Help With PA Inspection Code
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 357
Likes: 0
From: New Galilee PA
Good to hear Jim! 
So has anybody heard of anyone trying to contact their Pennsylvania State Senator or State Representative to get the law changed or clarified?
It sucks that depending on where you drive in the state you may or may not get pulled over and cited for no doors.
I wonder if enough of us make enough noise, if we can get this changed?
So has anybody heard of anyone trying to contact their Pennsylvania State Senator or State Representative to get the law changed or clarified?
It sucks that depending on where you drive in the state you may or may not get pulled over and cited for no doors.
I wonder if enough of us make enough noise, if we can get this changed?
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 265
Likes: 1
From: Downingtown, PA
This comes up frequently on this and other Jeep boards. I live in PA and have written the following letter to the state representative for my district. I suggest others do the same.
To find your state representative, go here. You can link straight to his or her email once you find yours:
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/find.cfm
Here is my letter. Feel free to copy mine, or write your own. Together we can make a difference.
Dear Mr. State Representative [please fill in his/her actual name here...],
I am writing to you with a request to introduce legislation amending Section 175.80 of the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code. This section pertains to vehicle inspection. Specifically, I would like to see a change in part (4) of 175.80, which currently reads as follows:
§ 175.80. Inspection procedure.
...
(4) Check the door operation, including the tailgate, and reject if one or more of the following apply:
(i) The doors, except a tailgate on a pick-up truck, are not on the vehicle if originally fitted by the manufacturer.
(ii) The doors, including the tailgate, do not open and close securely, unless the vehicle has been manufactured or modified to the extent that there is no roof or side.
...
I drive a Jeep Wrangler. These vehicles are designed with doors that are removable, as a feature of the vehicle, and this part of the inspection code would seem to make it illegal to do so. The manufacturer includes instructions in the owners manual for removing the doors, and there is even a sticker inside the vehicle from the manufacturer clearly stating that the doors are only intended to provide protection from the elements (i.e., wind and rain), not for the protection of occupants in the event of an accident. The vehicle is enclosed in a steel roll cage, which provides the necessary protection in the absence of doors, and the doors do not contribute to the structural integrity of the vehicle in any way.
I would like to see this section of the vehicle code amended to make a specific exception for vehicles that were designed with removable doors. There is no safety issue here, as demonstrated above. I find it extremely odd and inconsistent that Pennsylvania law allows one to ride a motorcycle without a helmet, but forbids one to drive a Jeep without doors. For the sake of consistency, as well as in the interest of Jeep owners throughout the state who wish to use their vehicles as the manufacturer intended, I ask you to introduce legislation enacting such an amendment.
Kind regards,
[your name here]
.
To find your state representative, go here. You can link straight to his or her email once you find yours:
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/find.cfm
Here is my letter. Feel free to copy mine, or write your own. Together we can make a difference.
Dear Mr. State Representative [please fill in his/her actual name here...],
I am writing to you with a request to introduce legislation amending Section 175.80 of the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code. This section pertains to vehicle inspection. Specifically, I would like to see a change in part (4) of 175.80, which currently reads as follows:
§ 175.80. Inspection procedure.
...
(4) Check the door operation, including the tailgate, and reject if one or more of the following apply:
(i) The doors, except a tailgate on a pick-up truck, are not on the vehicle if originally fitted by the manufacturer.
(ii) The doors, including the tailgate, do not open and close securely, unless the vehicle has been manufactured or modified to the extent that there is no roof or side.
...
I drive a Jeep Wrangler. These vehicles are designed with doors that are removable, as a feature of the vehicle, and this part of the inspection code would seem to make it illegal to do so. The manufacturer includes instructions in the owners manual for removing the doors, and there is even a sticker inside the vehicle from the manufacturer clearly stating that the doors are only intended to provide protection from the elements (i.e., wind and rain), not for the protection of occupants in the event of an accident. The vehicle is enclosed in a steel roll cage, which provides the necessary protection in the absence of doors, and the doors do not contribute to the structural integrity of the vehicle in any way.
I would like to see this section of the vehicle code amended to make a specific exception for vehicles that were designed with removable doors. There is no safety issue here, as demonstrated above. I find it extremely odd and inconsistent that Pennsylvania law allows one to ride a motorcycle without a helmet, but forbids one to drive a Jeep without doors. For the sake of consistency, as well as in the interest of Jeep owners throughout the state who wish to use their vehicles as the manufacturer intended, I ask you to introduce legislation enacting such an amendment.
Kind regards,
[your name here]
.
Thread Starter
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 306
Likes: 0
From: Bucks Co., PA
Awesome Work!
This comes up frequently on this and other Jeep boards. I live in PA and have written the following letter to the state representative for my district. I suggest others do the same.
To find your state representative, go here. You can link straight to his or her email once you find yours:
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/find.cfm
Here is my letter. Feel free to copy mine, or write your own. Together we can make a difference.
Dear Mr. State Representative [please fill in his/her actual name here...],
I am writing to you with a request to introduce legislation amending Section 175.80 of the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code. This section pertains to vehicle inspection. Specifically, I would like to see a change in part (4) of 175.80, which currently reads as follows:
§ 175.80. Inspection procedure.
...
(4) Check the door operation, including the tailgate, and reject if one or more of the following apply:
(i) The doors, except a tailgate on a pick-up truck, are not on the vehicle if originally fitted by the manufacturer.
(ii) The doors, including the tailgate, do not open and close securely, unless the vehicle has been manufactured or modified to the extent that there is no roof or side.
...
I drive a Jeep Wrangler. These vehicles are designed with doors that are removable, as a feature of the vehicle, and this part of the inspection code would seem to make it illegal to do so. The manufacturer includes instructions in the owners manual for removing the doors, and there is even a sticker inside the vehicle from the manufacturer clearly stating that the doors are only intended to provide protection from the elements (i.e., wind and rain), not for the protection of occupants in the event of an accident. The vehicle is enclosed in a steel roll cage, which provides the necessary protection in the absence of doors, and the doors do not contribute to the structural integrity of the vehicle in any way.
I would like to see this section of the vehicle code amended to make a specific exception for vehicles that were designed with removable doors. There is no safety issue here, as demonstrated above. I find it extremely odd and inconsistent that Pennsylvania law allows one to ride a motorcycle without a helmet, but forbids one to drive a Jeep without doors. For the sake of consistency, as well as in the interest of Jeep owners throughout the state who wish to use their vehicles as the manufacturer intended, I ask you to introduce legislation enacting such an amendment.
Kind regards,
[your name here]
.
To find your state representative, go here. You can link straight to his or her email once you find yours:
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/find.cfm
Here is my letter. Feel free to copy mine, or write your own. Together we can make a difference.
Dear Mr. State Representative [please fill in his/her actual name here...],
I am writing to you with a request to introduce legislation amending Section 175.80 of the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code. This section pertains to vehicle inspection. Specifically, I would like to see a change in part (4) of 175.80, which currently reads as follows:
§ 175.80. Inspection procedure.
...
(4) Check the door operation, including the tailgate, and reject if one or more of the following apply:
(i) The doors, except a tailgate on a pick-up truck, are not on the vehicle if originally fitted by the manufacturer.
(ii) The doors, including the tailgate, do not open and close securely, unless the vehicle has been manufactured or modified to the extent that there is no roof or side.
...
I drive a Jeep Wrangler. These vehicles are designed with doors that are removable, as a feature of the vehicle, and this part of the inspection code would seem to make it illegal to do so. The manufacturer includes instructions in the owners manual for removing the doors, and there is even a sticker inside the vehicle from the manufacturer clearly stating that the doors are only intended to provide protection from the elements (i.e., wind and rain), not for the protection of occupants in the event of an accident. The vehicle is enclosed in a steel roll cage, which provides the necessary protection in the absence of doors, and the doors do not contribute to the structural integrity of the vehicle in any way.
I would like to see this section of the vehicle code amended to make a specific exception for vehicles that were designed with removable doors. There is no safety issue here, as demonstrated above. I find it extremely odd and inconsistent that Pennsylvania law allows one to ride a motorcycle without a helmet, but forbids one to drive a Jeep without doors. For the sake of consistency, as well as in the interest of Jeep owners throughout the state who wish to use their vehicles as the manufacturer intended, I ask you to introduce legislation enacting such an amendment.
Kind regards,
[your name here]
.
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 195
Likes: 0
From: PA
Glad you were able to resolve it on your own, before going to court.
Our state rep. is very responsive, he called me up on the phonethe very next day after I sent him an email - sadly, he is retiring - Art Hershey is his name...
Our state rep. is very responsive, he called me up on the phonethe very next day after I sent him an email - sadly, he is retiring - Art Hershey is his name...