If you’ve got brakes, you probably have a safe car.
Aside from being an obvious statement, it’s a good rule of thumb when considering if your decked-out car or truck will meet base requirements.
Getting street legal for the bases is not a gigantic undertaking, so long as the car has all the basics.
“If the car can pass the base inspection, then you can register the car,” said Mitsuhiro Ishitate of the vehicle registration office at Yokosuka Naval Base. “If not, you’ll have to keep the car in storage or somewhere else, because you can’t drive it on base.”
Ishitate said the base generally follows the rules of the Land Transportation Office, and combines their guidelines with their own base inspections to certify servicemembers’ cars. These guidelines, he said, call for all vehicles to have the usual standard features associated with cars, such as brake lights, turn signals and seat belts.
LTO standards also apply when it comes to tinted windows. Japanese regulations limit the amount of tinting to no more than 25 percent on the front and side windows, Ishitate said. As for the rear window, you can make it as black as night if you want.
Stereo systems have few regulations, but common courtesy generally takes precedence. Ishitate said the rule is if your tunes can be heard outside the car, and are a distracting annoyance — such as a loud booming bass — you’re liable to be stopped. In town, drivers have to get permission from the police to play anything loudly outside the confines of their vehicle.
Ground effects must be at least 9 cm, or about 3.5 inches from the road.
