You might think that the United States, land of the free and home of the brave, would have some of the least restrictive laws governing the automotive industry. You’d be wrong. The US is home to many silly regulations, some of which have been on the books for decades, that restrict cars in absolutely outrageous ways. In some cases, these laws actually make cars on the road more dangerous, not safer.

We’ve compiled a list of nine car features that are currently illegal based on US regulations. These are features that are legal in other parts of the world, and could be legal here with a simple act of congress. Get ready to leave some angry comments because some of these laws are frankly ridiculous.

1 Side View Cameras

Several automakers have replaced traditional side view mirrors with cameras, paired to screens mounted near the A-pillar in the interior. Some of the first cars to get this feature include the Lexus ES and the Audi e-tron. This system boasts several advantages over a traditional mirror, including lower aerodynamic drag (especially useful for EVs), less wind noise, and greater visibility. Sadly, the US government doesn’t currently allow them, but there may be some movement on this front.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Department of Transportation (DOT) have both started to evaluate side view camera mirrors for use in the US. Sadly, these tests have been ongoing since 2019, showing how slowly American agencies move. The US already allows rearview camera mirrors, though they do not replace the traditional mirrors. The Polestar 4 is the lone exception because it doesn’t have a rear window, meaning it needs a camera to look rearward.

2 Central Driving Position

Though having a center-seat configuration is not illegal in the US (the McLaren F1 was sold here), most of the modern cars with this layout are not officially sold here due to the issue discussed above: side view camera mirrors. Both the McLaren Speedtail and Gordon Murray Automotive T.50 use camera mirrors that make it easier to see outward from a middle seating position. If you want to own either of these cars in the US, they can only be brought in under Show or Display, which allows limited road use up to 2,500 miles per year.

Technically, you can still purchase two cars with center-seat layouts, but they are not three-seaters like the Speedtail and T.50. The BAC Mono offers a single seat and the Czinger 21C includes a 1+1 setup where the passenger sits behind the driver. Building a car with the traditional open-wheel racer layout – a central driving position with two seats positioned slightly behind – is difficult due to US airbag regulations.

3 Laser/Matrix LED Headlights

For years, European automakers have been innovating with advanced headlights that offer far greater visibility using matrix LED and laser technology. Unfortunately, thanks to a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard from back in 1967, the US has not been able to use any of these systems. The rule essentially stated that low beams must be the default, and can not be used at the same time as high beams. If you’ve ever been in a car with automatic high beams, that’s why you will constantly see the lights switch from low to high when it detects oncoming vehicles.

In Europe and other countries, the headlights can specifically carve out the area where they would blind an oncoming driver, leaving the rest of the road illuminated. Automakers petitioned hard to get this rule changed, and were successful as of 2022. Sadly, it will still take years for automakers to adapt to the new regulations. The next challenge will be allowing lighting systems that project images on the road. We technically have this technology, but it’s only allowed to be used as a gimmick while parked.

4 No Windscreen Speedsters

All passenger vehicles in the US are required to have a windshield, though motorcycles (and three-wheelers like the Polaris Slingshot) are technically exempt. This created yet another issue when it came time to sell the McLaren Elva, a speedster without a windshield. The Elva was designed to forgo a traditional glass windshield in favor of something McLaren calls the Active Air Management System. It essentially routes the air above the driver and passenger, making it feel like the wind is being pushed above them. This solution reportedly makes the Elva street legal in 19 states, meaning McLaren had to reverse engineer a glass windshield to sell it in the other 31 states.

Unlike McLaren, Ferrari didn’t bother making a US-specific windshield for its roofless SP1 and SP2 models. If you want to drive one of those around in America, it needs to be under Show or Display.

5 Swivel Seats

When the Kia EV9 was first shown off for the South Korean market, it featured a set of swiveling captain’s chairs in the second row that could spin around to face the third-row seats. The seats could also swivel to face the door, making it easy to load/unload children from a car seat. Sadly, these seats did not comply with US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, according to Kia.

Chrysler customers may remember that the Town & Country minivan used to be available with a similar feature called Swivel n Go, which also came with a built-in table that could be used by second- and third-row passengers. It’s unclear why swivel seats used to be legal, but are not today. Perhaps stricter crash tests have made it impossible for this type of seat to pass.

6 Roll Cage/Harness

DOT homologation rules mandate that automakers perform separate crash tests for vehicles that are substantially different. For example, the BMW M3 Sedan and M3 Touring have different body styles, requiring two crash tests. This explains why many low-volume models and features aren’t available here. Homologation is expensive, and you can witness the effects of this cost on various sports cars.

In Europe, Porsche sells multiple vehicles with roll bars as part of a Clubsport package, which also includes a six-point racing harness for the driver. “We do not offer this option in the US because the equipment is not DOT homologated,” a Porsche spokesperson told CarBuzz. The BMW M4 GTS faced a similar change, getting a half cage in the US compared to the full roll cage in the European version. American customers also missed out on the one-piece bucket seats, instead getting a lighter version of the M4 Competition seats. It’s not always the seat itself that can’t be homologated, but side effects from deleting airbags. That is why the US-spec Nissan GT-R Nismo doesn’t get the cool Recaro Podium carbon fiber bucket seats.

7 Diesel Engines

Diesel engines are far from illegal in the US; just look under the hood of most heavy-duty trucks. However, this engine type is now nonexistent for passenger vehicles. Volkswagen deserves a huge part of the blame for this after the company cheated on emissions tests during Dieselgate. US Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards also play a huge role in why smaller cars no longer have diesel engines.

In the US, CAFE regulations are measured differently for trucks and light vehicles. Larger vehicles like pickup trucks were allowed to produce lower fuel economy, so automakers simply began making more of them to avoid having to make more efficient cars. Diesel engines are not banned, per se, but they were effectively regulated out of existence.

8 Small Trucks

Have you ever noticed that every pickup truck sold in the US is built in North America? There’s a very good reason for that: the Chicken Tax. This stupid rule has nothing to do with safety or emissions, but rather a trade war that began in 1963 at the behest of President Lyndon B. Johnson. Johnson’s executive order imposed a 25% tax on imported goods from Europe, including potato starch, brand, dextrine, and automobile trucks.

To this day, any pickup truck built outside the US gets hit with a 25% tariff, making them prohibitively expensive. This explains why foreign brands like Nissan and Toyota build pickup trucks in North America and why the US never received trucks like the Mitsubishi Triton or Volkswagen Amarok. Ineos shocked the world when it announced that it would bring its Grenadier Quartermaster pickup truck to the US market, even though it would be hit by the tax.