Should We Be Afraid?

[fry61]

This ACE post was found on SKCC site www.the-ace.org.uk/armageddon/

 

Should we worry/do anything/ignore as a club??

[Guest mower man]

Just skimmed thro it , it could be very wide ranging and disasterous but ACE are a bit famous for panics I think it shows that the EU is not good for us but WTF can we do about it ? mower man

[Guest Alan_builder]

ACE do have a reputation!

 

The document

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/doc/roadworthiness-package/com(2012)380.pdf

on page 4 it implies all interested parties were consulted. RHOCAR should have been an interested party? Have we been consulted? We all know the answer!

 

So yes we should as a club raise our objections with the Minister of Transport, first for being left out and then for the back handed way legislation seems to be being introduced.

 

I think we may fall foul of regulations intended to stop cut and shut jobs rather than those intended for a kit built cars.

 

Can an MOT be relied upon to verify the roadworthieness of a modified car kit or production? What constitutes a modification anyway?

[richyb66]

The highly respected Kev Rooney of ACE has been on this very forum in the past on other topics related to legislation so maybe he'll be along soon with more information.

 

I completely agree with what Stewart is saying regarding VOSA's desire to regulate vehicles that are radically altered from their original design and are on the road without any sort of formal inspection. In the past it has been too easy to get cars on the road that quite frankly, have no business being there and the IVA test (whilst far from being faultless), is a good step forward (even if Hot Rodders don't like it because they don't want a Q plate on a glass '32)

 

If the EU really got their act together, they'd look at IVA and then see to it that similar schemes are adopted elsewhere in Europe and more importantly, that vehicles approved in one country can then be exported to another without further testing. However, I wouldn't want to see a situation where Poland for example, introduce their own approval (that's dead easy to pass and only costs £100) and then everyone takes their car there and we also end up get loads of badly built cars imported here and then sold.

[agent_zed]

well we just need a couple of fishing rods in the boot

 

Exempt vehicles:

'vehicles used by agricultural, horticultural, forestry, farming or fishery undertakings with a maximum design speed not exceeding 40 km/h'

 

we just won't be able to drive very fast!

 

 

Personally i think it will be a price tactic with ever increasing IVA's which are already expensive at £500+ with a combined effort to weed out home made chassis's etc by requiring some kind of structural report. or maybe additional things like airbags that cannot be amatuer fitted.

 

It is saddening to think that the British (and anyone else for that matter) can't tinker in their garages, its what we are good at and the more it is discouraged the more kids will grow up in front of an xbox or hanging around with nothing to do or interest them.

 

guess we'll have to await more info but if there is a petition, i'm in!

[fry61]

My immediate thoughts on scanning through was "does DVLA/VOSA keep any record of the amatuer build pictures that we sent in" as would think there are few cars that look the same post IVA; mine included.

[edbond]

well we just need a couple of fishing rods in the boot

 

Exempt vehicles:

'vehicles used by agricultural, horticultural, forestry, farming or fishery undertakings with a maximum design speed not exceeding 40 km/h'

 

we just won't be able to drive very fast!

 

Surely that part can just fall off derestricting it

[ibrooks]

I'm not worried about my kit as it never went through IVA so there's little or no record of what it should look like under the skin or how it should/shouldn't be constructed so I've got a fairly free hand to make changes so long as it still looks like others of it's type and is largely similar underneath.

 

My Focus however.... Is a rally car shell so fairly seriously different to your average Focus as are the mechanical components (it's drivetrain, suspension and whatnot are more Sierra than Focus). But the logbook and chassis number say it's an ST170 and until you look underneath you wouldn't know otherwise. I see an IVA looming.

 

I can understand what they are trying to achieve with this type of legislation but I think the way they are going about it will have people looking for loopholes rather than trying to comply. I also agree with the comment about kids losing the incentive and ability to be tinkering with something in a shed rather than turning into pudding in front of a computer screen. Yes there are things other than cars or bikes that you can get your hands dirty on but how much more incentive is there when you know the end result is something you can get in/on and go somewhere to show it off? Motorsport is already to a large extent a preserve of the monied few and the track is going to become the only place you can drive your modified car or bike.

 

Unless...... have we all seen the clowns riding mini-moto's somewhere they shouldn't? With no tax/MOT/insurance. Maybe it's time to join them?

 

Iain

[Al Milton]

I've just quickly scanned through this doc and can see that there could be some changes - this is only a proposal remember.

 

The upshot is, and I expect to be proven wrong, that there could be a change to a 2 yearly MOT type test until your car reaches a mileage of 160,000km, when it will revert to an annual test.

 

Prior to this, new vehicles won't be subject to a test until they are 4 years old (or hit the mileage above).

Trailers up to 3500kg will be included in the test regime - is this really a bad thing? How often have you passed (or been passed by) a rickety old trailer with wonky wheels / no lights working / full of rust etc. Admittedly, there could be some additional pain for us financially, but the upshot is that trailers will be safer (hopefully).

 

If this Regulation change also stops the idiotic muppets from lumping a socking great engine into an old banger without paying any regard to brakes, suspension, steering, tyre ratings etc and then whizzing round like they are on a Grand Turismo X-Playstation Box style game, then so be it.

 

The ultimate goal should always be vehicle safety. We've all seen (or been unfortunate victims of) the consequences of poorly maintained vehicles. We are all (hopefully) conscientious enough to ensure our cars are safe to drive on the highway, therefore I hope, we have little to fear (apart from the costs) as this Regulation appears to propose one standard across Europe.

 

It may even make it easier, in the future, for the likes of Stewart, (we all remember his frustration and pain with Zorro), to import cars. The IVA was supposed to be this route, but has failed miserably.

[Guest MarkB]

The 2 year test got kicked out for the second time at the beginning of the year, vosa spoke about. Trailer and caravan tests a few years ago

[Guest snotfart]

sledgehammer and nut springs to mind when i read about all this euro cr4p.there is precious little evidence to suggest that modified or even poorly maintained vehicles are responsible for the death and carnage which so clearly does not surround us.in my opinion the current testing regime does a good job of keeping unsafe vehicles off the road,those that it misses are being driven illegally anyway and as such are a problem for the enforcement community.

[Guest snowy2]

This is an old well worn scaremongering topic. the regulations already exist in this country to do all of what is proposed. what you must remember is that the eu want everyone to play by the ame rules and the eu is based mostly in belgium where almost nothing can be done to cars. It is not likely to happen. not soon anyway. Besides it refers to modifying cars.......how the hell can they prove any kit car has been “modified“ ?