Illegal Car Modifications: The fast and furious is one of the most exciting film franchises of all time, with respect to cars. It introduced a weird and brilliant world of car modifications to people from all corners of the globe.
Owning a car comes with a sense of belonging, pride and entitlement. In this modern age, nobody wants to be cliché. Many young men and women, want to stand out with their vehicles, no matter how small it is.
Hence, the dawn of car modifications.
In the global arena, the car modification market is valued at billions of dollars, and the best thing is, there’s no evident sign of slowing down anytime soon.
Like all thing balanced in nature & life, car mods can be good and also bad.
The good ones include changing vehicle rims to sportier designs, adding new leather seat covers and wrapping your vehicle with premium colored overs.
Certain modifications, without a doubt, can lead to trouble. As humans, it’s instinctive to understand that some alterations may result in legal consequences without needing to be explicitly warned.
In this article, we take a close look at some car modifications that will get you in trouble.
1. Loud Exhaust Pipes.
Gone are the days when this fault was pointed to ‘Subaru boys’. Nowadays, even a Toyota Vitz can get this provision with aftermarket parts servicing.
You can understand a drivers need to soup up their exhausts and increase their engine’s sound. They have the incessant urge to make their vehicle sound & feel sportier.
However, note that these sporty exhausts drivers pimp on their rides can be a big bore to the public.
All vehicles are sold with a muffler on their exhaust system to control the noise levels. Generally, it is illegal to remove them.
There are aftermarket exhaust systems if you want a sporty roar added to your vehicle and hint that you drive a fast car.
As the driver, you have countless choices on the system you can install to your vehicle, provided you have the money.
Ensure that it isn’t obnoxiously loud to wake up the whole neighborhood/start car alarms.
2. LED bar lights
This is common with people who drive heavy trucks. The staunch favorite for such drivers is mounting bright LED rigs on the truck’s roof.
These lights are famous for their strong illumination and being very powerful, to the extent that they blind oncoming drivers.
Having them in regular traffic is wrong, as it can cause accidents.
If you have these installed in your vehicle, no one would blame you for using them on dark roads without streetlights. Aside from that, try to keep them off.
3. Flickering lights, unauthorized siren lights
In late 2022, Kenyan police officers launched a nationwide crackdown on vehicles with flickering lights and unauthorized sirens lights.
They asserted that these modifications were in violation of the law and posed a danger to the safety of all road users.
Other car mods that were banned included modified illuminating lights, red lights and opaque rear lights.
Police spokesperson Bruno Shioso made it clear that the drivers of such vehicles would immediately be arrested.
4. Loud Car stereo systems
Loud exhausts aren’t the only car modifications that can break laws designed to control noise pollution.
Even with today’s high-end car entertainment systems, many drivers feel that their stereo systems need an upgrade so that they can enjoy their favorite tunes at top volume while they’re driving.
Of course, when the volume inside the car is loud, the people outside can also hear it.
Just to clarify, there is nothing wrong with upgrading your car stereo system, as long as you’re willing to lower the volume when driving through a residential area to avoid the risk of neighbors filing complaints.
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5. Tinted Windows
Once upon a time, tinted windows were reserved only for celebrities and VIPs trying to protect themselves from the glares of paparazzis.
These days, tinted windows are in high demand even for ordinary citizens.
While tinted windows can be very helpful when the sun is baking hot, there is a lawfully acceptable threshold for light transmittance into the vehicle.
In short, don’t make your window tints too dark.
This could posess a safety hazard for motorists, especially in bad weather when visibility is largely reduced.
Tints are allowed in personal cars but not in PSVs.
Drivers who don’t comply with these rules will be served with a prohibition notice meaning they will not be able to use the car until tints have been removed.
In extreme cases, this small matter will land you in the court room.
6. Bull Bars
These serve as a means to give ones vehicle an aggressive and intimidating look. They are often chosen, to send a message to other motorists that you should steer clear from them.
Research conducted has conclusively shown that bull bars installed on 4×4’s or vans increase the severity of injuries & raise the fatality rates.
This applies to both roadside casualties and the vehicle’s occupants
Bull bars stiffen the front of vehicles and in the event of an accident, they compromise the crucial shock absorption mechanisms in vehicles.
Forces from the crash are transferred from the vehicle, to those inside the vehicle.
7. Hidden Number plates
As a rule of thumb, motorists must ensure their license plates are always visible while driving on Kenyan roads at all times.
Many drivers remove their front number plates or customize them to achieve a more stylish appearance.
These modifications are in direct violation of the Traffic Act, which specifies that number plates should always be positioned at a 90° angle to the vehicle’s front and back.
 Furthermore, they should be illuminated and visible even at night.
