Dune Buggies all done?!

[kimo55]

Ok, gang! here we go with another episode of:
How screwed up IS our local governmet anyway!?


In this round, we attempt to guess the exact or near reasoning of this installment's query;
why dune buggies are illegal on the streets.
BUT!
those lil electric cars with training wheels and no doors, driving tooo slowly in the gutters right next to our cars going 3x as fast, (at the speed limit) are allowed!

[pzarquon]

Dune buggies? You mean like those off-road zip-a-round things?

I don't know why they're not street legal, but I imagine it would be for the same reason dirt bikes aren't, either. Unregulated and unlicensed, you can do whatever the heck you want with them on your own property (or on private property with permission), but keep 'em off the roads.

Here's a thought: How a new vehicle is treated by government depends a lot on how it is introduced. Those electric GEM cars, in addition to being "pro environment," came into Hawaii in baby steps, with a lot of negotiating and lobbying the government. So, they got license plates, they got "special exemptions" from parking meters, all sorts of things. I presume by putting them under the regulating (and taxing!) control of the government, they're welcome on its roads.

Remember the Segway? They had the same idea, and both in Hawaii and at state capitols around the country, Segway reps gave politicians free rides, and meanwhile helped them draft legislation to classify them alongside motorized wheelchairs (thus allowing them on sidewalks). So while they definitely qualify as a new, unproven and unfamiliar technology, they also got the welcome mat.

I imagine that dune buggies, dirt bikes, and now those pocket bikes (http://www.hawaiithreads.com/showthread.php?t=2084) are getting the short shrift because they're sold as easily as refrigerators and riding mowers. Then again, the consumer benefits by not having to deal with licenses, permits, and who knows what else. You can play with them, but in your own backyard, not in everyone else's.

[Miulang]

Remember the Segway? They had the same idea, and both in Hawaii and at state capitols around the country, Segway reps gave politicians free rides, and meanwhile helped them draft legislation to classify them alongside motorized wheelchairs (thus allowing them on sidewalks). So while they definitely qualify as a new, unproven and unfamiliar technology, they also got the welcome mat.

Heehee, speaking of Segways, you remember how they're billed as being practically impossible to tip over? Did you hear that Prez GW Bush tried riding on one and lost his balance? I believe at least one Secret Service officer sustained bruises in trying to soften his fall to earth. Just last week I saw one of those gliding on the sidewalk in front of my corporate HQ.

Miulang

[kimo55]

Dune buggies? You mean like those off-road zip-a-round things?
I mean dune buggies. memorialized in hawaii 5-0, surf videos, and seen on our roads for years. decades. Not so much anymore, lately. But they were legal for a looooong time.
Dune buggies? Here's a thought: How a new vehicle is treated by government depends
"new vehicle."

they are not a new vehicle. They have been with us since the 60s.

[pzarquon]

I mean dune buggies. memorialized in hawaii 5-0, surf videos, and seen on our roads for years. decades. Not so much anymore, lately. But they were legal for a looooong time.Ah. Those. Yeah, they're essentially cars, aren't they? I had something considerably smaller in mind, closer to an ATV. A "Hawaii 5-0" dune buggy can definitely hold its own on the highway.

Googling around, I see that there was a movement to make dune buggies street legal (http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2003/Oct/14/ln/ln43a.html) last year. "They're really a customized Volkswagen and there are more than 25,000 of them on the road across the country," said owner Todd Matsumoto.

Unfortunately, the bill that would have done so turned out to be the very first victim (http://starbulletin.com/2003/04/05/news/story11.html) of Gov. Linda Lingle's veto pen. She opposed them because they would skirt both federal and state highway safety regulations. "For instance, these vehicles would not be required to be equipped with important safety equipment, such as seat belts," Lingle said.

[adrian]

These?
http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~dmb7777/craigdune1.JPG

[kimo55]

These?
http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~dmb7777/craigdune1.JPG
http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~dmb7777/craigdune1.JPG

nope.
Not to what I am referring.

[Serenity]

These?
http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~dmb7777/craigdune1.JPG
http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~dmb7777/craigdune1.JPG

Hay Adril,

Good links & photo.
When I hear people talk about "Dune Buggies",
that's I think of. When I was married
to my first husband in the mainland,
that is the type of buggy
we use to have. It was loads of fun!. Mine, was
just for 1 person = pipe buggy.
Oh I how I missed those days.
I bet they are difficult & expensive
to buy. Probably not to many places
a person can drive them around on.
A person would automatically have to have
a secong parking stall just to have one, to.
Thanks for the cool links.
Gave me a good flash backs. :)

[mel]

Unfortunately, the bill that would have done so turned out to be the very first victim (http://starbulletin.com/2003/04/05/news/story11.html) of Gov. Linda Lingle's veto pen. She opposed them because they would skirt both federal and state highway safety regulations. "For instance, these vehicles would not be required to be equipped with important safety equipment, such as seat belts," Lingle said.

Exactly. This is the 2nd time this bill has been killed in the last 2 years. When I think about Dune Buggies I think about the kit cars that would allow people to modify old Volkswagen Beetles. The kit would allow the user to basically get rid of the VW Beetle body, the interior and slap on a fiberglass body. Lots of people souped up the engine and put on loud exhaust pipes so that one of these things were noisier than normal.

The safety issue is a concern because the dune buggies don't have the federally required safety features that other passenger cars have.

As for the GEM car, that vehicle also lacks some basic safety features such as doors. I think the current law regarding these vehicles state that they are not to be driven on freeways.

Today's dune buggies are more like naked cars with only a frame, an engine, roll bar cage, and 2 seats and steering wheel. Not much federally approved safety features on these vehicles. They are great for off road use such as in mud bogs....