Legal bumper height in BC

[jessef]

I recently heard from a fellow Delica owner that was pulled over by police and issued a government inspection because of the lift on their Delica.

From the Highway Patrol Website -

The centerline of the bumper must fall within 380 to 560 mm above ground for cars and the lowest part must be 750 mm (29.5")high or less for trucks weighing 4500 kg or less. The width of the bumper must be at least equal to the track width of the vehicle, and the horizontal surface must be at least 100 mm in width.

And one thing to note is that SUV's are not trucks. They are rated as passenger vehicles and would have to follow the rules for cars. That is why they have car plates and not truck plates. Same goes for Delica's.

Also note for anyone modifying or making a new bumper. at least equal to the track width of the vehicle

Head's up to anyone of you people who gets pulled over in the future regarding this.

Jesse


EDITED

Confirmed.

Light truck category.

29.5" inches from level ground to bottom of bumper and 55'' inches to the center of the headlights from level ground

[after oil]

word
ill have to measure my custom bumper inthe am

[mararmeisto]

If you haven't lifted your machine, you should be alright. I just whipped out the ol' tape measure and bingo-bango: right on the mark.

The subjectivity of the various peace officers is probably more directed at the 'monster' lifts. Mind you, some of the NASUVs have a pretty high 'freeboard' as well. I suspect this is probably another example which can be attibuted to our relative visibility compared to all the NAPOSs. "Hey Bob, look, one o' dem crazy right-hand drive jobbies! Let's go give 'em a hard time. It'll be fun!" "Okay, Joe! Just let me put the donut back in the box so I don't get dust sprinkled all over the front of me again like last time."

[storm80y]

Hypothetically if the bumper is over 750mm and they, unfortunately, hit someone wouldn't the person less likely to be injured as opposed to being dragged under the vehicle? Or is this aimed at collisions between two vehicles?

[mararmeisto]

Hypothetically if the bumper is over 750mm and they, unfortunately, hit someone wouldn't the person less likely to be injured as opposed to being dragged under the vehicle? Or is this aimed at collisions between two vehicles?

It has more to do with vehicles hitting each other in the same spot. This is why trucks and cars are different (read: have different height allowances). So, as one can see from this, the logic should be thus: trucks should only hit trucks, and cars should only hit cars.

Pedestrian safety when getting run over has only become popular in the past few years: Honda and Volvo (?) have been testing front-end and hood designs such that the pedestrian will be thrown up onto the hood (instead of being hit square-on at the knees). Saw a video on it earlier this year.

[jrman]

Great info.
Damaged my front valance last summer on a stump (just missed seeing it in my conical mirror as I was backing out of a hole). Bought a welder and started playing - well, that was 6 months ago and I haven't gotten very far...but glad to see this post and will help me with my final design. I'm actually heavily modifying a diamond plate step bumper off an old chevy....Hoping it will look as good as the picture in my mind....but probably not!
Tks for the info.

[FalcoColumbarius]

I believe the Miss Lil' Bitchi is insured as a "light duty truck". I have business insurance. Also, I understand that the registration plate layout has little to do with what kind of insurance you have ~ when I took the plate over I went for business and upon enquiring a plate change the insurance agent assured me that it no longer mattered.

Falco.

[jessef]

I believe the Miss Lil' Bitchi is insured as a "light duty truck".

Falco. Can you double check ?

All Delica's P25x/P35x should be classified as a station wagon (SW) passenger vehicle.

License plate #'s = 3 alpha and 3 numeric.

[FalcoColumbarius]

To my best understanding (but I will check to be sure) Vans, at least.... fall into that weird and wild twilight zone of "Is it a car or is it a truck". When you take into account that the term "truck" was originally a slang term as far as vehicles are concerned and the original meaning of the word was basically describing an axle with two wheels, i.e.; that "lorry" has three trucks. You still hear the term used in this fashion on the railway. Anyway, I have had vans with both registration plate designations. My Chevy three quarter tonne vans had the other plate designation where my Delica one tonne has the three letter/ three number plate. The insurance guy told me that it didn't matter. When you look at a Chevy van it comes with seats which can be left in, taken out, I can load it full of plywood, I can turn it into a camper, &c.. I have always used my vehicles for moving tools and paint. I have a business with business insurance.

Falco.

[jessef]

The type of insurance doesn't matter.

It's the body classification.

Before the term 'SUV' became the norm for new generation sport ute's, all trucks before the 00's (Jeep cherokee, blazer, jimmy, 4 Runner,etc..) were and still are classified as passenger station wagon SW vehicles.

Because the Delica is not a pick up truck, it's classified as a station wagon = cheaper insurance cost btw.

Only issue is the bumper height.

Delica's have much higher bumpers than most 80-90's SUV's.

I'll have to look into it more because if we (Delica owners) fall under the station wagon classification (which to my knowledge we do).

The centerline of the bumper must fall within 380 to 560 mm above ground

So our bumpers have to be between 15" and 22".

Mine is over 22 inches lifted.

Someone measure a stock Delica bumper please and post here

[Golf Cart]

15-22 from the bottom ? , and we're talking bumper, not bullbars

[jessef]

Just need to be certain about this so when the time comes when we get pulled over, I'd like to have the knowledge/documentation to show the officer who may question the height of the bumpers.

Better to be prepared.

If one Delica owner was stopped already for 'too high bumpers', then we should all group together and figure this out.

[FalcoColumbarius]

Agreed.

[Golf Cart]

Mine has no lift, or Tbar twist running 235 70r 15's.

18.5 inches to the bottom of the grey 2 inch strip at the bottom of the front.

.

[jessef]

I'm 22" front 23.5" rear ground to bottom of bumper (plastic)