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Massachusetts 'Reviewing' Kei Car Ban After Uproar over Canceled Registrations

Owners of imported JDM cars, specifically kei trucks, have temporarily won the battle to keep driving their legally imported vehicles.

However, evidence has emerged that links Massachusetts’ sudden purge to the organization that originally influenced the kei ban in Rhode Island: the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. That June 2021 document that laid the groundwork for the Rhode Island campaign was authored in majority by people from states that have also banned kei or JDM vehicles at large, or placed some level of restrictions against them. Autoblog writer Murilee Martin told me he had to get special dispensation for his Subaru Sambar to even take an emissions test, and walk confused DMV staff through the car’s legality.

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