BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — After last summer’s unexpected ban on Kei cars, some state representatives have begun the work to reverse it for good. The Massachusetts’s Registry of Motor Vehicles placed a ban on registering the popular mini-Japanese cars in early July of 2024.

This led to an outcry from owners who had already imported the cars, the ban was passed suddenly and with little public notice or reasoning.

Later in the month, the RMV partially walked back the ban, allowing Kei cars to remain on the road, but not allowing new ones to be registered. In September of that same year, the RMV began to allow for the registration of Kei cars again.

With the legality of the Kei cars still up in the air nearly a year later, two new bills have been brought to Beacon Hill to formally reverse the ban, both of which were heard in committee last week.

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State Representative Orlando Ramos is a co-sponsor on both bills, saying that everyone gets hurt if the status of these cars remains undecided. It would also prevent the RMV from changing its mind and re-banning the cars. The bill's main sponsor is Rep. Shirley Arriaga of Chicopee; the other bill is sponsored by Rep. Steven Howitt of Seekonk.

“If we don’t pass this bill, it’s going to prevent people from wanting to own these vehicles because they're going to be afraid that they can’t purchase them, that they're not going to be able to register them in the future," Ramos said. “It wasn’t fair to the consumer, it wasn’t fair to the driver, it wasn’t fair to the dealer."

Ramos noted it was likely the bills will be merged into one.

Last fall, the RMV said that "Plans for conducting a formal study of this subject matter are under development and will be announced once complete."

"Since September 2024, owners of Kei Vehicles have been able to register and title these vehicles. Regarding any new legislation, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation will closely review any legislative proposals at the appropriate time," a spokesperson for MassDOT said.

WBZ NewsRadio's Chaiel Schaffel (@CSchaffelWBZ) reports.

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