Re: US Safety regulations

[George Graves <gmgraves@domain.elided>]

"Craps" is right. The US government, in its most benevolent 'Big 
Brother' role, is determined to save Americans from their cars. To do 
this, they have written a huge book (which gets added to constantly as 
they think-up newer and ever "cooler" new laws with which to saddle the 
auto industry). This 'book' covers such things as bumper height, 
headlight height, tail-light location, the types of lights that the 
tail-lights shall have (in the USA we have to have a back-up light on 
BOTH sides of the car). Next there is the glass requirement. US cars 
are REQUIRED to have safety PLATE glass in all windows. Most European 
car manufacturers are only required to use safety plate in the 
windshield for their home-market cars. Then there are the bumpers. Not 
only do all bumpers (on cars) have to be the same height, they also 
have to absorb the shock from a 5 mph collision without damaging the 
car. Then there is the "crash worthiness test." This is the test that 
requires the car manufacturer to GIVE (as in without cost) the US 
government cars to CRASH to destruction. Can you imagine Ferrari GIVING 
the US Government a new Enzo to destroy simply so that less than 100 
Americans can buy one? At one time there was talk of exempting low 
volume and extremely expensive cars from these crash tests, but I don't 
know if it was ever done. And finally, there are emissions laws. US 
cars have to meet stringent (and also mostly arbitrary) pollution 
emission requirements. That's not to say that the ECU doesn't have 
emissions laws as well, or that these emissions laws are any less 
effective than US laws.They're just 'different.'  And therein lies the 
problem. Bureaucrats NEVER think. they just compare laundry-lists of 
compliance items. If the cars don't match-up 100% they are rejected.

The upshot of all this nonsense is that many European car manufacturers 
have decided that the number of sales that they would have in the USA 
are simply not worth the trouble and expense to build cars to meet 
these often arbitrary, and wholly unnecessary specific US safety laws. 
For this reason, companies like Fiat (Fiat, Lancia, and Alfa Romeo), 
Peugeot, Renault, Citroen, MG, TVR, Morgan and a number of other 
European makes have chosen not to sell their cars in North America any 
more. And other companies, such as VW, BMW, Audi, and Mercedes do not 
sell their entire line of cars here. For instance, BMW and Audi don't 
sell their low-end hatch-backs (like the Audi A3) here, neither does VW 
sell their Polo in the USA. Some European car companies make strange 
assumptions about the US market. VW, for instance won't sell an AWD GTI 
here. We are sold "4-Motion" in the Passat, but can't get a 4-motion 
Passat with a manual transmission- automatics only! Speaking of 
Automatics. Jaguar recently introduced a really hot version of their 
S-type. Over 400 horsepower, and in the USA, its only offered with what 
automotive journalists are calling a completely inadequate automatic 
transmission. In Europe this car can be had with a six-speed manual.

So, like I've said before, our bureaucrats have put the United States 
behind an "Automotive Iron Curtain" and we're likely to stay there.

George Graves


On Monday, September 16, 2002, at 05:35  AM, alfa-digest wrote:


> Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 12:09:20 +0200
> From: Luca <nodoubt@domain.elided>
> Subject: US Safety regulations
>
> Please enlighten myself.
>
> What's up w/ all these craps about US safety regulations?
>
> I mean, what does US govt really want for making a car street worth?
> Aren't mercedes, saab and bmw sold over there? They are sold also
> here in EU, and they are quite common. So which are the difference
> between a us registered SAAB 9-5 and a EU version??? Or which are
> the difference between a Mercedes spider here and there? Or a serie
> 3, 5 or 7 BMW there and here?
> I suppose the cars are basically the same. Differences must be about
> lights, parking lights, daytime lights, turn signal colors or things
> like that. Aren't they??
>
> I would like to know. Thanx
> Luca
>
>
> nodoubt,
> "With dreams to be a king first one should be a man" Joey DeMaio
> 937, 75 Turbo, RM250
>
>
> http://nvr2fst.supereva.it
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