Our View: Who checks 'altered vehicles?'

On the surface it seems that there is little to fret about when we see an "altered vehicle" (the insurance industry's term for cars and trucks with the bodies hoisted high off the chassis) bouncing along on our roads. After all, the reason for lifting the body is so that drivers can transit backcountry roads with high crowns and boulders without having to hike.

But get in front of one of those rigs at night and you get a dose of bright beams in your mirrors because the owner didn't bother adjusting the lights as required by law.

That's a petty annoyance, of course. But there are deeper causes for concern.

For instance, does that altered vehicle have the required insurance? Few insurance companies will insure such vehicles because of the high risk of overturning due to the higher center of gravity. The vehicles are inherently unstable. (It must give automotive industry engineers heartache to see their hard work in designing a safe vehicle trashed.)

Owners of such trucks and cars are supposed to tell their insurance companies that they have lifted the bodies of their vehicles. But how may do so, knowing as they do that they face a much higher insurance premium? Or know that they probably will have their insurance canceled and have to go to a high-risk firm, high-cost insurer?

And what happens when the altered vehicle is in an accident? Is the insurance company going to pay up when the terms of the policy have been violated? Some companies quieried say yes, they'll pay, but then cancel the policy.

Of course, such vehicles pose a danger to the rest of the vehicles on the road. With their greater risk over overturning, an altered truck or car can easily flip and cause a series of major accidents on a busy highway.

And what about the lifted bumpers, desiged to reduce the cost of collisions between cars? The lifted bumpers no longer conform to the standards and thus are guaranteed to cause much greater damage in any rear-end accidents.

There are federal codes as well as Nevada laws that govern altered vehicles. But one may wonder if these are applied.