La Verne, California. NHTSA Ruling Clears the Way for GEM Vehicle Street Use The GEM Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) is included in a classification of federally approved "low-speed vehicles" which can be driven on community streets posted at 35 mph or less* if they meet certain safety criteria, according to a ruling announced in June, 1998 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The ruling affects NEVs and other electric vehicles that have top speeds of 20 to 25 miles an hour. (GEM cars travel at speeds up to 25 mph.) Under the rule, electric vehicles, including thousands of golf carts now used for transportation in retirement communities and on golf courses, are required to have seat belts, headlights, windshield wipers and other safety devices before they can be used for street travel. GEM cars, however, already come with anchored three-point safety belts, headlamps and windshield wipers as standard equipment. The GEM car's other standard safety features include four-wheel hydraulic brakes, rack-and-pinion steering, automotive safety glass, front-wheel drive, taillights, front and rear turn signals and stop lamps. GEM cars are the first multi-purpose NEV automotive engineered for both street and turf use. The NHTSA ruling was intended to set up safety criteria for low-speed vehicles (LSVs) and provide individual states with the uniform regulatory guidelines. The ruling does not alter the ability of states and local governments to decide for themselves whether to permit on-road use of LSVs.

this was taken from the front seat of our friend Giulio's car, as we zoomed through the streets of Rome one warm summer evening last month. the first time i saw/experienced Rome traffic, i admit, i was terrified. i also remember thinking to myself, thank goodness that i hadn't rented a car! but the more i rode around in it the more i realized that there was a method at work here. unlike the roads in the U.S., no one seemed uptight or angry about anything. if you left a large space between you and the car in front of you, someone would pull into it. it was just expected that they would. and lanes? forget it. if there was room for another car between you and the one next to you, then someone would pull into it. and guess what -- everyone was OK with it! there was no road-rage like there is in the U.S., there was no attitude or bravado. the cars too were so much smaller -- unlike the sea of gas guzzling SUV's back home. i also didn't see anyone driving and talking on a cell phone while i was in Italy. i saw plenty of people sitting at the side of the road, talking on their phones, but no-one talking while driving. perhaps it's a law? or perhaps just too dangerous. i came home to California traffic and have more than once now, found myself wishing for a way to bring Italian driving here.