(off topic)Overheard at school today

[delica 304]

I was just getting a coffee when I caught the tail end of this:

"..Then he said RHD's should not be alowed on the road!"

My curiosity peaked, I went over to the two lads and asked for more details. It turns out that a friend of theirs was pulled over by the police over the weekend and was told that he had to get his RHD re- complianced (inconvenient for the driver as he had to undo all the mods he performed since getting his car so it would pass inspection.) Then the cop told him that RHD's should not be allowed on the roads!

(short rant)
-Now, While that is total bunk(can the police even make you re- compliance your car?), I do find that it is too easy for a novice (young) driver to get their hands on a machine that is way out of their league. Just yeterday I saw a heavily modded RHD SC400 whipping around the corner with a big N sticker on the back. (I know that it is just as easy for novice drivers to get their hands on a mustang, but the allure of high power AND RHD adds to the Fast and the Furious "Looky at me, girls" factor.)- Personally I think that if a novice (young) driver wants a RHD, they should be restricted to a nice kei car (I'm thinking Suzuki Carry!)-Cars in general, actually. HP+boiling testosterone= trouble

Maybe the cop was just trying to keep the kid from getting in trouble by forcing him to revert his car back to its previous configuration(still not in his authority), but his comments were way out of line!

[delicat]

What they told you and what the officer actually told them could be very different...

If the car was highly modified it could very easily and legally be "boxed" for inspection by the officer. In one case the driver will be alloyed to drive away and will have a set amount of time to have the vehicle inspected and corrected. If the vehicle is deemed unsafe for immediate operation it would be immediately removed from the road until such a time that the problems are corrected and the vehicle inspected.

Basically, I'd doubt the officer would have something against RHD as it's safer for them to pull you over. It's more about how they are driven...

I agree with you on HP limitation (and other) for young drivers, not only on RHD but all vehicles including motorcycles.

[delica 304]

Ooh, good point about motorcycles, I completely forgot about those!

Bikes can be tricky, it's not hard to take even a scooter, and mod it so it goes all the way to plaid!

[patty]

hey lets watch the "novice talk" i got my N and im a way better driver then most people i see out there.(not saying im the best but better then average,haha)

[delicat]

And you're driving a 4500lbs vehicle with about 85hp... You should lead the coalition against "New Drivers with more Testosterones than Brain"!

Glad to see "N" can't be generalized!

[jaggedfish]

The topic of "N" and "L" drivers is typical of most subjects where the bad apples dictate the stereotype. I've been thru this with motorcycles, jetskis, snowboarding (in the 80's)... nobody notices the responsible ones. It's easy to want to fight back on those topics.

My ramblings...

Perhaps the officer was referring to the performance capabilities of the RHD vehicle and not the actual "handing" of the driver seat. Maybe the mentality is that imported cars have higher performance than "regular" imports. One look at Subaru's turbo monster rally based car kills that theory - and that's a factory machine. Dunno.

Could also have been the fact the kid that got pulled over was being an idiot and the officers response was to make life difficult for him. It's not the vehicle... it's the driver. That's why the graduated license program was brought in. Personally, I feel it should go a step further and limit the performance capabilities of the vehicle for the duration of the learning period... especially motorcycles as a learner can choose (I believe) to ride a Hyabusa if they so desire... that's a machine that will bite back hard if you screw up. I've been a biker for 25 years and have endured 2 very serious crashes (still recovering from one of those) even with a high level of experience. One of the reasons I ride Harley type bikes instead... too much temptation to twist the wrist.

Just my 2 cents....

[Green1]

inconvenient for the driver as he had to undo all the mods he performed since getting his car so it would pass inspection.

if he has to undo anything to pass inspection than the officer was quite right to make it get re-inspected as it is obviously not compliant...

NEVER intentionally make a vehicle non-compliant. if you know that a modification you will make would not pass inspection, DON'T DO THE MOD! It is illegal!

For more on this sort of issue check the Imported Vehicle Owners Association of Canada (IVOAC) website, and if any of you are having trouble determining what the rules actually are in relation to RHD, inspections, importing, etc, IVOAC has a lot of very well informed members who can help sort things out.