Out side door handle required by law?

[Frank DuVal]

14 hours ago, Max4Me said:

Joe, be careful what you wish for.  Many years ago California had safety inspections. They were a real pain in the … um, hemorrhoid zone. Often set up on the side of a busy street and randomly pulled cars in. Problem, issued a 30 day ‘fix-it’ ticket. Big item was they’d check headlight alignment to state specs. Almost every car that ever replaced a sealed beam light got nailed for that. Bad safety issue, park it until you can get it towed and repaired. (OK, I have no issue with that part). But, Highway patrol could pull you over to do a once over. I was pulled over because the CHP ‘thought’ I had a tail light out (NOT). Still checked tail, brake, head (high & low beams, and backup lights; turn signals (front & back), horn and ebrake. They also pulled on door handles to see if the door was secure, AND checked door locks to be sure they worked. Wasted 1/2 hour of my time and I didn’t even get the windshield sticker showing the car passed inspection! Now I agree there are cars on the road that junkyards wouldn’t take and should be removed from the road, but I am glad the annual inspections are history.

Confused. If the inspections were on the side of the road, how were they annual inspections?  Sure we can get stopped for improper equipment anytime, had it happen to me, just told him I knew the headlamp was out when I left work, and going home to change it, the truth, he pointed out the license plate lamp also not working, OK, I'll fix that too. Oops. They do none of that other inspection stuff. Hey, the brakes worked, I just stopped for them....🤣

 

But unless you are a big truck, no roadside stations set up. We do have roadside spot weigh inspections.

 

I hear California does not allow spotlights on private vehicles. Is this true? A friend from CA was amazed I had a working spotlight on the Graham.

Edited August 27, 2022 by Frank DuVal (see edit history)

[ply33]

17 minutes ago, Frank DuVal said:

. . . You want to drive a car with no obvious way to open the doors with the windows closed, then no one can help you if you are inside and unconscious. . .

A spring loaded center punch will remove a tempered glass side window instantly and the fire/rescue folks know that.

 

Not sure about the cars with safety glass, I suspect a sledge hammer might be needed. Some new cars have “acoustic glass” which seems to be two layers of glass laminated together which sounds like safety glass to me. I suspect those could be a problem too.

[rocketraider]

16 minutes ago, Frank DuVal said:

For years a specific piece of equipment was needed to be a VA State Safety Inspection Station. It was needed to inspect some older vehicles. No youngsters knew what it was. OK antique buffs, what was it?

Headlight aiming device. Most stations, it sat in the corner covered up, with years of dust on its cover!

 

I have my own set of Hoppy adjusters which are close to what the factory used to aim them. I think Hopkins made the AC branded ones for GM.

 

[Terry Bond]

Well,  Roger (the original poster) must be laughing his ass off a all the back and forth talking about who knows what/who knows where!  Remember- his original "stuff" was about someone in MA with an unspecified type of vehicle that failed an inspection fir a door handle issue.   Despite requests and hints, he has not provided further details so he can get a good and direct response. So, before we waste any more time talking about what happens in Utaw, Califurnie, or Vergeny, Roger-tell us what kind of car and what the rules are in MA. 

 

I'd bet a crab-cake at Hershey he's talking about somebodies "hot-rod" roadster that had to be inspected as a regular vehicle because it's not an antique car.

 

Still glad to be living in Virginia where we don't have to worry about getting properly registered antique cars inspected!

Terry

[Frank DuVal]

Glenn, no. Try again. 😉

[rocketraider]

 

1 hour ago, Terry Bond said:

Still glad to be living in Virginia where we don't have to worry about getting properly registered antique cars inspected!

 

 

Just keep your eyes and ears on a Southside legislator and a police chief in Altavista. 

 

That chief was a captain in Danville when all the 2007 unpleasantness started, and one of the first things he did after moving to Altavista was go after farm plates, again enlisting that legislator's help. I can put two and two together... 

 

That little stunt drew the ire of the state Farm Bureau which got it squashed. Would that we had the Virginia Farm Bureau's clout.

 

 

Frank, you'll have to educate me.🤔

[1937hd45]

Model T Fords were not the only cars produced without outside door handles.

 

[Frank DuVal]

Glenn, ever see one of these back in the 80s for Virginia State Safety Inspection?

 

 

[Guest]

21 hours ago, Frank DuVal said:

 

 

For years a specific piece of equipment was needed to be a VA State Safety Inspection Station. It was needed to inspect some older vehicles. No youngsters knew what it was. OK antique buffs, what was it?

 

The answer is, a brake meter mounted on the drivers window to check the deceleration rate.

[Jubilee]

 I got a ticket in Kansas in early sixties for having driver’s door welded shut on a 190 IHC dump truck. Rattling door was driving me crazy.

  It was an ICC inspection ( before DOT) and to my amazement, the tack welded door was the only thing they wrote up.

[Guest]

20 hours ago, Terry Bond said:

Well,  Roger (the original poster) must be laughing his ass off a all the back and forth talking about who knows what/who knows where!  Remember- his original "stuff" was about someone in MA with an unspecified type of vehicle that failed an inspection fir a door handle issue.   Despite requests and hints, he has not provided further details so he can get a good and direct response. So, before we waste any more time talking about what happens in Utaw, Califurnie, or Vergeny, Roger-tell us what kind of car and what the rules are in MA. 

 

I'd bet a crab-cake at Hershey he's talking about somebodies "hot-rod" roadster that had to be inspected as a regular vehicle because it's not an antique car.

 

Still glad to be living in Virginia where we don't have to worry about getting properly registered antique cars inspected!

Terry

Well, Terry, you are spot on about the Hot Rod roadster in my post.

 But I do really enjoy all the responses that have been given.

 And thank you for the info in your posts that I used to look up Ma. law.

 In the final end, being that the car is a 32 Ford roadster, it is grandfathered in without outside door handles. 🧓

[Frank DuVal]

1 hour ago, Roger Walling said:

 

The answer is, a brake meter mounted on the drivers window to check the deceleration rate.

Yes! 👍 Actually windshield mounted with the suction cups. Back then we had semi-annual inspections, so if the difficult to remove drum car (and I don't mean stuck drum, I mean the ones that required opening the differential, etc.) could decelerate properly then it passed. The Ammco meter I saw was still new in the box at a mechanic's shop in the early 2000s.

 

Maybe the picture helped?

Edited August 28, 2022 by Frank DuVal (see edit history)

[rocketraider]

11 hours ago, Frank DuVal said:

Glenn, ever see one of these back in the 80s for Virginia State Safety Inspection?

 

 

I have, but I can honestly say I never saw one used!

 

I need to run that pic by my 30-ish State Trooper cousin and his buddies. Ga-ron-teed to get a few dumb looks! A Vajenya State Trooper is supposed to be able to perform the entire inspection procedure. A couple of these boys are good LEOs but, shall we say, not exactly mechanically inclined! Young John Xander doesn't even like washing his cop vehicle, especially since he got assigned a Tahoe. He's 5'8".

 

Dangit Frank- now you've put me on the hunt to find one for me very own! To go with the headlight aimers, the windshield wiper arm pressure gage, and all the other assorted mess that my Pontiac bud tells me I'd better start labeling if I expect him to be my executor...

[Guest]

58 minutes ago, Frank DuVal said:

Yes! 👍 Actually windshield mounted with the suction cups. Back then we had semi-annual inspections, the early 2000s.

 

Maybe the picture helped?

 The ones used in Ma. hung from the side window and was just a pendulum that swung higher the quicker the car stopped.

[Max4Me]

On 8/27/2022 at 8:34 AM, Frank DuVal said:

The proper way to change the sealed beam does NOT require messing with the adjustment screws.

 

On 8/27/2022 at 8:40 AM, Frank DuVal said:

Confused. If the inspections were on the side of the road, how were they annual inspections?

First, you are right about adjusting screws when replacing sealed beams. It’s been too long to remember (what did I have for breakfast?) how many people I knew that got dinged for headlights. However, my mom’s new (3 years old) car that never had a light replaced was given a warning that one headlight needed adjusting. I don’t know, maybe CHP was in cahoots with repair stations? Or bad potholes back then affected alignment?

 

As I recall they were not mandatory inspections, but after the first of the year they always seemed to pop up in droves, and randomly thereafter. If you passed you got a windshield sticker with that year’s date. Funny thing about those; people would just keep putting each new one above the other (on left side of windshield), which under CA law is a safety violation because it obscured the driver’s view. 

 

Thanks for allowing me to clarify, and for keeping me honest!😁

[Max4Me]

On 8/27/2022 at 8:40 AM, Frank DuVal said:

I hear California does not allow spotlights on private vehicles. Is this true? A friend from CA was amazed I had a working spotlight on the Graham.

Yes,  you can have spotlights in Calif. on private vehicles:

California Laws - Vehicle Code
DIVISION 12. EQUIPMENT OF VEHICLES
CHAPTER 2. LIGHTING EQUIPMENT

SECTION 24404. (a) A motor vehicle may be equipped with not to exceed two white spotlamps, which shall not be used in substitution of headlamps.