Owners of qualifying specialty cars without mud flaps or fenders can now operate legally, thanks to an amendment to the Motor Vehicle Act Regulation, announced Premier Christy Clark.

“Whether they live here or are visiting, owners of these special, modified vehicles can now drive our roads legally,” Premier Clark said. “These owners take great pride in their cars and this summer, they can take them where they belong – the open road.”

This amendment to the Motor Vehicle Act regulation exempts qualifying vehicles from the requirement to have mudguards or mud flaps – as an alternative to fenders – on their cars. Now, owners of specialty cars can operate their vehicles without mudguards or mud flaps where the highway is dry and paved. Qualifying vehicles must have been built in 1940 or earlier, or be replicas of this vintage of vehicle.

“We heard from specialty car owners that this regulation was getting in the way of the legal operation of otherwise safe cars on our roads,” said Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Todd Stone. “This is a common-sense fix to unnecessary red tape that was making it difficult to attract collector car events to our province. Now, thousands of owners can travel to events, or simply take their cars for a spin without special consideration or concerns about breaking the law.”

Prior to this change, owners of these types of vintage or specially vehicles without fenders ran the risk of operating outside of the regulations of the Motor Vehicle Act, which required all vehicles to have mud flaps or fenders. These specific, 1940s-style cars did not have them as part of their design.

“This is great news for owners of specialty cars, both here in B.C. and outside of our province, especially as we get ready for a busy season of summer travel through this beautiful province,” said president of the Vintage Car Club of Canada, Okanagan chapter, Jim Carpenter. “With this change, I expect more event organizers will choose to have their next collector car show in B.C. with more to come in the future.”

This amendment is one of a number of motor vehicle-related amendments made in the past couple of years that provides clarity to regulations in the act. This includes providing more clarity regarding motorcycle parking distances, better language to improve the enforcement of Keep Right Except to Pass regulations and more information regarding requirements for winter tires.