Bicycle Austin forum

chavela

Member

Registered: 2008-06-03

Posts: 55

Spoke wire car wheel rims--can these be legal??

I am seeing more and more of these "spoke wire" wheel rims that stick out from the wheel.  Today a car passed me with rims that stuck out at LEAST 12" on each side.  I was aghast--these rims protruded to the left and right beyond the road lane markings on both sides.  The rims are invisible to the driver of the car, so I have zero confidence he is really aware of the space he is taking up (I say "he" because all my observations have been of people who appear to identify as male).

These things are lethal, lethal.  Can they be legal?  My husband says they are not allowed in Europe.  What can we do?

Thanks,
Elizabeth Gray

sample:  https://www.google.com/search?q=spoke+w … cDCvcnM%3A

MichaelBluejay

Webmaster

From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-26

Posts: 1,455

Website

Re: Spoke wire car wheel rims--can these be legal??

I've wondered the same thing.  They seem really unsafe.  Clearly that didn't occur to the people who bought them -- or they just don't care.

dougmc

Administrator

Registered: 2008-06-01

Posts: 623

Re: Spoke wire car wheel rims--can these be legal??

I've heard them called "chariot wheels" or "swangers".

As for legality, I don't think Texas has any law that prohibits them.  There are limits on how wide a car can be, but it's wide enough that even those things aren't long enough to push a typical car over the limit (the width limit is eight foot and six inches.)

That said, the version I see on semi truck wheels typically aren't very long and are made of plastic, so the're somewhat less dangerous than they would be if metal.  (But even plastic can rip up flesh.)  But the actual swanger versions?  They don't look like plastic.

As for what to do ... since they're not illegal, there's not much a cop can do about them.  So the place to start would be the state legislature, or maybe the city council could make an ordinance, though I suspect the city would be unwilling to do such a change without the rest of the state being on board, as it would be problematic to enforce it against people who don't even live here but are driving through.

RedFalcon

Member

Registered: 2013-10-10

Posts: 233

Re: Spoke wire car wheel rims--can these be legal??

We'll have to wait until someone dies because of these stupid things to even get started on making them illegal.