Pimp my Ride guest fined for swapping airbags for DVD player

[OTO]

http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/p.../1002/Business

What do you think folks? Good or bad all by the US govt?

[ghosthunter]

is it just me?... I cant open the link.

[zechs]

i cant open the link either..nag-hang-up na sa tagal mag-load.

[Quiller]

Same... kanina pa siya, left it alone and it's still loading.

[Quiller]

Finally got it loaded, kahit medyo matagal... eto po para sa mga gustong magbasa.

Custom Rims, Yes; TV in Steering Wheel, No

New York Times

DETROIT, Dec. 29 - Pimp the ride, pay the price.

In the first of what is expected to be a broader crackdown against auto customization shops, federal regulators on Wednesday imposed a $16,000 fine on West Coast Customs, the auto body shop affiliated with "Pimp My Ride," an MTV reality show that makes over rundown cars.

The shop, which has customized sport utility vehicles for customers like Shaquille O'Neal, was fined for removing front air bags in cars to install video screens in steering wheels.

Another celebrity shop, Unique Autosports in Uniondale, N.Y., was fined $5,000 for a similar offense. A reality show featuring the shop, to be called "Unique Whips," will be shown on the Speed Channel, a cable automotive channel, in February.

Rae Tyson, a spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said the fines were the first of what was expected to be a larger crackdown on car customizers who were disabling safety equipment.

Regulators have noticed that front-seat video screens have become one offshoot of the car customization boom. While the safety agency does not have jurisdiction over installing video monitors in cars and trucks after they have been manufactured, they do have jurisdiction over tampering with safety equipment such as air bags.

"We're actively pursuing several others," Mr. Tyson said, "It's not only a bad idea to disable the air bag, it's against the law. Air bags are there for a purpose, to protect you. If you have a DVD player there instead of an air bag, it's not going to protect you in a crash."

Calls to West Coast Customs, of Inglewood, Calif., were not returned. Will Castro, the proprietor of Unique Autosports, said, "I have no comment."

Mr. Castro has done customization work for stars ranging from the entertainer Jennifer Lopez to the rap artist Eminem, according to a recent news release from the Speed Channel.

Employees of West Coast Customs are regularly featured on "Pimp My Ride" performing automotive miracle work, and seven of them are profiled on MTV's Web site.

Most states have laws against watching televisions in the front seat, though many of the laws have not been updated to include DVD players and other new technologies. New York law prohibits cars from being "equipped with a television receiving set within view of the operator." But an updated California law that took effect in January bans most video functions in the front seat, including DVD players, with the exception of such technologies as navigation systems.

Automakers often install video screens for passengers in the front seat, but only features like navigation systems or stereos can typically be operated while the car is in motion, though the proliferation of electronic controls in luxury cars is also the focus of scrutiny by safety researchers.

"We know that all kinds of distractions can be a problem, but it would be hard to think of something more distracting than watching a video while you're driving," said Anne McCartt, a vice president for research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a group financed by car insurers. "It's a really worrisome trend."

She said swapping an air bag for a video screen was even more disturbing.

"It's taking out a safety device that has proven lifesaving benefits," Ms. McCartt said, "and replacing it with something that could clearly be distracting and potentially dangerous."

In recent years, car customization has becoming a booming business, and TV shows chronicling cool cars and car makeovers have proliferated, including "Overhaulin' " on TLC and "Ride with Funkmaster Flex" on Spike TV. Over the last decade, annual spending on after-market car parts and accessories has doubled to $28.9 billion a year, according to the Specialty Equipment Market Association.

"Pimp My Ride" on MTV - with its host, Alvin Joiner, a Detroit native better known as the rapper Xzibit - is a feel-good show in which 18- to 22-year-olds are invited to submit their dilapidated cars or trucks for a major retrofit by West Coast Customs.

In one episode, for instance, a sad-looking 1989 Ford Mustang was remade to include a photo booth built into the passenger side with a camera in the visor and a printer in the center armrest.

Safety investigators, however, were drawn to West Coast Customs not by something that occurred on the MTV program but by an advertisement on the shop's Web site.

"There's nothing wrong with customization," said Mr. Tyson, of the traffic agency, "as long as you don't disable safety equipment."

[co_drums_ol]

thanks quiller for posting it, di ko rin ma open eh.. =)

i read parts of the article pero from the title itself, tama lang kasi, SAFETY first above anything else, no question yun eh.. =)

[gearspeed]

"There's nothing wrong with customization," said Mr. Tyson, of the traffic agency, "as long as you don't disable safety equipment."

I agree with that statement.

[boybi]

hehe, sobra naman yata yung magkabit ng TV screen sa steering wheel in place of the airbag.

[zechs]

siguro pwede naman, pero pang-show car lang yung ride mo..not intended to be used in the roads talaga..

[empy]

hindi ba nakakahilo yun, paikot-ikot yung tv pagkabig ng manibela

[gearspeed]

naalala ko tuloy yung sinabi ng isang celebrity or music artist sa mtv cribs na balak niya lagyan ng tv yung steering wheel niya.Taga flipmode yata siya..

[ECG]

ganyan ang kailangan sa pilipinas, strict implementation of the law.

[boybi]

ganyan ang kailangan sa pilipinas, strict implementation of the law.

tatama muna siguro ako ng lotto kahit hindi ako tumataya bago mangyari yan

[BlueBimmer]

too much bling?

[odell]

feeling ko hinde naman din pinapanood eh.. pamporma lang talaga.. pero tama un move nila against removing safety devices

[voltes_V]

Awww thats too bad, I really like that show. Porma sana, but disabling safety features like that for the sake of bling was just a bad move.

[van_wilder]

anong silbi nun screen sa steering wheel? you cant do two things at the same time. sa manibela na ang tingin mo nun eh, takaw aksidente... kung sa stop mo lang gagamitin, eh di indash na lang ikabit mo...

[mazdamazda]

teka... dba mga lokbu yung mga pinapasok sa pimp my ride? eh wala namang mga airbags yun in the first place...

[Bogeyman]

teka... dba mga lokbu yung mga pinapasok sa pimp my ride? eh wala namang mga airbags yun in the first place...

There was a single exception. In the first season ender ng Pimp My Ride, the owner's original car (Ford Escort) was considered "un-pimpable" because it was structurally unsound, since it was basically two cars welded together. So the producers of the show got a brand-new, factory-fresh 2004 Scion xB and customized that instead.

Tama nga yung ginawa nilang crackdown. If it were up to me, isa lang ang sisisihin ko dun. Si Mad Mike ng WCC, siya kasi yung in-charge sa gadget installation.

[ssaloon]

not necessarily siguro yung mga cars featured sa pimp my ride, pero those customized by WCC more specifically