I Haven't Located Anything On This Nhtsa Regulations In The Works.

[Double D in Ohio]

From Yahoo news the first couple weeks of 2016.
https://www.yahoo.com/autos/nhtsa-alter-vehicle-code-prevent-3-wheelers-elio-140000250.html


What happens if this "REGULATION" seemingly aimed at ElioMotirs canot be beaten??

 

[Gas-Powered Awesome]

Elio is supporting similar regulations because Elio will pass them.
Read this blog post: http://www.eliomotors.com/elio-motors-focus-on-safety/

The Green Cars article Yahoo is copying is written by a click-baiting moron pretending to be a journalist.

 

[floydv]

First, it's a proposed regulation, not a regulation in place.

Second, it is a reference to a possible proposed rulemaking, so NHTSA hasn't even proposed the regulation (it must be published in the Federal Register as a proposed rulemaking so that the public can review and comment on it). The doofus who wrote the GreenCarReports article didn't even bother to confirm whether a proposed rulemaking was actually posted for comment (hint: it wasn't).

Third, it would be silly for the agency to simply propose suddenly excluding autocycles and other motorcycles with car-like features from the motorcycle definition, with the immediate expectation that they comply with what, the automotive crash tests? Their car-like features notwithstanding, these vehicles clearly are not cars and would clearly have different crash dynamics. Therefore, it seems to me that a proposal to exclude them from the motorcycle definition would necessarily have to be accompanied simultaneously with a proposed crash test protocol specific to autocycles. And such a proposal would need to have an appropriate lead time (read several years) to allow the autocycle manufacturers to adjust their vehicles and conduct thorough testing to meet the new standards. Proposing a rule that applies immediately with no reasonable way for a manufacturer to comply would be viewed as unfair, lacking due process, and would simply invite litigation and/or legislative intervention.

In any case, if OR when NHTSA actually posts such a proposal (keep in mind there have been references to NHTSA thinking about this since the early '70s), you and I and the rest of the public (as well as Elio, if the actual proposal turns out to be bad) will have the opportunity to provide comments to the agency during the comment period. We can be compellingly persuasive with sufficient motivation and organization.

 

[skygazer6033]

This proposed regulation has been floating around for years and has never gone anywhere. The way it's worded it would not apply to the Elio anyway as it expressly specifies side by side seating. EM is aware of it and are keeping an eye on it but are not really concerned at this time.