Hey guys,
Im new here. I have a firebird that I got for 200$. It had no steering wheel and no motor. I was just going to use it for parts. well I threw a motor in it and fixed it up pretty good. the thing is that it came with an air bag. I didnt want to pay to fix the air bag system, so I put in a chrome wheel for 30 bucks. CAN I GET IN TROUBLE FOR THIS??? I just heard that it mey be illegal to not have one if it was an oem feature.

What about all the guys I know that remoe them to put in coo steering wheels?? Should I warn them?

 

 

Love it when people talk out their ***. One of these days something is going to happen to a member because of some bullsh<x>it advise and then TGO is going to get dragged into it.


The answer is....

Depends on the state - typically...

There are quite a few states that I am aware of that have outlawed removal (and some 'tampering'). IIRC the Fed makes a distinction between the actual owner (who can alter their vehicle's safety standards) and anyone who works on it (who can not). That said, you should do some research into both Fed and state laws.

For example, in Wisconsin, if you remove, change or tamper with an airbag, you can be subject to the Wisconsin Defective Air Bag Law (2001 Wisconsin Act 28).
Any person who unlawfully removes or tampers with an airbag can be subject to a fine of not more than $5,000 or imprisonment for not more than one year in a county jail or both.

 

It is illegal, pimp my ride (that stupid tv show) got fined $16k for removing them on one of the cars they did and they put in tv screens

 

I removed my steering wheel / airbag. Evidently, it is not illegal in Oklahoma. I notified my Insurance Company, and it increased my insurance rate $30 per year.

 

Thanks for the info Jerod

I have intentions to pull mine out and never thought about the legality of it.

 

it is in ohio

 

I live in Florida.

 

florida hehe, ummmm its legal.....

everythings legal here it seems like.

 

As far as I know, Florida does not have any laws dealing with removal of air bags.

In any case, how would they enforce a law like that when we don't have vehicle inspections anyway? I'm sure the DOT patrolmen take a look in people's cars to make sure they haven't tampered with their air bag.

 

it will depend state to state ...if you have to have a safety and or emmisions inspection odds are you cannot remove it ...but you still need to call and find out what the state law is dont just take someones word for it ....

 

ya in florida it seems almost anything that has four wheels and runs is legal at least in central florida. they let anything go.

 

Got a full text of it?

Wonder if turning the passenger air bag off with the switch will send you to jail? heh

I didnt see anything in the MGL making it illegal here in mass.

-- Joe

 

10 days......

 

Inserting symbols in to sneak past the swear filter is a no-no

Like everyone said, the simple answer is to call the local powers that be and ask if its manditoty that a vehicle that origionally came with an airbag have a functioning airbag at all times.

 

Perhaps we should make it an over-21 board then? Thats my vote.

-- Joe

 

In a lot of states, not sure if it is all of them or not. If a vehicle came equipped from the manufacturer with Air Bags and they have been removed for any reason. Insurance companies are not required to insure them and can refuse to insure them. If the vehicle has been previously insured and the airbags are removed. The insurance companies will not pay or cover any injuries in the event of an accident regardless of who is at fault.

 

Har.. I wanna see that one in court.

-- Joe

 

Sorry, you want I should not make my point well enough and have TGO brought into a liability suit or have Dirk and Iroc sued directly?? Yea, and we should tell them to purge their gas tanks with Acetylene while welding on it right? Didn't think so.

The Gen/Tech mods have seen it, if they had/have a problem they would have (or will) PM me and editied the post. I think it is reather VERY important to make that particular point.

This is much like the Acetylene thread. Make the point so people don't do really stupid crap.

Joe, I can guarantee that the insurance companies would try and mitigate their damages. No question. May have already done it, though I doubt that they wouldn't pay in most cases.

 

Yes it does vary state to state.

Like the 2nd post that was edited bru333. A shop cannot remove an airbag. Pimp my Ride got a fine becasue they removed safety equiptment and if anything happend to the owner of that car he/she or thier family would own MTV.

If you have safety inspections you may fail by removing the airbag. If you get in an accident you may wish you had one still.
I'd rather not have one, Ive been through a widshield before, it wasent that bad since I have a super hard head.

 

I'm not a fan of airbags. I've seen more airbag related injuries, than not. Accidents where the driver would have been perfectly fine, if the airbag hadn't nearly taken their head off.

And now, we're finding that the standard "ten and two" steering wheel placement taught in drivers ed, will result in both arms being broken if the airbag deploys.

Not to say that airbags don't save lifes. Sorta. In some situations, they do infact save people. It's just in every other situation, they hurt people.

In a situation where the driver doesn't wear a seatbelt, the airbag will most definately cause damage, especially if the driver makes it over the steering wheel prior to deployment.

-- Joe

 

California is a very liberal state. I'm waiting for California and Mass to require permits, and training courses on kitchen knifes.

I do agree with seat belt laws. They keep the driver/passenger firmly planted in the vehicle. They can cause the driver to maintain/regain control rather than being thrown to the apposing side of the vehicle.

Oddly enough, we're told NOT to wear seat belts.

-- Joe

 

I have to give it to Bru. Many on this site aren't man enough to fess up to their errors and I'm glad he didn't take it personally.

--

Joe, didn't you hear that they want to send us to training courses for paring knives?

--

As I mentioned before, the Fed make a distinction. The question arises when the owner of a vehicle want s to alter the safety equipment. That is state dependant as far as I can see.

 

lol. I wouldn't be surprised, but since we are in this wonderful state I wouldn't be surprised that it would be buried in a CMR or AG regulation much like our gun 'laws'. I'm really not that motivated to do the research, I just happened to know of the example I used from some other stuff I did.

 

Wait a minute here guys you do realise that the airbags in any thirdgen may or may not work. I would be willing to bet 99.9% of thirdgens with airbags have never been in for any sort of repair work or maintenance for the life of the vehicle.

Airbags and ABS have NOT been the lifesavers they where expected to be. Why?? Because people think because the have them they are safer so they will take a little more risk.

 

Well in most cars the airbag doesn't go off if the driver doesn't have his seatbelt on.