MTV's 'Pimp My Ride' shop fined by feds (Replacing air bags with video screens illegal)

Tallahassee.com ^ | 12/31/04 | Danny Hakim

[Luddite Patent Counsel]

"Our country has turned into a bureaucratic, authoritarian nightmare, administered by parasites."

Other than that, though, it's a pretty cool place.

[Atlas Sneezed]

It's interesting how the feds, who are supposedly enforcing "public safety" manage to harass someone who is choosing to substitute one form of pleasure for a little safety.

Yet the feds manage to ignore every suspension shop that jacks up trucks to heights that put their bumpers at the chin level of THE PUBLIC, which defeats most vehicle safety structures

[rs79bm]

I could understand how the autobody shop had no understanding that this was an offense, but for the illegal act to pass through the higher-ups at MTV is simply astonishing.

/sarcasm off

[reg45]

Yeah! Those air bags are great kid-killers! That's what the Traffic Safety Council wants!

Think postpartum abortion.

[libs_kma]

I be thinking the Feds be havin it against my home boys..
*pointing downward from 3 feet over my head* WHUD UP???

[JudyinCanada]

My nephew is going to LA with a female friend of his to get her Cadillac Escapade painted by this bunch.

She paid $90,000 for the vehicle, then had $70,000 worth of upgrades done. Now it is being shipped to LA for one of their paint jobs. It is one of four vehicles.

She pays my nephew (very well) for overseeing her numerous little projects. She is a recent lotter winner...11 million.

Man, imagine what useful things could be done with that money.

[JudyinCanada]

That could be Escalade...beats me. What do I know...I drive a Ford!

[FierceDraka]

They do a 40K or 50K pimp job ( 4 Gameboys, 10,000 watt sound system, 6 monitors) on someone's piece of junk, and leave them with a drivetrain that is still gonna crater in 6 months, and an electrical system that can't power what they install.

I noticed that too when I watched the show. What's the point of having a wicked-looking ride if the chassis is a PoS?

Personally, I'd rather have an embarrassing looking exterior hiding a fine-tuned hot rod chassis under the hood.

[Libertarian4Bush]

already done on Y100 FM Philadelphia

[ApplegateRanch]

if I brought my vehicle in with a possible safety issue (like a flashing airbag or brake light) that they would not allow me to have my car back until it was fixed or specifically tracked down to a NON-safety issue.

Crawl under dash; remove offending bulb. No more blinking light; problem solved.

A blinking light will be noticed, and so will one that stays lit after the vehicle is started, but very few will ever notice that a specific light didn't come on with all the rest of the dashboard Christmas tree when the key is first turned on.

[Destro]

Hell I would sell my pimped vehicle on ebay for a fortune as a collectible - who cares if it is a lemon with a new coat?

[Criminal Number 18F]

What a great country! There's no crime anymore, and so all the idle cops can go around busting shops that do dumb stuff to dumb people's cars.

Some of you folks would probably rather have them chasing mild scofflaws like axe murderers and baby rapers. Well, that just shows how wrong you are. The number one threat to America is tastelessly decorated automobiles, and it needs to be crushed without mercy.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

[LibertarianInExile]

You sure about that? I've watched that show and I figure the way they dumb down the rundown, it's gotta be just something they skip.

And at least if they have to replace the drivetrain they can put a mortgage on the car to get it. :)

[CFC__VRWC]

I could understand how the autobody shop had no understanding that this was an offense, but for the illegal act to pass through the higher-ups at MTV is simply astonishing.

It's not so astonishing when you remember that this is the network that thought having a stage act sh!t all over the crowd was a really cool idea.

[Pharmboy]

I've wondered about that drivechain...but my daughters love the show.

I've seen it three or four times now and it seems the suspense is whether they'll put in 3 or 4 screens for the Xbox...and that fireplace is soooo functional I must get one. /sarcasm

[Criminal Number 18F]

I think the correct thing to do would be to for customers to be allowed to sign a waver. Then if they car owner is hurt/killed due to lack of air bag, they cannot hold the customizer liable for removing the air bag.

It is a common misconception that a person can "assume risk" in this way. The problem is, that he can waive his own right to sue, but not that of other persons. So if he croaks, and has signed such a waiver, it's meaningless, because the ambulance chaser is now focusing on his wife, kids, 3rd cousin 9 times removed, or other survivor.

Same deal if the owner of the modified car made every passenger sign a waiver... he can't make third parties sign. And what about kids? They can't sign legally.

All we can do is encourage more attorneys to take up BASE jumping, extreme mountaineering, and other high-risk sports... and feed the others lots of cholesterol and make sure the cardiologists know they're plaintiffs' attorneys.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F