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Originally Posted by redpoint5
Motorcycles have no crumple zones, no roll cages, safety glass, airbags, ABS requirements, etc. Trikes similarly have very few safety requirements. For some reason we have endless safety requirements for vehicles that have 4 wheels.
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Considering the ABS mandate for motorcycles above 250cc is already enforced even in Brazil, while other places such as Thailand already demand at least front ABS for 125cc motorcycles (which allows them to retain the rod-operated rear drum brake), it does surprise me the U.S. doesn't have such regulation.
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It's entirely arbitrary, or rather I suspect even more, encouraged by established auto manufacturers to create barriers to entry for competition.
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Just like Citroën was basically kicked out of the American market and grey imports were also impacted due to a ban on adjustable suspensions in the 70s or 80s.
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They can lobby politicians to create increasingly difficult requirements, and the politicians can look like heros because they "made vehicles safe", and nobody ever votes against safety because then they are Hitler.
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In the end, it may sound more Hitler-ish to force the poor into nothing but a motorcycle, eventually with a sidecar, to haul an entire family, because some safety regulation backfired and turned a bare-necessities econobox into unobtainium due to all the cost and complexity of some safety devices simply rendering them proportionately too expensive for most buyers while others would rather move to another segment.