Massachusetts Pauses Kei Car Ban After Fierce Resistance

The Drive looked into not only Massachusetts’ ban on kei cars, but the organization that seems to be backing these bans in multiple states: The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, which appears to be the source of some of the ban language. From the Drive:

Owners whose cars are already registered have also been warned that their tags will be revoked, and that they can’t be renewed. The RMV is reportedly refusing to even title the cars, according to The Autopian, leaving owners with problems reselling their vehicles, too. These changes are reflected on the RMV’s website, where the state acknowledges the exemption to the same regulations it uses to justify its crackdown. While states do in fact have the legal authority to decide what vehicles can be registered, the RMV wouldn’t have gotten as big of a backlash if it actually figured out what a kei car is first.

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First, the partial list includes the Toyota LiteAce van and related TownAce pickup—neither of which are kei-class vehicles. Second, the guidelines for identifying vehicles not on the example list can also apply to domestically made, FMVSS-abiding cars. Specifically, it calls out vehicles older than 25 years with VINs shorter than 17 characters, which would naturally include pre-1981 domestic cars. Lastly, we have reason to believe the RMV didn’t write the list itself, as an identical list was previously published by the Pennsylvania DMV to support its own ban.

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The [American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators] is a lobbying group that rose to notoriety in JDM owner circles when one of its internal documents was cited as a reason for banning kei trucks in Rhode Island. The document, since relocated on (or deleted from) the AAMVA website (mirrored above) advocated for ceasing registration of “mini-trucks,” which is how the organization referred to kei trucks at the time. It updated this verbiage to “off-road vehicles” to argue for their ineligibility in June 2021, immediately preceding the Rhode Island ban. That instance effectively set the precedent for the policy enacted this year in Massachusetts, where owners have observed a prominent connection between the RMV and AAMVA.

Colleen Ogilvie, secretary and treasurer for the AAMVA’s northeast region, is also the Registrar for the Massachusetts RMV. According to the Law Office of Patrick J. Murphy, the Registrar “can revoke your […] vehicle registration […] if they subjectively determine that your operation of a vehicle poses an immediate threat to public safety.” In other words, the Registrar can rescind vehicle registrations arbitrarily, which may explain how the agenda of a private interest came to be state policy.

The full piece over at the Drive is worth a read, as it delves into the connections between the AAMVA and DMVs around the country — as well as investigating just why the AAMVA has such disdain for cute little Japanese runabouts. As of last week, it seems the RMV is back down, as officials are reviewing the ban and paused the policy of revoking registrations while it considers the ban. Enthusiasts in the state are giving the fight their all in hopes of preserving the ability to drive the vehicles they love. With any luck, they’ll win.