Washington Is it legal in Washington to drive with the doors off?

JMT

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Hey fellow Washingtonian’s. We just moved here and I’m trying to find out if it’s legal to drive public roads with the doors off. The legal code 517 is ambiguous since it doesn’t really address the issue. What’s the law?
 
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The legal code 517 is ambiguous since it doesn’t really address the issue. What’s the law?

I assume this is what you’re looking at?

RCW 46.37.517

Body and body hardware.

(1) The body, fenders, and bumpers shall be maintained without protrusions which could be hazardous to pedestrians. In addition, the bumpers shall be so attached and maintained so as to not protrude beyond the original bumper line.

(2) The hood, hood latches, hood fastenings, doors, and door latches shall be maintained in a condition sufficient to ensure proper working equal to that at the time of original vehicle manufacture.

Does seem ambiguous, it could be read to mean that you must maintain your doors in working order on the vehicle as they were when new OR that you simply maintain them in good working order leaning up against the wall in your garage, should you decide to put them on at some point. 😊

Found this online:

https://www.theolympian.com/news/local/article159288419.html

“We put the question to Sgt. James Prouty of the Washington State Patrol.

Prouty pointed us to RCW 46.37.517, titled, “Body and body hardware.”

Subsection (2) reads:

“The hood, hood latches, hood fastenings, doors and door latches shall be maintained in a condition sufficient to ensure proper working equal to that at the time of original vehicle manufacture.”

We are easily confused by legislative language, so we asked Prouty for an interpretation.

“To summarize, if your vehicle was manufactured with doors, then it is required to have doors,” he said.

Even Jeeps?

“Yes, sir. When they are operating the vehicle on public roadways, per the RCW, they are required to have doors,” Prouty said.”

It’s funny, this issue comes up often with reference to PA’s rule. I think ours is less ambiguous but still some law enforcement officers have differing opinions about it. In the absence of some concrete answer, I’d simply adopt the protocol of the locals, if they’re all running around doorless as they are here, do the same if you want
 
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(1) The body, fenders, and bumpers shall be maintained without protrusions which could be hazardous to pedestrians. In addition, the bumpers shall be so attached and maintained so as to not protrude beyond the original bumper line.

(2) The hood, hood latches, hood fastenings, doors, and door latches shall be maintained in a condition sufficient to ensure proper working equal to that at the time of original vehicle manufacture.
Nothing ambiguous there. Pretty clear cut "ensure proper working to the time of original manufacture...."

No ambiguity to 1) either..... Looks like Washington Police are just not enforcing these 2 Regulations or every aftermarket bumper would be getting tickets too.

It is all well and good to state no one ever gets a ticket but the law states doorless is illegal in Washington too.

We Jeepers seem to think if the law does not state "You cannot remove the doors on a Wrangler" it is ambiguous. But all laws are generic. They word it so it can be applied to ALL vehicles equally.

And while it is often difficult to find, especially in states where it is never enforced, I'll bet every state has this obscure regulation buried somewhere in the states regulations.

Our best bet if we want to stay under the radar and drive doorless.... never bring up the topic.
Why rattle the sabre and alert a sleeping DMV guy.
 
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There was some discussion on here recently surrounding whether or not doors were options and not standard equipment. From memory some have build sheets listing the doors as options (or maybe it was the window sheet). This would seem to indicate that you cannot have a citation held up in court for not using and option on the vehicle. Now if doors are an option it may be that the option was for either a half or full door as opposed to not having doors at all.
 
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I’ve driven doors off all summer the last three years. County, state and city roads. Never have had an issue.
 
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Thanks to all the WA residents and those nearby (Oregon). That regulation was, indeed what I was reading, as well as Proust (but is that accurate??? Everything on the interwebs is true, of course).

I will watch more Jeeps around here. I have seen some with tube doors. Can’t remember seeing any doorless yet. This, my question. I will also check soon with local 4wd groups.
 
whether or not doors were options and not standard equipment
Ever since the CJ5/CJ6 doors have been standard equipment. Wranglers have had the option of full or half doors but in North America, doors are mandatory/standard equipment from the manufacturer.

CJ2/CJ3/CJ5/CJ6 were the only Jeeps manufactured without doors and thus legal to drive without doors. Military Jeeps are in a separate category and subject to their own regulations. In some states a Military vehicle is only legal on the road as a historic or collector vehicle. And as the environmental concerns tighten, they will be more difficult to register/drive, doors or not.
 
This would seem to indicate that you cannot have a citation held up in court
So tubular doors were challenged in BC in 2008. It went thru the full court system. In the end, in BC tubular doors were found not legal. The reasons are priceless. I only remember a few. First the Instructions for the Warrior Doors which were the subject state "FOR OFF ROAD USE ONLY".
Slam dunk there.
But the prosecutors also noted the Statute states "must seal to the body to prevent exhaust gases from entering the passenger compartment....... there were several more points argued but in the end, Tubular Doors are illegal in BC.....
DSC_0035.jpeg
 
I'm in Seattle today. This afternoon, I passed one TJ and one JKU, both doorless (both with 2 side mirrors and tires outside the flares).
 
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During my year living in WA I drove doorless all the time, the main focus was that you had to have 2 rear facing mirrors. Which had to be a driver side mirror and either the passenger one or the rearview on the windshield.

I drove by cops all the time on the island I was living on and they would wave to me, so that implies I was within the guidelines for WA.
 
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Why are Jeeps manufactured with easy door removal?

I’m sure it’s so that the doors can stay on all the time.
 
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If we had to always live by the pettiest of laws, I’m sure that we would all become so tired that we would violently break them.