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S 3165Personal

Motor and Other Vehicles - Registration of Vehicles

This bill bans registering Kei vehicles, with limited exceptions for current owners, and expands registration blocks for unpaid fines.

Introduced33 Yea4 Nay1 Not voting
Population
Affected
15
Email Legislator
Introduced Mar 27, 2026Committee Senate Judiciary

Plain-English Summary

This bill updates the reasons the Division of Motor Vehicles can refuse to register a vehicle. First, it allows state agencies, in addition to cities and towns, to block a registration if the owner has $200 or more in unpaid fines. Second, it bans the registration of "Kei cars" and "Kei trucks" (small, lightweight Japanese vehicles). However, people who registered their Kei vehicles before June 1, 2024, can renew them, but they cannot transfer the registration to someone else. It also restricts these grandfathered vehicles to roads with speed limits of 35 mph or less.

For younger readers

This bill changes the rules for getting a license plate for your car. If a person owes $200 or more in tickets to the state or a town, they cannot get their license plate until they pay. Also, the bill stops people from getting license plates for "Kei cars" and "Kei trucks," which are very tiny vehicles from Japan. If someone already had one before June 1, 2024, they can keep using it, but they can only drive it on slower roads where the speed limit is 35 miles per hour or less.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Kei car ownersKei truck ownersIndividuals with unpaid state finesState agenciesDivision of Motor Vehicles
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

The prohibition on transferring grandfathered "Kei car" or "Kei truck" registrations severely limits the owner's ability to sell their property. This could potentially raise Fifth Amendment "Takings Clause" concerns by depriving owners of the economic value of their property without just compensation. However, states generally have broad police powers to regulate vehicle safety on public roads, making successful constitutional challenges difficult.

Estimated cost
Individuals with unpaid fines: $5 fee per registration denial
Estimated revenue
Division of Motor Vehicles: $5 fee per registration denial; State agencies: Amount unknown (from increased fine collection)

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Enhances the ability of state agencies to collect unpaid fines, which can increase revenue to fund generous public services and community welfare programs.
  • Protects public safety by restricting Kei vehicles, which may lack modern safety features required for high-speed crashes, to slower roads, prioritizing community welfare.
  • Includes a grandfather clause for current Kei vehicle owners, preventing immediate financial harm to individuals who have already invested in these vehicles.
  • Expands the state's power to deny vehicle registrations over unpaid fines, which disproportionately harms low-income individuals who rely on their cars for work and daily survival.
  • Bans the registration of Kei vehicles, which are often a highly affordable, fuel-efficient transportation option for working-class people.
  • Prevents the transfer of grandfathered Kei vehicle registrations, effectively destroying the resale value of these vehicles and financially penalizing their current owners.
For Conservatives
  • Strengthens the rule of law by giving state agencies more power to enforce the collection of unpaid fines by withholding vehicle registrations.
  • Promotes public safety on highways by banning the registration of non-traditional, imported Kei vehicles that do not meet standard American highway safety regulations.
  • Imposes strict speed and road limitations on grandfathered Kei vehicles, minimizing the risk these unconventional vehicles pose to standard traffic flow.
  • Infringes on personal freedom and property rights by banning citizens from registering and freely using the vehicle of their choice.
  • Expands government overreach by allowing more bureaucratic agencies to weaponize registration denials to collect fines.
  • Violates free-market principles by stripping current Kei vehicle owners of their ability to sell or transfer their vehicles to another registered owner.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 5 additions · 2 deletions

SECTION 1. Section 31-3-5 of the General Laws in Chapter 31-3 entitled "Registration of Vehicles" is hereby amended to read as follows: 31-3-5. Grounds for refusal of registration. The division of motor vehicles shall refuse registration or any transfer of registration upon any of the following grounds:

(1) That the application contains any false or fraudulent statement, or that the applicant has failed to furnish required information, or reasonable additional information requested by the division of motor vehicles, or that the applicant is not entitled to the issuance of registration of the vehicle under chapters 3 — 9 of this title;

(2) That the vehicle is mechanically unfit or unsafe to be operated upon the highways;

(3) That the division of motor vehicles has reasonable ground to believe that the vehicle is a stolen or embezzled vehicle, or that the granting of registration would constitute a fraud against the rightful owner;

(4) That the registration of the vehicle stands suspended or revoked for any reason as provided in the motor vehicle laws of this state;

(5) That the vehicle has been reported by any city or town city, town, state and/or agency of a municipality or state to the division of motor vehicles as having unpaid fines in the aggregate amount of two hundred dollars ($200) or more, including any and all interest, penalties, or other monetary amount that may be imposed for failure to pay the fines by a specified date; provided, the registration shall be issued upon presentation of proof of payment of the outstanding fines, including any and all interest, penalties, or other monetary amount owed to the cities or towns reporting the unpaid fines. When the division of motor vehicles denies a registration to any person pursuant to this subsection, the city, or town or state agency requesting the denial of registration shall add a five-dollar ($5.00) fee to the aggregate value of the sum of the fines and, upon payment, shall transmit the fee to the division of motor vehicles. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to any vehicle owned by a rental company, as defined in § 31-34.1-1;

(6) That the vehicle does not comply with regulations promulgated pursuant to § 23-23- 5(18);

(7) That the vehicle does not comply with the provisions of chapter 47.1 of this title and any rules and regulations promulgated under that chapter;

(8) That a commercial motor vehicle is being operated by a commercial motor carrier that has been prohibited from operating in interstate commerce by a federal agency with authority to do so under federal law;

(9) That the registered owner of a vehicle failed to pay the required toll amounts, administrative fees, and fines as prescribed in § 24-12-37; or

(10) That the vehicle is a “Kei car” or “Kei truck”. Provided, however, that the registrant of any “Kei car” or “Kei truck” which was validly registered prior to June 1, 2024, shall not be denied renewal of that registration based solely on the vehicle type; and further, provided that, any such registrations shall not be permitted to be transferred. Every person lawfully operating a “Kei car” or “Kei truck” shall have the right to use the public highways in the state including any state highway, through highway, limited-access highway or public highway or roadway with a posted speed limit of thirty-five miles per hour (35 m.p.h.) or less. Nothing in this subsection, however, shall be construed to prohibit a “Kei car” or “Kei truck” from crossing a public highway at an intersection where the public highway to be crossed has a posted speed limit between thirty-five miles per hour (35 m.p.h.) and forty-five miles per hour (45 m.p.h.); provided the public highway the “Kei car” or “Kei truck” is traveling on and the public highway the “Kei car” or “Kei truck” is crossing the intersection toward both have a speed limit no higher than thirty-five miles per hour (35 m.p.h.) and the intersection is controlled by traffic signals or stop signs.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.