Before making modifications to a vehicle, the RCMP insist the owner should ensure the work being completed meets the requirements of the B.C. Motor Vehicle Act
Okanagan Valley police officers have been seeing an ever-increasing number of illegal vehicle modifications and they’re concerned for the safety of all motorists.
“The police want to ensure the vehicles being operated on our roadways in B.C. meet the safety standards required, but also want to ensure that owners are not wasting money on modifications which are illegal,” said Const. Kris Clark, RCMP spokesperson.
Some common modifications are:
Doors: All vehicles are required to have doors installed while being operated on a highway, and these doors must meet the standards of the original manufactured doors. Vehicles which have removable doors can only be operated off road with the doors removed.
Lamp lens covers: A vehicle must be equipped with lights equivalent to those provided by the original manufacturer. Some vehicle owners have been replacing headlamp and tail lamp lenses with darkened ones. The darkened lens covers affect visibility and don’t meet the original standards.
Licence plates: Cars and trucks in B.C. are required to have the two issued licence plates securely attached, one to the front and one to the rear.
Owners who replace the original manufactured front bumpers with bush or winch-style bumpers need to remember to replace the front licence plate once they complete the change.
Plate covers: Owners should remember that licence plates are to be visible, so the covering of licence plates with plastic covers (especially tinted ones) which restrict the visibility of the plate is illegal.
