I’ve been interested in cars since childhood. I remember my friends’ parents driving cars when I was young and my friends themselves, driving them in our early college days. While everyone was driving around in cars, what kept me wondering is why some cars are without doors. So, do cars need doors to be street legal? The answer is NO!
Well, it’s completely legal to remove your car doors and drive around the public roads without them as long as you take care of a few minor things and comply with state laws. For instance, you may be required to reattach the mirrors once you remove your door in order to avoid breaking the mirror laws of your state.
Evolution of Car Doors
It’s hard to determine exactly when the car doors were invented. Most car inventors were more focused on how to propel the vehicle as opposed to privacy, safety, or accessibility. For instance, the 1909 Ford Models and the Karl Benz vehicles were designed without doors. Passengers, therefore, had to wear safety glasses to shield their eyes from any flying objects.
While car doors began appearing in 1903, they were so heavy that they had to be pushed with a lot of strength for them to close. Lighter doors were later on invented, but since people applied a lot of force, they were easily damaged. As decades passed, I have seen car doors being transformed from the practical two and four doors to a few more conventional types.
Just like the doors, the car door gadgets have also been embellished with all manner of gadgets pertaining to privacy, security, and safety. Gadgets such as the door switches, door brakes, self-locking doors, remote doors, keyless doors, tinted window doors, and automatic doors have, therefore, been added over the years.
How to Legally Drive Car without Doors
If you’re like me, you’ve probably realized that driving a jeep without doors is fun, right? In fact, it’s something that I enjoy from time to time, even if I have to hire one of the latest doorless jeeps for a wild run. While pulling your car doors off and heading to town is fun, there’s a legal element that you must put into consideration.
If you are planning to remove your car doors and hitting the road without them, you’ve got two things to do. You have to replace your stock doors and know the laws pertaining to the mirror. Once you do this, you can drive around with all doors removed. In spite of all the rumors moving around, you won’t get charged anywhere for having your car doors off. However, this does not mean that you won’t get stopped at all. So, you may be wondering how that is even possible. The answer to this is in the details, isn’t it?
Everything Depends on the Mirrors
After driving for several years, I have realized that side-view mirrors are very important for safe driving. There are no two ways about this. While this may vary from one state to another, you can’t be allowed on the road without the required rear and side-view mirrors. To be sure about what’s considered legal by checking your state requirements.
Since the mirrors are built on the doors, there will be a problem when you remove the doors from your jeep. Car doors with mirrors that can be removed are typically great for the beach and off-road driving. This will give you the advantage of enjoying that free-flowing air while eliminating any chance of damaging your mirrors.
Unfortunately, if you are on the road with a car that lacks mirrors, you are likely to create a safety hazard, which is illegal. If you want to enjoy driving without the risk of getting stopped or causing an accident, you need to install special tube doors. Designed for street and off-road driving, these strong steel doors have mirrors installed on them as a replacement for the ones installed in stock doors.
Even if you pull the doors off, you’ll still have two front mirrors to ensure you remain safe and legal. So as long as your car has the required number of side-view mirrors required by the law and necessary to avoid an accident, you can legally drive without car doors. But if your mirrors get off while driving, you are likely to get charged.
Is It Dangerous To Drive A Car Without Doors?
The aspect of danger depends on the type of car in context. If it’s a jeep with removable doors, then it’s relatively safe. This is because the removable doors don’t affect the structure of the car; hence do not affect how safe the car is. I’ve noted that doors play a very minimal role in cars with removable doors. As a matter of fact, they don’t have any safety features that may lead to an injury if the door is removed.
This is quite different from other cars with fixed doors as they may have side airbags, mirrors, and other safety features. In this case, the doors play a very important role. The airbags, mirrors, and other safety features put on the cars are done with some safety in mind.
Do most cars Have Removable Doors?
The short answer to this is NO! It’s not possible for all cars to have removable doors. There is a reason why some have removable doors while others don’t. In most cases, a car without removable doors is safer. Given that cars without doors and mirrors are at a higher risk of breaking the law and are more likely to be pulled over, it’s just natural that manufacturers make cars that follow the laws.
The All Famous Jeeps Without Doors
When shopping for a car, I usually choose one that reflects my preferences and personality. Given that a vehicle is an important part of my life, I must look for one that satisfies all my needs. It’s always important to know what you want. Besides, what is the purpose of buying the Doorless 2020 Jeep Gladiator if you’re looking for an official vehicle? Instead, get a BMW or a Mercedes Benz, which might even be cheaper. However, the good thing about doorless cars is that they also offer other customizable features and enhancements. For instance, doorless jeeps are customizable and great for off-roading;
Customizable
Customizing my car makes a lot of sense. While the interior is usually more customized than the exterior, personalization of the exterior is equally important. A jeep’s removable door will reflect your personality, set you apart from the rest. You can even add customized mirrors to improve the uniqueness of your doorless car.
Great for off-roading
If there is something, I love then it’s off-roading. Oh my! This is perhaps what I enjoy most about driving. Taking my doorless jeep and driving it on things such as gravel, wooded trails, and many other parts of the surface makes me feel out of this world!
With removable doors, I can feel the rush of the wind as I make my way through the rocky roads and muddy trails. It also makes it convenient for me to enter and exit the car. Since off-roading is a fun activity, I prefer to have no doors to experience nature and enjoy myself to the fullest.
Safety Concerns to Consider While Driving a Car without Doors
Besides the mirrors, there are some safety concerns you have to think about before removing your car doors.
Weather
Before going out in a car without doors, you must consider the weather. If you live in a place where it rarely rains, you can choose to leave your doors off throughout the year. However, it’s important to be aware of the weather threats, especially things like hail. This is very important, even in areas where you rarely experience this.
Most drivers who remove their car doors leave them at home. If you are living in a rain prone area, you should understand the danger of allowing getting water inside your car. This becomes even worse if you have a car whose doors cannot be removed. However, this varies from one car to another.
Inconvenience
You don’t want to be stopped by the police because you removed the doors from a car that should not have the doorless feature. Although it’s a personal choice to remove your doors, you have to know your state laws. Most states allow doorless vehicles as long as you comply with the requirements, such as ensuring you have side mirrors. However, you’re not so lucky if you live in the state of Pennsylvania, as doorless vehicles are prohibited by law.
Poor Accident Protection
Removing your car doors will also take away the protection that you may have in case of a side impact or head-on collision with another car or off-road obstacles. Most modern cars also have reinforced aluminum or steel fixed on their doors to act as the first line of defense, thus providing you with much-needed protection.
While older cars may not have these reinforcements, car doors still play a very important role. You must be aware of your car’s safety measures to ensure that it’s as safe as possible, especially when you plan to go out without doors. In a nutshell, driving a car without doors is not only a matter of preference but also depends on your state laws.
