My son will be going back to college next weekend. When he discovered a leak in the windshield of his Escort, I knew what I'd be doing this past weekend. I removed the windshield, ground all the rust off, acid etched, Por15'd and primed. I didn't have time to wet-sand and paint as I had to bring the car to the mechanic Monday morning for an ABS system problem which has been plaguing this car. (Basically ABS system is always active and my mechanic claims the rotors are also likely warped). Anyway, my son wore a pair of my motorcycle glasses and drove the car to the mechanics without a windshield. No highway, just back-roads for about 3 miles. Now I really didn't think much of it as it's really rather comfortable driving without a windshield - much like riding a motorcycle without a helmet. Monday afternoon, I get a call from my mechanic stating that he can't test drive the car since driving a car without a windshield is illegal. (Note that I did leave the motorcycle glasses with the car). My immediate response was, "you're joking right?". Apparently he wasn't. Annoyed, I told him to do the repair without test-driving it then.
This leads me to the thread title: "Rational Law or Nanny State". I live in Connecticut, where - if I so chose - could legally ride my motorcycle in nothing more than a pair of shorts. No shirt, shoes, helmet, safety glasses or windshield required. I'm not suggesting that it would be the most intelligent way to ride, but it would be legal. With that in mind, I'm at a total loss to justify the purpose of a law requiring a vehicle with 4 wheels to have a windshield.
~ end rant ~
This leads me to the thread title: "Rational Law or Nanny State". I live in Connecticut, where - if I so chose - could legally ride my motorcycle in nothing more than a pair of shorts. No shirt, shoes, helmet, safety glasses or windshield required. I'm not suggesting that it would be the most intelligent way to ride, but it would be legal. With that in mind, I'm at a total loss to justify the purpose of a law requiring a vehicle with 4 wheels to have a windshield.
~ end rant ~