Latest News
2025 Chevrolet Traverse ReviewStates Reverse Kei Car Ban – More to Come?
Tiny JDM Cars
Kei cars are fun, super compact vehicles that are popular over in Japan. These tiny vehicles have grown in popularity over in the United States as their 25-year window for import arrives. These kei cars come in so many unique shapes that they fit every automotive niche – just on a smaller scale. You’ve got sports cars like the Autozam AZ-1, 4WD off-roaders like the Suzuki Jimny, people hauling kei vans like the Honda Acty, or the crowd favorite mini trucks like the Subaru Sambar.
While these unique kei cars are legalized at the federal level under the 25-Year Rule, these miniature vehicles have faced scrutiny at the state level. State officials have begun to crack down on the small JDM cars as they’ve been perceived as dangerous amongst the giant trucks and SUVs that dominate American roads. However, there’s been a glimmer of hope for kei cars as public outcry towards the banning of these has overturned at least one state’s ruling on the vehicles. Find out why these tiny imports are facing so much scrutiny from politicians and get the latest on their legal ability to drive on American roads.
Where Can Kei Cars Be Driven in America?
At a national level, kei cars can be imported and driven if they’re 25 years old or older. That’s when they’re considered classic vehicles and don’t have to comply with federal standards regarding safety and pollution. The only other federal insight into these vehicles is from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). They’ve noted that these mini, Japanese vehicles do not fall under the category of a motor vehicle. While that means they don’t have to adhere to federal safety standards, the NHTSA also has taken the stance that they do not advocate use of kei cars on public highways.
Nowhere in the USA are kei cars legal to use on public highways and interstates currently, and it’ll probably stay that way no matter how lenient laws are on the vehicles. Kei cars carry small engines that produce poor acceleration and tops speed around 70 mph usually. Due to these underpowered engines and their small stature, states commonly classify these vehicles similar to a UTV. This typically means they can drive on public roads up to a speed of 55 mph, but this does vary by state. Some may allow registering the vehicle but only allow them to be driven on recreational trails or on private land explicitly. Some states also restrict kei cars as being registered as “Historic” so they can only be driven occasionally rather than every day.
There are some issues with vehicle classification when registering a kei car in states like Virginia, where you sometimes just have to try a different DMV location to get things done after being turned away from another location. But there are also a few states where registering these vehicles is outright banned. Current states that have enacted policies or outright banned the registration of kei cars include Georgia, Maine, New York, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania. Recently, Michigan has also hopped on the ban trend by interpreting previously established laws in a different way as to enact a new DMV policy that prevents the registration of kei cars.
Some of the reasons these bans were enacted relate to the vehicles small size causing safety concerns out on the road. These 25 year old cars don’t adhere to modern safety standards and can fail to protect occupants should they have an accident with a larger vehicle. However, part of the reason they don’t need to adhere to that rule is the federally mandated 25-Year Rule we mentioned earlier. If they’re going to enact these kinds of regulations on these import cars, then who is to say they won’t impose the same ruling on all the other classics on the road today?
While all signs point to continued bans on these JDM cars in more states, there have been two successful instances where the car community has rallied behind kei cars to overturn state bans.
Massachusetts & Texas Reversed Their Kei Car Bans
Texans have been dealing with kei car issues for over a decade. While some of the initial owners as far back as 2007 were trying to register models that did not adhere to the 25-Year Rule, registering these vehicles has been banned regardless at Texas DMVs. Local fans of this automotive niche have continued to seek a reversal on this ban to no avail. That was until this year when Texas reversed their kei car ban and have since begun allowing owners to register their tiny vans and mini trucks for use on public roadways.
This huge win for kei car owners in Texas was followed up by a quick turnaround on a ban over in Massachusetts. Bostonians were saddened to hear that a ban on kei cars was enacted on June 18th of this year. It was worse than that though, because their ban noted Japanese vehicles that aren’t even considered kei cars initially and they also noted they had issue with the shortened VINs, something every JDM car carries as they don’t adhere to the 17-digit identification used in America. Public outcry from within the car community quickly pointed out how dumb this ban was and how it didn’t just ban kei cars, but other JDM imports.
On September 18th, some three months later, Massachusetts reversed their ban on kei cars – for now. While they’ve announced that currently registered kei vehicles can keep their active status and be renewed as well as allowing new kei vehicles to be registered, there was note of a study. The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles plans to review the safety implications of these kei vehicles on public roadways and a formal study surrounding the topic is under development. We can only hope that there’s further positives from this study and it can be a use case for overturning other state bans on these fun Japanese vehicles.
