state’s DMV. Among other things, the AAMVA seeks to standardize the laws across its member states.
That’s what we’re seeing here, sort of. See, each state that has launched a ban has taken a different route to get there. For example, Maine–the state that launched the new bans, not Rhode Island as commonly reported–decided to comply with the full recommendation as authored in part by its own BMV. The state passed a law that automatically classifies any vehicle that doesn’t meet FMVSS as an off-road vehicle.
That BMW wagon you imported from Germany? Off-road vehicle. A Mitsubishi Delica? Off-road vehicle. Maine banned all over 25-year-old imports from all countries. This ban remains the most extreme and the hardest to overturn since it was written into law. Some state lawmakers have attempted to reverse course without enough support.
On the other end of the spectrum is Pennsylvania. The state officially banned Kei trucks as regular road vehicles, but grandfathered-in existing registrations allow for the registration of others as antiques. Then there’s Texas, which did have a Kei truck ban through a DMV policy rather than a law. Texas enthusiasts led by David McChristian and his Lone Star Kei advocacy group collaborated with lawmakers and were successful in convincing the Texas DMV to overturn its ban. Meanwhile, enthusiasts in Michigan, Rhode Island, and Georgia have chosen to sue their states with varying levels of success.
Massachusetts Enthusiasts Fight Back
Back in June, the state of Massachusetts quietly banned legally imported, over 25-year-old Japanese cars. This started happening without warning and without explanation. Enthusiasts in the Massachusetts JDM Imports Advocates Facebook group as well as the New England Mini Kei Truck / Van JDM Group CT NY MA RI VT NH ME NJ scene group began reporting getting turned away from their state RMV offices.
A lot of people were just told that their vehicles could not be registered and were not given any explanation as to why. Some were told it was because the state no longer registered imports with short VINs and others were told that the state no longer registered vehicles not originally built to American safety standards. Raymond Moy received this paper:
The problem is that the state never referenced any law or new policy that enthusiasts could reference. The DMV suddenly just started banning cars and nobody knew for sure why. I got to the bottom of it by calling the state RMV and getting the scoop on the state’s preliminary ban. Then, the state turned its ban into an official policy just earlier this month. David McChristian leaked the details before they became official. The ban reads:
A Kei class mini truck is a motor vehicle meeting the requirements of the Japanese “Kei Jidosha” classification or designation, used or maintained primarily for the transportation of property and having four wheels, an engine displacement of 660cc or less, an overall length of 130 inches or less, an overall height of 78 inches or less, and overall width of 60 inches or less.
These mini trucks and vans are typically imported and are more than 25 years old. Under the 25-year rule, Kei mini trucks and vans can be lawfully imported into the U.S. even if they do not comply with all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), which these vehicles do not.
The Massachusetts RMV, under its authority, does not issue registrations and titles for these mini trucks and vans. As the RMV becomes aware that one of these vehicles may have been registered, it will contact the owner and inform them accordingly.
The state knew some might want to challenge its authority to ban cars, and Mass cites a law that gives it the power:
MGL Chapter 90, Section 2 states, in part:
“If the registrar shall determine at any time that, for any reason, a motor vehicle or trailer is unsafe or improperly equipped or otherwise unfit to be operated, he may refuse to register such motor vehicle or trailer or, if it is already registered, may suspend or revoke its registration.”
The federal government bans the importation of a vehicle unless it is either converted to EPA and Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards or is at least 25 years old. The EPA rule is a 21-year ban, but that’s irrelevant in most cases since the rest of the car has to be 25 years old. Anyway, once a car is at least 25 years old, the federal government no longer cares how safe the vehicle is.
However, satisfying the federal government just means you can own the car, it doesn’t mean you can drive it. Your second hurdle is your state. Each state reserves the right to dictate what vehicles can and cannot drive on their roads, and as we’ve been seeing for more than three years, some states do not care if you have a state title or good import paperwork.
As I said before, just one state has decided to ban all imports. Others have focused just on Kei vehicles, and we’ll get to why later on. Massachusetts claims to be targeting Keis, but seriously has no idea what a Kei vehicle even is. How do we know? Massachusetts was nice enough to publish a list of “Kei” vehicles that are automatically banned:
Honda Acty truck/van
Daihatsu Hijet, Daihatsu Atrai
Suzuki Carry, Suzuki Every
Mitsubishi Minicab truck/van
Mazda Porter Cab or Scrum
Subaru Sambar truck/van
Isuzu Mini Truck
Nissan Clipper
Toyota Lite Ace or Town Ace
Interestingly, as pointed out by the Drive, it would appear that this list is directly copied from the Pennsylvania ban, which is just lazy at best, but further proves the point that Mass has no idea what it’s doing.
As I’ve noted a couple of times before, the “Isuzu Mini Truck” doesn’t exist and Isuzu doesn’t even make Kei vehicles. The Toyota LiteAce and TownAce are in a larger class, and the Nissan Clipper can’t even be imported until 2028 at the earliest.
Further evidence comes from the vehicles that Massachusetts has refused to title. Members of the Massachusetts JDM Imports Advocates have reported issues in registering everything from Honda Civics to Mitsubishi Delicas, none of which are Kei-class vehicles. Yet, since Massachusetts has no idea what it’s doing it had no problem slapping plates onto a big Japanese fire engine.
Don’t worry, because this gets dumber. The state’s methods to identify Kei vehicles effectively means that all JDM vehicles are banned. The preliminary policy involved identifying Kei vehicles by their short chassis codes (which the state calls a VIN) and by referencing that list above. Any vehicle found not in compliance with FMVSS was to be denied title and registration.
The published policy is a shocker. The state gives four methods for RMV offices to identify a Kei vehicle, stating Kei vehicles must have VINs shorter than 17 digits and must be a model year older than 25 years, and first-time registrants must have documents in Japanese. Finally, RMV offices can reference the above list.
The problem is that these identification tactics cast a wide net. Every Japanese market vehicle imported from the country is going to have a short “VIN.” The country doesn’t use our 17-digit VIN system, but shorter chassis numbers. It’s also unclear how the RMV is supposed to handle cars sold in America before 1981 since those don’t have 17-digit VINs, either.
Enthusiasts didn’t take this sitting down. Raymond Moy, along with Wade Burch, Dan McMahon, and countless other enthusiasts began ringing up state lawmakers. They followed the example set by Texas. Instead of fighting their lawmakers, they educated them on what Kei vehicles are and why they should be legal. Thankfully, lawmakers have been receptive to the group of enthusiasts and sympathetic to the cause.
Unfortunately, the same could not be said about MassDOT and the RMV. During our time researching this issue, we’ve found MassDOT and the RMV to be unhelpful in answering questions, if they even get back to us at all. Mason Mongeon told The Drive that even state senate aides are saying that official inquiries are being ignored.
The Massachusetts JDM Imports Advocates Facebook group organized a showing at a MassDOT board meeting that was held on July 17. MassDOT said that the public would be able to leave two-minute messages or send in emails and these messages would be played. However, as I witnessed in the Facebook group and is also reported at the Drive, the emails were ignored and just one message was played. This was despite the fact that the group rallied together and left dozens of messages advocating for Kei vehicles.
Still, the enthusiasts did win a victory. The policy page for the Kei truck ban now reads:
The RMV is currently reviewing its policies for registration of Kei trucks. All existing unexpired registrations for Kei trucks and vans will remain active as the RMV works to review and assess industry standards related to Kei mini trucks and develop an updated policy addressing the registration of these vehicles.
It’s not a reversal, but it is a start!
Where Is All Of This Coming From?
Here’s the state’s reasoning, from my previous article:
The state says it’s doing this because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that mini trucks and Kei vehicles do not meet FMVSS and are not endorsed for highway use. For several years, the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA), the organization that started this whole saga, hosted an NHTSA document on its website. In that document, the NHTSA indeed indicated that mini trucks do not meet FMVSS and are not endorsed for road use.
However, the NHTSA gives exceptions to mini-trucks that are over 25 years old, temporarily imported by a tourist, or temporarily imported by foreign military or diplomats. As I noted earlier, the feds just determine whether the vehicle can be legally in the country without restriction, the final determination of registration is up to your state.
Massachusetts appears to be referencing this AAMVA/NHTSA document as well as an NHTSA interpretation where the NHTSA reiterates that mini trucks should not be allowed on the road. Per this document, in the late 2000s, a person attempted to import a 2000 model-year Kei truck, making a case that the vehicle could go 70 mph and had safety equipment.
The funny part is that the very same document contradicts what the state is doing. The NHTSA says that the only way an under-25-year-old Kei truck can be legal for road use is if it is modified to comply with U.S. standards and has an FMVSS compliance label. In the eyes of the NHTSA, mini trucks are either 25 mph speed-limited “off-road” machines or are over 25 years of age.
Still, this isn’t the root of the issue. That is with the AAMVA. It’s been a while since I’ve fully explained the shenanigans happening at the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, so grab a cup of something and nestle up next to the campfire that is a pile of titles to JDM vehicles.
Here, I’m going to cite myself again:
Vehicles imported from Japan and China have been on AAMVA’s radar since the late 2000s. Back then, the organization noticed how tons of Kei trucks were flooding American shores and the states didn’t really know how to handle them. It should be noted that a lot of these trucks weren’t older vehicles imported under the Imported Vehicle Safety Compliance Act of 1988, but newer trucks with speed limiters meant for farm or utility work.
In February 2010, representatives from several states and Canadian provinces met in Orlando, Florida to develop best practices for handling the influx of mini trucks. It was just one of many AAMVA meetings on the subject of vehicle imports.
Soon after, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety published an opinion that low-speed vehicles and mini trucks are unsafe and should be removed from the road. The opinion noted that starting in 2007, there was a trend of states allowing mini trucks on regular roads. That IIHS opinion focused on mini trucks with a governed 25 mph top speed, not trucks older than 25 years old imported without a limiter.
The IIHS supported its point with a crash test involving a new Tiger Truck with what was then a new Ford Ranger. The Ford crumpled the Tiger Truck like it was a beer can:
This was just the ammo the AAMVA needed to push for the removal of tiny trucks from American roads. A year later, the AAMVA published a new opinion. Best Practice Regarding Registration and Titling of Mini-Trucks makes it clear that the AAMVA sought to remove these vehicles from the road:
By allowing on-road operation of used mini-trucks, Canada and the U.S. are accepting another nation‘s cast-offs—vehicles that no longer meet the exporting country‘s vehicle safety or emissions standards. Increasing the supply of older model vehicles in North America undermines government and industry efforts to improve vehicle safety and reduce vehicle emissions, as these efforts are largely dependent on fleet turnover. This risk can be reduced by placing restrictions on the use of these non-conforming vehicles in Canadian and U.S. jurisdictions.
Some states complied with the new recommendation and banned the use of speed-limited mini-trucks on the road. But Kei trucks, the unrestricted, over 25-year-old imports were still legal in many places. The AAMVA kicked its ban recommendation into high gear in 2021 when Maine’s BMV, with the help of the DMVs of Georgia, Colorado, and South Dakota published Regulation of Off-Road Vehicles: Best Practices.
This document is a shocking one. The AAMVA’s definition of an off-road vehicle is far broader than the NHTSA’s. In the eyes of the AAMVA, any vehicle that wasn’t originally built to FMVSS is an off-road vehicle and must be banned. However, the AAMVA also appeared to be unhappy with the state of Kei vehicle laws in America and specifically called out Kei trucks that are 25 years and older to be banned.
Perhaps the most alarming part is that the AAMVA admits that its recommendations may be illegal. In that case, the organization recommends that a state change its laws or policies until the recommendations are legal. That’s what Maine, Rhode Island, and the rest of these states have done.
As of now, it’s not clear what motivating factors exist outside of safety, and even that one doesn’t make sense. Per the logic of most of these states, a 1998 Smart Fortwo imported from Germany would be fine, but a Smart K from Japan would not be.
What You Can Do
The good news is that Massachusetts is reviewing its destructive policy. It’s incredible what these enthusiasts achieved in less than a month of time. But, it’s too early to claim a victory just yet. The enthusiasts aren’t going to stop until they feel safe registering and titling their beloved rides.
It seems like the best thing you can do right now is to band together, make some friends in your state government, and push for the legalization of imported vehicles. The import enthusiasts of Massachusetts have shown that they’re making an impact already. If you’re a resident of Massachusetts and are interested in helping, join the Massachusetts JDM Imports Advocates group on Facebook. As before, I also recommend writing and calling your local officials to tell them why the state is making a huge mistake.
Enthusiasts in North Carolina, Texas, and hopefully Massachusetts are showing that you don’t have to go to war with your state. These folks educated their lawmakers and DMVs on what Kei vehicles are and why they should be legal. North Carolina’s enthusiasts won the privilege to drive Kei trucks in 2019 while Texas was the first to beat the post-2021 AAMVA recommendations. Hopefully, Massachusetts will be next.
Using the “safety” argument for banning kei vehicles seems like government paternalism that will ultimately lead to classic 1960s cars being banned for safety reasons—followed by motorcycles. Taking this path to silly extremes, all cars will be banned because flying is safer unless you are on a Boeing aircraft…
FUCK the AAMVA! Fuck off to hell
Also: “Bunch of MASSholes”
There is a silver lining to this really stupid and unnecessary cloud:
“–ban any vehicle that wasn’t originally built to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards compliance.”
This is just what is needed to get CyberTrucks off the roads!
“…your kei car now belongs to the state of Massachusetts!”
“they’ve been taken away……”
“The Beat was a bright one,
Tommykaira’s off his head.
Mother loved them both the same,
At least thats what she said.”
Sounds like the AAMVA couldn’t figure out how to make money off of kei cars. If they had, none of this would be happening.
How unhappy must one be with the way their life is going to become a nanny enthusiast? For that one week in February of 2010, that Orlando conference room where these people gathered for their meeting must have been the most miserable and depressing place on Earth.
How about just shut up and buy a new vehicle like you’re supposed to?
not if my $ has anything to say about it
CONSUME
Can AAMVA be charged with RICO for eliminating one of our avenues for acquiring and driving vehicles (i.e. grey import vehicles) and for pushing the states to enact the silly laws that abridge our choices?
Not sure if rhetorical or not, but “Lobbying to do things that are dumb” wouldn’t qualify as RICO. That’s how we end up with Chicken Tax, New York’s ludicrous gravity knife laws, prohibitions against adult toys in Alabama, and… so forth.
I recently checked Alaska’s laws, and you missed them as a state banned imports early. Alaska bans all car imports 1981 model year and newer that don’t meet FMVSS, so they didn’t mess around with off road or mini truck or Kei. . . FMVSS or go home. This is not just DMV policy, it is law: 2 AAC 92.020. I had to dig a bit before finding that it was enacted in 2014: Attachment.aspx (state.ak.us)
I’m in my own bubble and not really aware of the local car enthusiast community, much less those that might be interested in imports (though I’ve eyed JDM cars from afar for years, assuming that they were legal here based on information from longer ago than 2014). I wasn’t aware that this law passed even though I’ve been in Alaska 25 years and pay attention to the news, so it seems that it went totally under the radar.
I am totally for rules state-by-state that limit kei vehicles from interstates and major limited-access highways. Obviously, if you’re in Wyoming and the frontage road isn’t going 100% from A to B, you should be able to drive on the interstate. And there should be a pull-over rule on roads, like with tractors, to let others pass. Being an ass on a 55 mph single lane state highway isn’t safe for anyone, pull to the shoulder and let them pass.
There’s been some trolls on Reddit that love to state that motorcycle riders wear helmets. Only 18 states require all riders to wear helmets, so that safety argument against kei trucks is invalid.
And why, why would someone NOT want kei trucks to be on the USVI, where space is at a premium and kei trucks would flourish? The idiots at the AAMVA, that’s who.
Please don’t forget; Kie cars and other imports can be banned in other ways like in California.
They can change the laws so imports cannot pass a mandatory smog check no matter what their tailpipe emissions are.
You can legally register imports in CA, but it needs to go through a smog legal conversion. I have a CA plate Japanese import.
This isn’t specifically against imports either. If you had a 49 state car originally sold in the US from 1990 you wouldn’t be able to register it either.
Georgia resident. I was out last night in the pouring rain, pitch black and pull up on a group of 3 golf carts driving down the road. They had head and taillights but as long as they are allowed on the road, why the hell shouldn’t a kei truck? I mean we have a whole city down here that is based around golf carts. Yet those aren’t a problem when it comes to safety?
On the last kei ban article you posted, someone mentioned that the real reason behind these bans is Polaris, John Deere, Kawasaki, and other UTV/SxS companies.
Those things can cost as much as a real car! Yet these lil mini trucks are far better for use in the conditions you’d use a UTV, better at everything, too. MUCH cheaper, MUCH more useful!
Many of us have been bringing this up every time this issue is discussed, and the authors never listen for whatever reason.
If we’re gonna push for changing laws, make ATVs and UTVs road legal – at least for off-highway use. That evens the playing field enough that kei trucks no longer have the advantage of being able to legally do things UTVs and ATVs can’t do, so people who just want utility have brand new options and people who just want kei trucks can get kei trucks.
But no, instead those companies form the AAMVA to lobby for banning the competition and ruining the fun everyone is having that they don’t approve of. This story isn’t some misguided safety-motivated organization trying to eliminate dangerous vehicles, it’s corporate greed funding fearmongering, plain and simple.
They have nothing to stand on for “Safety” as long as motorcycles are still legal. (before anyone gets huffy-I do not think motorcycles should be illegal. Just noting that they are *obviously* less safe than a kei vehicle.)
Great reporting! Please expose the AAMVA. If they’re behind this debacle, they’re probably behind others. Follow the money and the answers will flow.
The safety argument is ridiculous. When I drive my low curb weight old American car with manual steering, non-power brakes, and no air bag, I’m not endangering anyone. No F150 driver fears a kei car running into them.
Further, car safety advocates are nothing more than high priced scolds at this point since cars are so safe. They come up with new regulations merely to justify their existence, hence all the ridiculous rules we see that don’t really further safety.
“Free Market”
wait, no, not like that!
And another factor that pokes a hole into the Toyota LiteAce/TownAce ban is that an FMVSS compliant version of it was sold BY TOYOTA from 1983-1989 as the Toyota “Van” here in the USA!
Something I’m still unclear on: It’s my understanding that the primary (assumed) motivation of the AAMVA is to discourage the purchasing of KEIs cars as alternatives to SxS, etc by reducing the usefulness of KEIs to off road use only just like SxSs, UTVs etc. AFAIK those don’t conform to crash standards either.
If so it seems to me at most the AAMVA can hope for is to somewhat level the playing field but it’s still IMO a losing battle since an imported kei will still be cheaper and more useful.
It would be better for everyone to level the playing field by making UTVs and ATVs legal on public roads (under a certain speed, like, no highway use), but that still means they have to compete, so naturally we get these companies funding lobbyists to ban them instead.
Competition is good, competition motivates you to make a better product. 25 year-old kei trucks can’t innovate, we’re just buying them because they’re pretty awesome as-is. Capitalism says the UTV and ATV companies should innovate until they have a better product that can compete with kei trucks for utility. Instead, here we get corruption in a lazy effort to eliminate competition.
Why can’t they just be limited to roads with low speed limits, say 45 or 50? That’s what’s done with scooters.
Just get one of those “Sovereign Citizen” faux license plates and drive whatever you want 🙂
I had the same thought. Tell the police that you’re not driving, you’re travelling, so the laws don’t apply. Also tell them that you don’t recognize their authority. They love that.
This is the way. Go to those board meetings in person and get up to speak (they ignore messages and letters as shown here).
Call legislators and ask them what’s going on. It’s hard to get laws passed and usually requires the services of professional lobbyists, but your representative’s office can’t be fobbed off by the DMV as easily as you can.
Request records aggressively. Put in records requests for all communications about Kei bans and sue them if they don’t produce the records. Judges generally don’t look kindly on stonewalling of this nature and it’s surprisingly easy to win these suits. They have to understand that any communications they have on this topic will be requested and released.
There simply cannot be that many kei trucks and other JDM imports that warrants this level of legislation. I question what the actual agenda by the AAMVA is. American protectionism?
This, enthusiasts always get targeted cause some Karen gets uppity about something like a totally valid engine swap.
Yeah, that’s definitely how it began but this has gone much farther meaning that there’s some money behind it. I want to know who’s funding this nonsense
That “totally valid” engine swap had better conform to all emissions regs (including noise) else “Karen” has a point.
It does. It was literally a wrx swap into an older impreza but because the old na motor has egr and the wrx does not it is not valid which is stupid because the testing showed it to be A LOT cleaner than the old motor. If they would just test the fucking emissions instead of stupid shit like looking for egr it wouldn’t be an issue.
I’m convinced it’s the companies that make those overpriced UTVs and others such junk funding this. When these are street legal, cost less, and aren’t built to Little Tikes standards, their pool of buyers becomes a lot smaller, especially in states like MA where there aren’t many large ranches for people to patrol, so not being street legal makes them largely useless. Make these illegal for street use and the advantages of the imports is greatly reduced, especially where importers who take much of the headache out of importing these go away due to lack of business, and UTVs people can just go out and buy look more attractive. They don’t care that the vehicles being banned in places like MA are small pickups shops or urban contractors can use or tiny weekend fun cars that won’t be replaced by their damned UTVs. Safety is a joke, too. Even if legal old cars weren’t potentially less safe than these, f these busy body pansies telling people what they think is too dangerous for them to risk. I can’t imagine there’s many people buying a tiny cabover pickup is going to think it’s going to stand up against the average SUV. But OK, pretend it’s about safety and people being ignorant of the lack thereof, then have a sticker required for the visor stating some crap about it not conforming to NHTSA safety standards for year of manufacture and call it done.
I was thinking UTV companies as well and maybe even the big 3 American truck manufacturers. Why buy a Maverick or side by side when I can get a sweet Kei truck for a fraction of the price that will just run forever.
I do see a fair amount of those little cabovers here in more urban areas in MA. No idea if they’re alternatives to new trucks, but they certainly have some advantages over them in terms of size, efficiency, maneuverability, and ease of loading a platform that is larger than the beds of a full size pickup (if you could even find one of those with a full bed).
That’s my bet too
This is my guess too. Here in Texas, kei trucks are incredibly popular ranch vehicles. I distinctly remember a video from a guy with a Model A parked next to one, with a comment about how it was crazy to him that the Model A was legal but the kei truck wasn’t.
Someone should just launch the AAMVA into the sun.
This is still really fuckin stupid and nonsensical. Why not lobby for getting UTVs street legal in MA instead? It’s not like you’re big pharma trying to nuke a generic for your top seller — you can’t even compete in that market and even if you could there’s not enough money in it to justify the hours you spend doing the regulatory capture lol.
Because minorities aren’t allowed to have fun. Duh.
Because they would never be able to get them approved for street legal status and have to fight The Man to do it. In this case, they slip this under the noses of some dummies, speak the magic words: “It’s for safety! Won’t someone think of the children being transported to school in kei cars!” and maybe toss them a few bucks to sign off on it while the Registrar thinks back to their HS ex’s Dodge Aries K-car and how horrible that was, and then the AAMVA would only have a small number of underfunded odd enthusiasts to potentially fight off.
Not… really. Like, UTV’s aren’t a threat to anything in Massachussetts. And people that are surprised Mass just copied its laws, that’s pretty much how laws get written. The lobbying organization simply takes the template language, updates it to reflect state-relevant info, and it gets passed into law. That’s why (to name one example) every state-by-state “assault weapons” law is almost identical, even where some of the stuff named doesn’t exist; the language doesn’t really get updated by the lobbyists. In any case:
AAMVA is for DMV (or state equivalent) folks who get paid to go to a nice conference once a year.
AAMVA also operates two key federal databases that interop with various state systems, and that’s where the pressure is likely coming from. If you want to keep life simple for future-you, you seek to eliminate as much gray area/nuance/etc. from your data storage as you can.
You can see the Form 990 here:
https://www.aamva.org/getmedia/dbd0d805-2402-4d7f-b55b-8fe948c03e41/AAMVA-Audited-Financial-Statement-Reports-2023.pdf
And… the two main money-makers are CDLIS and NMVITS. NMVTIS is here:
https://www.aamva.org/technology/systems/vehicle-systems/nmvtis
Basically, it’s cheaper for AAMVA to lobby to ban certain things that would make their own lives harder in maintaining their titling software than it would to actually make their titling software work with non-US VIN’s. State-by-state regimes for allowing non-US vehicles in cause a lot of cruft that in turn cut into the bottom line.
Except Japanese cars aren’t the only ones that don’t have 17-digit VINs, including older domestic cars and the wording of these laws makes them far more of a threat to owners of more than just “kei” cars, which is a major reason this is so disturbing to me, someone who has no plans to picking up any JDM car, kei or otherwise (though I also support people being reasonably able to drive what they want). They might say they aren’t going after those other cars, but even if I were to trust them farther than I could flush their intact bodies down my toilet, what about the next Registrar? The wording is in the law, there’s nothing to stop them from declaring anything without a 17-digit VIN to be invalid. Maybe they couldn’t get away with that today, maybe not tomorrow, but it might not be that far off as car enthusiasm and people who are familiar with and like old cars decline in numbers. I’m not saying UTVs are a threat, I’m saying it’s the small Japanese imports that are a threat to some of the UTV market—not necessarily in MA—but it works to build up momentum by going after states where they think there will be little resistance (copied verbiage that other states used shows how little thought went into resisting or questioning it—I’m quite aware of how abjectly lazy the average law maker or government administrator is, though that stands pretty well in large companies, too, so I guess it’s just general human nature, which is another reason to abhor them). Thankfully, the AAMVA made a big mistake starting in TX, but defeat there hasn’t stopped them (perhaps jumping to projected low-effort New England was a change of strategy—conquer the easy states to get the ball rolling for tackling the more difficult ones). Whether these AAMVA scumbags are in the pocket of UTV makers or not, IDK, it’s only my guess, but someone has a big problem with Japanese imports and it’s not just some random rich guy whose hated neighbor owns a Honda Beat, it’s an organization with an agenda, but who and why? (I don’t think it’s accidental that non-kei cars are listed as AAMVA likely dictated or wrote the wording that wasn’t subsequently questioned by lazy sentient rubber stampers at the D/RMVs and I’m sure the AAMVA know the difference or they wouldn’t be on this crusade.)
I agree my early 50s brit-iron has a 6 digit VIN but in NO way resembles a JDM. I love these one size fits all rules. I’m glad that the MA DMV has such a lid on things to be able to devote time and resources to this fly-speck sized group of people.
Most of them are lawyers. If they can’t be bothered to even draft the fucking legislation what do we pay them for?
Cynically I realize most representatives aren’t actually put in office to represent people but manage the rabble (IE: us) for the monied interests, but my god, everyone except the people actually digging the ditches and making their magic money machine work gets a piece of the action, an easy do-nothing job, and is taken care of once their “career” is over.
How many useless suits can a nation support?
This is why I’m following this story with interest even if kei cars aren’t my thing. Dealer
bagmenlobbyists have much bigger fish to fry. Why are they going so hard for enthusiast shitboxes?Who is funding the AAMVA?
That’s what I’m wondering. Their 990 form sadly doesn’t have to show who the donors are. https://www.aamva.org/getmedia/ffc413c5-9577-4bd0-a4dc-46f40ff7354a/AAMVA-2022-Tax-Form-990-Public-Disclosure-Copy.pdf
I swear I remember in some earlier article about this, someone cited UTV/ATV companies as the donors, and then this information was absent from all future articles and now the authors don’t even acknowledge it as a possibility.
Keis are the thin end of the wedge; then they will come for any imports, then any pre-OBD cars, and eventually there will be a maximum 15-year lifespan allowed. Anything to push sales.