Massachusetts RMV reverses ban on tiny Kei cars

BOSTON - When Raymond Moy drives through Boston, heads turn. The Quincy man with a big personality drives around in a tiny car - a Daihatsu Mira Van, imported from Japan. The car is only 4 feet wide and 10 feet long and can fit into practically half a parking space in a street spot.

"It's really easy to find little spots where we can just kind of fit into because somebody either messed up the spot or it's just a little gap where you happen to be able to fit," he joked as he squeezed into a parking spot.

What is a Kei car?

The small cars from Japan are popular among a group of enthusiasts nationwide. They're called Kei cars, short for kei-jidōsha, which literally means "light automobile."

Moy himself has a collection of nearly 10 of them. His most expensive one cost just $10,000.

Massachusetts Kei car ban

However, despite the three he has on the way from Japan, his ability to drive them on the roads was abruptly halted when the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles announced in June that it would no longer allow the cars to be registered to drive on the roads.

Moy and his fellow Kei car enthusiasts online were confused - was it because the cars are international? Japanese? Small?

The inspiration for the state's sudden policy change, they believe, came from a report from a non-profit group, the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators.

The group works on "developing model programs in motor vehicle administration, law enforcement, and highway safety. The association also serves as an information clearinghouse in these areas and acts as the international spokesperson for these interests," according to its website .

In its report, the AAMVA recommended that state RMVs "should use available statutory authority, or encourage adoption of such authority, to prohibit the use, and registration for on-road use, of vehicles not designed, constructed, or intended for on-road use."

Kei drivers feel their cars were unfairly lumped into this category - without explanation, since in their home country of Japan, they are considered small on-road vehicles.

Kei car ban reversed

After much pushback from these car owners, the RMV reversed course this week, announcing that starting September 18, it would again allow the vehicles to be registered.

"The RMV intends to register Kei Vehicles while continuing to review safety implications of Kei Vehicles on the public roadways. Plans for conducting a formal study of this subject matter are under development and will be announced once complete," a statement from the RMV read.

For some business owners, the damage was already done.

Derek Griffith of Northeast Auto Imports in Hudson, New Hampshire told WBZ-TV he lost five pending orders from Massachusetts residents once the ban went into effect in June.

Still, the announcement at the MassDOT board of directors meeting Wednesday was met with applause from around 35 Kei car owners, many of whom showed up to express their dismay at the policy change that barred them from driving their cars.

"I'm happy to have been part of this because I've met all kinds of new people," Moy said.