Many Jeepers surprised doorless outlawed on Pa. roads; await law change
Jeeps of all shapes, sizes and colors swarmed downtown Butler on Friday night, June 9, for the annual Jeep Invasion event.
The invasion, which kicks off Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival, shows the many ways to modify a Jeep, such as adding a lift or larger tires. The customization reflected the personality of many of the Jeep owners.
“I am very patriotic and I love my country,” said Phillip Grasser, of Butler, whose back window and spare wheel cover sported the American flag. “It’s my right as an American.”
However, there is one customization that is illegal in the commonwealth.
According to Pennsylvania vehicle codes, all vehicles manufactured and registered with doors as “original equipment” must be driven with attached, functioning doors. In March, legislation was passed in the state Senate that would allow for owners of vehicles to operate without doors. The bill has yet to come up for a vote in the state House.
“Pennsylvania is the only place in the United States where this is still prohibited,” said state Sen. Devlin J. Robinson, who co-sponsored the bill to allow doorless vehicles, in March. “One of my constituents, who is part of the Jeep community, brought this to my attention, and asked if something can be done so he and others in Pennsylvania can enjoy the same freedoms that every other state provides.”
The law however, did very little to stop the estimated 1,000 Jeeps from showing up in downtown, without doors.
“I didn’t even know it was a law,” said Todd Daniels, of Erie. “I mean I don’t really take my doors off, but I don’t know why that matters if people are wearing their seat belts.”
Virginian Brian Bortz, who has been coming to the Bantam Jeep Festival for almost a decade, thinks the law is unnecessary.
“I think that it’s an awful law,” Bortz said. “I have two kids and I drive without the doors on all the time. I think this is one of those laws that gives people a false sense of security but doesn’t really do anything.”
New York residents Joseph Strainese and his wife, Rachel, who came for the three-day festival, didn’t know that Pennsylvania is the only state to not allow vehicles without doors to drive on state roads.
“I’m surprised that Pennsylvania is the only place that doesn’t allow doors,” he said. “New York doesn’t let us do anything, so for Pennsylvania to have a law like that and not us, that's kind of a shock.”
Michael and Sandy Nemec, of Robinson Township, are familiar with the dangers that drivers face on the road. He has been a paramedic for 35 years and his wife has worked as a paramedic for 11, and both find the laws to be “unnecessary.”
“I have seen a lot of things, things that I’ll never forget from car accidents,” Sandy Nemec said. “Personally, I don’t like the law. The biggest concern with drivers is about being ejected from your vehicle, and that’s what seat-belts are for.”
Nemec agreed with his wife.
“The doors don’t matter,” he said “People need to wear their seat belts, but doorless vehicles are not the cause of these fatal accidents.”
Justin Shook, of Slippery Rock, did not mince words when it came to the doorless Jeep law.
“Its so stupid,” Shook said. “I ride around without my doors on all the time and I have never been stopped. I mean I let my kids ride with me, it’s just such a stupid idea that doesn’t matter.”
