Why is the gull-wing steering wheel illegal?

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Whitestar
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Why is the gull-wing steering wheel illegal?

Post by Whitestar » Thu Apr 14, 2005 7:17 pm

Several years ago, I read in my local newspaper about an article that specifically stated that it is illegal to have any red or blue lights installed in front of your car. The article also stated that red lights should only be located behind the vehicle. The reason is because it confuses other drivers, they think you are a police car or an emergency vehicle. Or maybe they think you're nuts driving in reverse on the highway! LOL. On the other hand, colors such as orange, yellow, green or purple are legal.


However, the issue on the illegality of the gull-wing steering wheel is news to me. When Knight Rider first aired, I contructed my own personal KITT dashboard out of cardboard. I taped various episodes and freezed frame them to get a better look at how it was designed. I got a huge piece of cardboard and began to recreate the dash with magic colored markers. Then I drew and cut the gull-wing steering wheel from the another piece of cardboard and repeated the process by two more times. Next, I took all three identical pieces of the gull-wing steering wheel and pasted them all together, in order to give it a three dimensional feel to it. Finally I took the steering wheel and connected to the dashboard with the aid of a fastener. Once it was completed, I took my homemade dashboard and attached it to the back of my dad's car driver seat with some scotch tape, so whenever we went out for a drive, I would drive with him in the back seat with my own KITT dash.


But one thing I found difficult was turning with the gull-wing steering wheel, whether it was to the left or right. It was because of the design. If KITT had been designed with the standard circular steering wheel, the steering would have been smoother. I once played a car racing game at the arcade in which the steering wheel looked very much like the gull-wing from Knight Rider. Whenever it came to making a complete left or right turn, I instinctively tried to grab onto the gull-wing steering as if it were a circular one. As a result, I nearly lost control, but it didn't matter because it was a video game. Nonetheless, I began thinking that if I decide to build my own KITT car someday, I don't think I would have the gull-wing steering wheel installed in my version simply because of safety reasons.


Has anyone here had a similar experience with the gull-wing steering being difficult to steer with? Why is it considered illegal?


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Re: Why is the gull-wing steering wheel illegal?

Post by Michael Pajaro » Thu Apr 14, 2005 7:23 pm

Whitestar wrote:Whenever it came to making a complete left or right turn, I instinctively tried to grab onto the gull-wing steering as if it were a circular one. As a result, I nearly lost control...

Why is it considered illegal?
I think you answered your own question.. they are less safe than full-circle wheels.

And it would be great to see photos of yuor own custom steering wheel!

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Post by Knight Racer » Thu Apr 14, 2005 7:30 pm

Well the reason why it is illegal might be that your hands have to be on 10 and 2 on a wheel.If they were on the kitt gull wing wheel they wou;ld be more like 3 and 9 or 4 and 8.I also got a little upset that you cant have kitts scanner.I mean was the person who decided police vehicles should have red lights on the front a knight rider fan?And its nothing like a police unit.They have them on top of the car and there red blue and yellow i think.You might as well say the alarm systems you see on peoples windshields with the red light going baack and forth might be illegal cause its some resmblance to a police car.

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Post by themarvelous3 » Thu Apr 14, 2005 8:56 pm

fortunately they are NOT illegal here in beautiful Ohio! i made mine out of a '91 chevy cavalier steering wheel, a hack saw, epoxy and black paint and i LOVE it. in fact i think it is light years easier to use than a full circle one. for turns, i put the end of a wing in the palm of my hand and spin. it really is easier than a full steering wheel and i have no plans of ever retiring it.

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Post by HondaSiR » Thu Apr 14, 2005 10:56 pm

themarvelous3 wrote:for turns, i put the end of a wing in the palm of my hand and spin. it really is easier than a full steering wheel
Hehe, I'd like to see someone try that on a car not equipped with power steering, specially when maneuvering in tight parking spaces. :lol:

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Post by themarvelous3 » Fri Apr 15, 2005 1:47 am

HondaSiR wrote:
themarvelous3 wrote:for turns, i put the end of a wing in the palm of my hand and spin. it really is easier than a full steering wheel
Hehe, I'd like to see someone try that on a car not equipped with power steering, specially when maneuvering in tight parking spaces. :lol:
yeah...that might suck

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Post by KARR_Knight » Fri Apr 15, 2005 1:59 pm

You really dont need to worry about it unless you plan to get pulled over, only thing is you have to replace the old steering wheel when you get it inspected, afterwords you can put on your gull wing wheel back on.

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Post by Fantine » Fri Apr 15, 2005 9:06 pm

themarvelous3 wrote:fortunately they are NOT illegal here in beautiful Ohio! i made mine out of a '91 chevy cavalier steering wheel, a hack saw, epoxy and black paint and i LOVE it. in fact i think it is light years easier to use than a full circle one. for turns, i put the end of a wing in the palm of my hand and spin. it really is easier than a full steering wheel and i have no plans of ever retiring it.
I love Ohio. 8)

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Post by FuzzieDice » Fri Apr 15, 2005 9:13 pm

I don't know if your hands HAVE to be on 10 and 2 for legal reasons. I know they said to do that in driving school years and years ago. But if you watch/see how some drive, they either drive one-handed, or with hands at the BOTTOM of the wheel, etc. I rather go 10/2 just so I can have a good grip and ready just in case. I think I'd find it nearly impossible to drive KITT. But then again, who needs to drive him when he can just drive himself? ;)

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Post by walter h. anderson » Sat Apr 16, 2005 3:39 am

Makes me glad to be living in Ohio, but I didn't know that gull wings were legal here.

Actually, it's not hard to drive with a gull wing steering wheel. I did it for a few years when I had ARC 3 (my old Beretta). Now I do it with ARC 4 (my van). It takes a little practice, but it's a lot more fun to drive this way.

I'll get a video posted soon showing how easy this is.

One other thing. Gull wing steering wheels should be chosen by the car owner, not the Department of Motor Vehicles.

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Post by themarvelous3 » Sat Apr 16, 2005 4:51 am

rumor has it that most cars of the future will have them for safety reasons; smacking head/face into them in accidents/easier viewing of instrument panels. but just rumor for now. (heard they're also planning on eliminating e-check as early as this december...yay!!)

my mom called the Ohio State Highway Patrol to make sure it was legal when i did it some 4 odd years ago. she was rather dissapointed that it was i must say.

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Post by TashaKnight » Sat Apr 16, 2005 10:22 am

I'm looking into buying a 2005 Chevy Aveo, and would love to be able to replace the steering wheel with a gull-wing. However I know that brings up issues with the air bag and all. *thinks to herself* I could just modify the OEM steering wheel..... *sighs* I want to modify the dash so its more KITT like, that's for sure.

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Post by themarvelous3 » Sun Apr 17, 2005 9:55 am

TashaKnight wrote:I'm looking into buying a 2005 Chevy Aveo, and would love to be able to replace the steering wheel with a gull-wing. However I know that brings up issues with the air bag and all. *thinks to herself* I could just modify the OEM steering wheel..... *sighs* I want to modify the dash so its more KITT like, that's for sure.
ah yes the air bag issue. now, tampering with THOSE may be illiegal, but i'm not for sure. my car HAD an air bag...it doesnt anymore...

shhhhhh....

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Post by daroga » Sun Apr 17, 2005 10:26 am

Wow, I didn't know the gullwings were legal in Ohio! As a side note... there seem to be MANY people on here from Ohio. That's wild. :) Any chance we can get a few people together this summer, and maybe at least one person whose got a KITT replica?

I'm not real sure if I'd be comfortable driving a gull-wing steering wheel. BUt, I suppose like a round wheel, you just need to practice.

daroga

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Post by walter h. anderson » Mon Apr 18, 2005 2:50 am

I don't see how difficult it would be to get used to a gull-wing wheel.
All you need is practice, practice, practice.

I'm all up for a mini gathering of fellow KRO members, daroga.

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Post by theevolved1 » Mon Apr 18, 2005 2:59 am

yeah same here id be up for a little gathering... I didnt realize till this topic that there were so many people from Ohio around here. If love to see some Kitt or Karr Replicas Ive only seen one my whole life and it was a really sad looking one.

I wish I had a Kitt Replica but alas I dont :-( But its my goal to have one.

hey so what your saying is if your airbag was to go off you must get it replaced? Cause my brothers airbag went off when he went over some kind of sewer cap that was sticking up in his friends driveway and he drove around for a few years after not having replaced the airbag. And I know in that time he had gotten pulled over a few times. So i guess that wasnt illegal?

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Post by TashaKnight » Mon Apr 18, 2005 7:49 am

themarvelous3 wrote:
ah yes the air bag issue. now, tampering with THOSE may be illiegal, but i'm not for sure. my car HAD an air bag...it doesnt anymore...

shhhhhh....

Ahh... *lol* I wonder the legalities of just cutting the OEM steering wheel to a modified gull wing.

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Re: Why is the gull-wing steering wheel illegal?

Post by Whitestar » Tue Apr 19, 2005 9:53 pm

Michael Pajaro wrote:
Whitestar wrote:Whenever it came to making a complete left or right turn, I instinctively tried to grab onto the gull-wing steering as if it were a circular one. As a result, I nearly lost control...

Why is it considered illegal?
I think you answered your own question.. they are less safe than full-circle wheels.

And it would be great to see photos of yuor own custom steering wheel!

Well, unfortunately I don't have my homemade dashboard anymore. That was made when I was a little tyke. And to tell you the truth, I don't remember what happened to it. However, I am working on my own KITT design and I'll post it here as soon as it's complete. I'll keep you posted. :)


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Post by Fantine » Tue Apr 19, 2005 10:02 pm

There *are* a lot of Ohioans on this board.

I don't have a replica, sadly.

But, you know, if you get up enough speed on those Southern Ohio roads, you can almost manage a turbo-boost type effect on some of the more impressive hills. Appalachia is fun that way. :wink:

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Post by KnightCrusader99 » Wed Apr 20, 2005 12:07 am

I live close to Cincinnati in Northern Kentucky, does that count as Ohio? ;-)

I think tampering with Air Bags is a no-no, because I am pretty sure that West Coast customs recently got slammed because they were removing them to put TVs and such in.

-Steve

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Post by Whitestar » Wed Apr 20, 2005 1:12 am

[quote="themarvelous3"]rumor has it that most cars of the future will have them for safety reasons; smacking head/face into them in accidents/easier viewing of instrument panels. but just rumor for now. [quote]


Speaking of which, here are some links regarding futuristic concept cars equipped with yoke steering wheels:


http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thsc ... 21/&prd=iw&


http://geneva.cars.msn.co.uk/concepts/i ... 85-344.htm


And here is one from Honda known as the Spocket concept car:


http://www.webcastingtv.com/honda/interior-lo.jpg


The steering wheel from the Honda Spocket bears a striking resemblance to KITT's doesn't it?


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Post by TashaKnight » Wed Apr 20, 2005 7:49 am

KnightCrusader99 wrote:
I think tampering with Air Bags is a no-no, because I am pretty sure that West Coast customs recently got slammed because they were removing them to put TVs and such in.

-Steve
You are right, I believe. I remember hearing about that. There are considerable fines if you are caught disarming or having disconnected airbags. Especially on the driver side. I'm not so sure about the passenger side.

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OK in NY

Post by corlando52 » Sat Apr 23, 2005 8:46 pm

When KR first came out, I owned a 1974 Corvette. I went crazy! I took out the dash and made my own LED dash like KITTs...not exactly, but close enough for me. I made a console between my T-tops. I even made a gull wing steering wheel by cutting up a real steering wheel that gave it the right look. But before I did that, I called the NYState MV law offices in Albany. I spoke to one of their lawyers who said it was perfectly legal...that there was nothing on the books about how a steering wheel should look. That's why they got away with those chain steering wheels, etc.
As for airbags, I understand that the law for these ONLY applies to newer vehicles that are so equipt, not to an old Firebird.
So that's my take on it...
....man, now I miss my '74 Vette..

Oh, and I so preferred driving the car with the gull wing steering wheel. I found it better balanced, easier to handle and it opens up the entire dash and windshield. You wouldn't believe how distracting the big, round steering wheel is until you try the gull wing.
One exception....when trying to backup, we all have the habit of putting our hand on the TOP of the steering wheel...it's not there with a gull wing. First time I went to back up in the Vette, I turned around, put my hand where the top should have been, and laughed myself silly.....

Chris

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Post by ad227529 » Sat Apr 23, 2005 8:51 pm

an ohio get together?! sweet! i am $800 away from the outside being COMPLETELY done. i get my hood this coming weekend!!!!!! my girlfriend is amazing

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