MASSACHUSETTS HAS REVERSED ITS BAN ON KEI CARS

Over the past few months, Massachusetts has been cracking down on the registration of Kei cars. In some cases, the state has reportedly even refused to hand out titles and threatened to revoke existing registrations. As of Wednesday, however, that policy has been reversed: Kei cars and trucks are once again legal to drive on the streets in the Bay State.

The change was announced by the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles on Tuesday, September 18. In the announcement, the department says that the reversal came after a "preliminary assessment of industry standards" was completed. Owners are now free to register and renew the registrations on their vehicles throughout the state. The original Japanese car ban announced in July has also been unpublished from the Massachusetts RMV website.

Although Kei car owners are safe for now, this ruling may ultimately change again. The announcement of the reversal also states that plans are underway for a future formal study, the details of which will be announced later down the road. That study could lead to another change in the rules, once again putting owners of these cars in jeopardy of losing access to Massachusetts roads.

The ruling comes just two weeks after the Massachusetts RMV denied the registration of an R34 Skyline, a sedan that is much larger than a Kei car. The owner of that car claimed to get in contact with their state senator, who in turn claimed to "formally [request] a determination on this matter" from the state's RMV and Secretary of Transportation. Several petitioners later proposed a bill that could change the law to directly legalize Kei vehicle registration in the state, although that bill has not yet gone to a vote.

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2024-09-18T15:40:42Z dg43tfdfdgfd