Vermont Beats The Odds To Become America’s Next State To Fully Legalize Tiny Imported Cars

Over the past 15 years, scores of American states have silently attacked a niche of enthusiast cars. The Japanese kei-jidōsha (kei) cars are the smallest highway-legal cars in Japan, and are legal to import to America once they turn 25 years old. But the states, emboldened by a quasi-governmental lobbying organization, have been banning these tiny cars. Enthusiasts are fighting back, and several states are reversing their bans. Vermont just became the next state to not just reverse its ban, but codify the rights of Kei cars into its laws.

On June 16, Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed S.326 into law. The bill featured many miscellaneous amendments to Vermont’s vehicle code, including “Nondriver Identification Cards,” “Insufficient Funds for Fees,” “Penalties for Operation of Prohibited Vehicles in Smugglers’ Notch,” “Salvage Titles,” “Abandoned Motor Vehicles,” and other dry DMV subjects. Then, nestled between all of the boring talk about car titles and such is a section called “Kei Vehicles”. In it, Vermont’s new law has enshrined the right of Kei vehicles to be treated as normal motor vehicles.

This law didn’t come out of nowhere. When S.326 was introduced by the Vermont Senate Committee on Transportation, it didn’t bear a single mention of Kei vehicles. For years, Kei vehicles lived in a sort of gray area in Vermont. Some enthusiasts had no issue registering their legally imported vehicles, while some were told by the state that their vehicles were illegal. Then, in November 2025, there were rumors that Vermont was thinking about finally officially weighing in on Keis, and the belief was that the state was leaning towards a ban. Something had to be done.

David McChristian, the founder of Lone Star Kei–the architects of beating import car bans in America–helped mobilize enthusiasts in Vermont. In using the methods pioneered by import enthusiasts in Texas, not only did Vermont codify Kei vehicles into state law, but it also did so in less than a year. Here’s where Vermont was, and where it’s going.

Vermont Didn’t Know What To Do With Keis

Back in the 2000s, Americans discovered the cheap utility of the mini-truck. These trucks, which are legally limited to 25 mph and are imported for off-road use only, are great for golf courses, college campuses, farms, and anywhere else where a small pickup truck can be useful. The brilliance of the mini-truck is that it has a bed that’s roughly the size that you’d get in an American pickup truck, but in a much smaller and cheaper overall package.

Americans started importing these trucks in droves from China and Japan, and some of those people wanted to drive them around their communities, like they would a golf cart. The states took notice, but had no idea what to do with this newly popular vehicle. The Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA), a technically non-governmental non-profit lobbying organization composed of motor vehicle and law enforcement administrators and executives from all 50 states, Canada, Mexico, the Virgin Islands, and Washington, D.C., decided to research the mini-truck.

In 2010, AAMVA members met in Florida to develop “best practices” on how to handle mini-trucks. Soon after, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety published a crash test video (below) and then opined that low-speed vehicles and mini trucks are unsafe and should be removed from the road. The opinion noted that, starting in 2007, there was a trend of states allowing mini trucks on their roads. That IIHS opinion focused on the aforementioned off-road mini-trucks with a governed 25 mph top speed.

In 2011, AAMVA published Best Practice Regarding Registration and Titling of Mini-Trucks, which recommended that member states ban mini-trucks from road use. Many states complied.

Since then, a new phenomenon has grown in America. Japanese Kei trucks look like mini-trucks, but have top speeds as high as 83 mph and proper street-legal equipment, including tires, lighting, glazing, three-point seatbelts, and applicable crash safety for their model years in Japan. When these trucks turn 25 years old, the federal government no longer cares that these vehicles were not built for American safety standards and allows for their legal importation.

However, the decision of what is actually legal to register is a right of the states, and that’s where so many enthusiasts have gotten so many headaches. Many states have been found to confuse mini-trucks and Kei vehicles as being the same thing, and thus have banned Kei vehicles. Other states allowed for the registration of Kei vehicles, treating them like regular motor vehicles.

Eventually, Kei vehicles fell on the radar of the AAMVA, too. In 2021, Maine’s BMV, with the help of the DMVs of Georgia, Colorado, and South Dakota, published Regulation of Off-Road Vehicles: Best Practices. This document was devastating, as it told all AAMVA members, which again, is all U.S. states, to not just ban mini-trucks, but Kei vehicles and even vintage military Jeeps. AAMVA’s logic? None of these vehicles were originally built to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, so they cannot be allowed on the road under any circumstances.

Since then, Maine, Rhode Island, Michigan, Georgia, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Colorado, Illinois, Virginia, and Wisconsin all banned or otherwise limited the use of legally imported vehicles. Maine passed a law that technically bans all imports from any country, though the law isn’t enforced well. Wisconsin passed a ban, but then forgot to enforce it until now. Rhode Island, Illinois, and Georgia remain unwavering in their disdain for Keis. Alaska didn’t directly ban Keis, but it had a weird law on its books that accidentally banned all imported vehicles that were newer than 1981.

The above list of states doesn’t include the states that banned mini-trucks in the past and just decided to consider Keis as being the same thing.

In 2012, Vermont Bill H.729 sought to legalize mini-trucks on all roads but the Interstate Highway System. This bill didn’t go anywhere. Kei vehicles have lived in a sort of gray area. Depending on who you asked at the Vermont DMV, Keis were either totally illegal or were legal so long as you got a state inspection. Vermont also saw mini-trucks as illegal, and some DMV representatives might have seen Keis as the same as mini-trucks, which is something I’ve seen in many states. Generally, Keis were seen as illegal in Vermont, but some people got license plates anyway.

This has caused plenty of uncertainty with Kei enthusiasts in the state because they had no idea if they’d be able to register their imports or not. Then came the rumor that Vermont was finally going to make a hard decision, and that decision was leaning toward a ban.

Vermont Becomes One Of America’s Most Pro-Kei States

Enthusiasts banded together, and one more provision was added to S.326 as it moved through Vermont’s legislature, thanks in-part to Senator Rebecca “Becca” White. In enacting S.326 into law, Vermont now has one of the most robust pro-Kei laws in America. Here’s what the new law reads, emphasis of the state of Vermont:

Sec. 20. 23 V.S.A. § 4 is amended to read:
§ 4. DEFINITIONS
Except as may otherwise be provided by law, and unless the context otherwise requires in statutes relating to motor vehicles and enforcement of the law regulating vehicles, as provided in this title and 20 V.S.A. part 5, the following definitions shall apply:

(28) “Pleasure car” shall include includes all motor vehicles not otherwise defined in this title and shall include includes plug-in electric vehicles, battery electric vehicles, or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles as defined pursuant to subdivision (85) of this section, and kei vehicles as defined pursuant to subdivision (90) of this section.

(72) “Farm truck” means a motor truck or kei truck that, at the option of the owner, may be registered under the provisions of subsection 367(f) of this title or may be unregistered when used in accordance with subsection 370(b) of this title.

(89) “Kei truck” means a kei vehicle that is designed, used, or maintained primarily for the transportation of property.
(90) “Kei vehicle” means a motor vehicle that has four wheels, an engine displacement of 660 cubic centimeters or less, an overall length of 130 inches or less, an overall height of 78 inches or less, and an overall width of 60 inches or less.

Sec. 21. 23 V.S.A. § 1044 is added to read:
§ 1044. OPERATION OF KEI VEHICLES

(a) A kei vehicle registered as a pleasure car shall be subject to all provisions of this title that are applicable to pleasure cars.
(b) A kei truck registered as a farm truck shall be subject to all provisions of this title that are applicable to farm trucks.
(c) The Traffic Committee and political subdivisions of this State shall not adopt any rules or ordinances that would have the effect of prohibiting:
(1) a kei vehicle that is registered as a pleasure car from being operated in the same manner and locations as other pleasure cars; and
(2) a kei truck that is registered as a farm truck from being operated in the same manner and locations as other farm trucks.

In Vermont, a “pleasure car” is just the state’s classification for a regular car. Thus, Vermont’s new law treats Keis just like any other motor vehicle. Finally, you’ll be able to import a Kei into Vermont and get a straight answer from the DMV. What I also love here is that Vermont isn’t adding restrictions. You’ll be able to drive a Kei on any road. Of course, if you’re rocking something like a Mighty Boy or a really low-power Kei, use discretion and stay away from roads you cannot safely travel down.

Grassroots Organizing Wins Again

How Vermont’s enthusiasts did it is inspiring. Back in 2024, David McChristian and his Lone Star Kei group became the first to overturn a Kei ban since the AAMVA published its recommendations in 2021.

Lone Star Kei gathered enthusiasts, developed educational documents, and created a unified effort of calling every lawmaker in Texas to tell them why Keis should be legal. This worked not just once, but twice. First, Texas reversed its Kei ban policy. Then, through the work of Lone Star Kei, lawmakers fully legalized Keis by passing a law. Basically, Lone Star Kei treated lawmakers as friends rather than foes to be defeated. Here’s one of the documents that Lone Star Kei uses to educate lawmakers:

Lone Star Kei’s methods from Texas have been successfully replicated by Massachusetts, Colorado, Alaska, Vermont, and others. The Texas-style effort is currently working in Oregon, too. Only Michigan has succeeded in beating a ban without using the “Texas Method,” as those enthusiasts sued the state. Georgia also sued their state, and ultimately failed. We also failed in Illinois, where we have thus far been unable to create a unified effort.

David McChristian gives a statement about Vermont’s big win:

S.326 has been signed by Gov. Scott, and kei cars are now supported and protected by the State of Vermont. It’s officially legal to register and drive imported kei cars, trucks, vans and SUVs in Vermont. Big thanks to Senator White for all her work on this.

To get kei cars legalized, some groups have tried filing lawsuits against the state. Others have gone through the appeal process at the DMV. The “Texas Method” , named after where it first worked for kei cars, is the old-fashioned way… organizing a group of like-minded advocates, drafting a clear message, and asking the state legislature for help. It has now succeeded in Texas, Colorado, Massachusetts, Alaska, and Vermont. And we’re making big progress in Oregon & New York. It just goes to show that a little effort and dedication can and does make an impact.

Thanks to everyone who helped out on this!

David McChristian has a message for anyone living in a state that still bans imported cars: Do what Lone Star Kei did. Gather your enthusiasts, call your lawmakers, and educate them on Keis. Make the state an ally, not an enemy. You can always reach out to Lone Star Kei for documents and tips!

What’s really incredible here is that all of these wins were scored through grassroots efforts. These are enthusiasts pushing back against the recommendations of the AAMVA and, in at least one case, the car dealer lobby and the state police. These wins are proof that regular people can make a difference in the government.

So, if you live in a state that still has a ban, you can still beat it! The blueprints already exist. Hopefully, one day, I’ll be able to tell you that all 50 states are pro-import. Now, if only we can convince Vermont to re-open its mail-order DMV system.

Top graphic image: Autozam