Meeting with MPI: the details
Well, the meeting with a fellow at MPI went reasonably well. I was worried that they'd have me talking to some know-nothing, powerless, overall not useful person, so I was delighted to find that that was not the case. The man I was talking to (who shall remain nameless) was no VP, but is a Manager in Vehicle Standards and Technologies. Great!
I honestly didn't know what to expect from the meeting, but the fellow had read my letter to MPI, and had even marked it up for things to discuss. Awesome.
At first the fellow was somewhat defensive, expecting me to attack full-on. Honestly, I don't blame him. I'll bet he has more than a few angry people go through his office. Once he realized that I was not angry, but actually bringing up valid points and willing to discuss them, the whole tone of the meeting changed. It was really good.
The main issue that the fellow had with the letter was that 'grey imports' was too vague. Any rules from that would also apply to Tata Motors from India, and everything. I was thinking about Eurocars (BMWs, Alpinas, Mercedes, AMGs...) and not 3rd world cars. The reason I had originally done that was to avoid saying 'right hand drive', since there is a certain negative stigma attached to that term. He agreed with many of the points, but didn't want to stretch it out to all grey imports, but Japanese RHDs might be possible.
So:
JIS non-headlight lighting in Manitoba. He made it clear that they are looking into this, and they will probably be accepted in the next vehicle inspections handbook. When that comes out? I don't know.
General confusion about RHDs. Manitobans frequently get turned away from safety inspection stations. The fellow was genuinely confused about this. I mentioned that ICBC has a right hand drive page on their site... which is largely useless, but has some FAQs that can be helpful. I said that a page might clear the air about RHDs, since there is so much misinformation about them. The fellow was still surprised about the confusion, and agreed that it would help.
JIS seat belts. This is a sore point for all Manitoban right hand drive drivers. Seat belts must be marked DOT, SAE, or MVSS (read: North American standards), and most are not. Even the Fairlady (the JDM version of the 300ZX) doesn't have the right markings on the seat belts, despite the fact it's pretty much the same car! Will MPI ever accept them? Probably not. The only argument I had was 'well... BC does!', which is the equivalent of saying 'my friend's parents let them!'
If we can get together and make a strong argument that the seat belts are equally as safe, they would probably accept them... getting there would be very difficult though.
Overall... it was a good meeting. I think I won the guy over. It's a good first step in to making right hand drives more legitimate in Manitoba.
rob
October 5th, 2011 - 08:55
Congrats on the progress thus far. Although I am not a resident of Manitoba, it is great to read about someone actually making an effort to correct the complications experienced by owners of RHD vehicles, rather than simply bitching and moaning to friends, family, etc. I own a 180sx in Ontario and have had to deal with issues from ministry, as well as from shops who are fearful of anything RHD. Fortunately I have also come in contact with a few people who were willing to help me out, which as you know, makes all the difference.
Again, congrats and good luck in the future.
January 29th, 2012 - 16:35
I’ve been looking into the actual “meat and potatoes” of jis vs. dot seatbelts, and when i came across an inspection sheet from australia, I found something interesting… it urns out that the jis method of testing seat belts is more stringent than the dot method, and as a matter of fact, dot seat belts are generally not allowed for use on Australian roads. They will make provisions under special circumstances, but for the most part, they are rejected. just FYI.
January 29th, 2012 - 17:11
Fascinating. I wouldn’t have thought to look to Australia for standards testing… that’s brilliant.
Do you have links/sources for this information?
January 29th, 2012 - 20:09
I’ll have it in the history on my computer…I’ll dig it up as I get some time tonight. The main problem I had is that regarding jis specs – every place i found the specs, the site owners want around $60 just for a copy of the spec…I’m not sure if you know any engineers who would possibly have a copy of the actual spec to reference, but I’m going to check with the engineers at my work. I’ll keep you posted!
January 29th, 2012 - 20:23
Hi Rob…I had a little time, and was able to dig up the exact sheet I was looking at without too much trouble. Here’s the link: http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=vs48%20australia&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CE0QFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nt.gov.au%2Ftransport%2Fmvr%2Fvehiclestandards%2Fforms%2Fdocuments%2Fvs48.pdf&ei=Qv0lT-eFDYjqggfEvtD5CA&usg=AFQjCNEIWyPC5081BayeeC0OuXlblHVROg&cad=rja
It’s the Inspection report for personally imported vehicles from Australia. Where it references seat belt markings, it specifically references JIS spec D 4604. This is where I have run into a little trouble. If I had a copy of the spec, I could cross-reference that data with the standards that the DOT uses, and prove once and for all whether or not MPI is actually making vehicles less safe by adopting the DOT standard. Don’t get me wrong…it’s not about making MPI look bad or anything, I’m just trying to ensure that our vehicles aren’t being compromised by conforming to an outdated standard.
January 29th, 2012 - 21:02
Not to be a post whore or anything, but I just found a translated copy of the spec, which actually proves that the JIS standard puts seat belts through more rigorous testing than their American Counterparts. According to FMVSS 209, a seat belt must withstand no less than 22689 N of force on the overall assembly, where the JIS standard insists on no less than 22700 N. A somewhat minor difference, I concede, but the fact remains that the standard is at the very least comparable. I’ll need to delve further into the specifics of the testing to ensure the soundness of the argument – i.e.: Temperature testing, duration of load force over time, etc….but at least this gives me some hope of putting all this malarky to bed. Here’s the link where I found the spec… http://www.mlit.go.jp/jidosha/kijyun/saimokubetten/saibet_032_00.pdf