Is this good for the city? (Cincinnati: inspection, price, law)

[Finkbeiner]

It looks like Cincinnati has determine oversized wheels are now a safety risk. Police can impound any car they think is unsafe and then the car has to pass a city inspection.

If the car fails the inspection the owner must pay an impound fee, a fine and hire a tow truck to haul it out of the city lot. Supposedly there was no warning about the crackdown and no explanation as to why the cars are deem unsafe.

I am not sure if the are only targeting donks in general or any car with slightly oversized rims.

[t45209]

I wish they could confiscate subwoofers instead. Big rims don't bother me in my house.

[jon1987]

Do you have a link for this? Not calling BS, just curious. I wouldn't be surprised if they cracked down on "donk" owners, as many of them run huge wheels, unsafe suspension modifications, and tiny stock brakes that barley sufficient in the 80s.

[Finkbeiner]

Here's the link...

Jalopnik - Drive Free or Die

[wolden]

"Donk". Cool, I have learned a new word. So that is what those strange looking cars are called.

[blowingdown]

More racial profiling brought to you by the City of Cincinnati. Does this remind anyone of the marijuana law from a few years back?

[t45209]

Originally Posted by blowingdown

More racial profiling brought to you by the City of Cincinnati. Does this remind anyone of the marijuana law from a few years back?

Stop it! Please! If it's unsafe, it unsafe. It doesn't matter what color you are. Plus, I've seen plenty of white boy wannabees driving these kinds of cars. Personally, I don't care if it is unsafe and someone wants to kill themselves driving one of these. I just laugh at how ridiculous it is and how stupid I would feel if spent thousands of dollars on an '85 Chevy Caprice making it look like that.

[kjbrill]

Is there any confirmation of this other than the posted link? And if it is being done, what is the legal basis behind it, city ordinance, state vehicle safety laws, etc?

Significant modifications to suspension, etc. can seriously alter the handling characteristics of a vehicle. But this includes pickups with block risers inserted to allow huge wheels. And the comment about brakes is certainly relevant. Just because some after market outfit will sell you the parts does not mean they are safe or adequately engineered. If a vehicle OEM manufacturer makes a mistake and puts an inadequately designed or validated product out there they are liable to civil suits for damages. We see examples of this everyday. But these modified vehicles, who is liable for them? In today's world maybe the OEM since they did not design the vehicle so it could not be modified.

The announced policy of confiscation appears drastic to me. Why not a ticket requiring the vehicle to be brought in for a safety inspection? As a result of the inspection the vehicle is deemed to be road-worthy or not. If deemed not road-worthy then actions such as surrendering the license, requiring it to be towed to a site for mandated repairs, etc. are reasonable.

But to call it racial profiling is just a comment to create and incite social unrest. If it happens to be the vehicles in question are favored by one ethnic group over another, so what! The question is whether they are safely executed or not. If the result is an unsafe vehicle on the road with everyone else they should be banned. If it is a question of being cool, then park it and tell everyone how cool it is.

But if you put one of these vehicles on I-71, cause an accident with fatalities, then I do not want to see the typical namby pamby charges. To me it becomes a premeditated act, as the dangers should have been known. This is where I want to see the charge of Vehicular Manslaughter changed to Vehicular Murder.

[blowingdown]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

But to call it racial profiling is just a comment to create and incite social unrest. If it happens to be the vehicles in question are favored by one ethnic group over another, so what!

One cannot incite social unrest, people are uneasy or they aren't. Will this statute lead to unwarranted searches and harassment? I think it will.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by blowingdown

One cannot incite social unrest, people are uneasy or they aren't. Will this statute lead to unwarranted searches and harassment? I think it will.

Is there a specific statute you are referencing? I thought the whole complaint was it was an indiscriminate change in enforcement by the Cincinnati Police? So which is it, a new law, a decision to enforce an existing law previously ignored, what?

Of course you can incite social unrest simply by more rigidly enforcing certain laws which were previously ignored.