Are windshield wipers required in NJ?

[95PGTTech]

I have been living in PA the past few years where I performed my own safety and emissions inspections on both my 94GT daily driver and 98 Cobra toy (always met the 5,000 mile or less exemption).

I am a little unclear as to rules now that NJ has no safety inspection any more. The multifunction switch went bad in the Cobra. I would really like this as an excuse to fabricate a column to mount to my under-dash cage bar and entirely ditch the cowl/wiper section and its weight.

I have driven the car with no wipers and the rubber grommet type deals over the remaining pieces of the wiper linkage and kept the wipers in the trunk in case of cop problems. I realize one pitfall could be the lights on/wipers on law. This car is NEVER driven in the rain, I am usually too lazy to take off my road race wheels and slicks. It doesn't even go to a car show if rain is a possibility, and I always have backup planned with the truck and trailer anywhere I go, because, let's face it, modified cars do break. If it were to rain, I'd find the nearest cover for it and park until the trailer arrived.

So...officers...DMV was unhelpful. Do I need wipers? I do not qualify for antique yet (1998) as I did in PA. The older rules indicate any vehicle that was OEM equipped with a windscreen require wipers.

 

[rpalmer]

Well, it never rains in New Jersey anyway, right?

-RP​

 

[95PGTTech]

It does all the time, but I haven't been driving the 98 in the rain for multiple reasons for the last few years - value of the parts/time/sweat I've put in the car, increased risk of other drivers, no ABS, usually on race slicks, proximity of air intakes to ground/water, damn near a nut and bolt resto I don't want dirtied up, yaddah yaddah yaddah before wipers even become a concern.

I've seen plenty of pro-touring cars lathering the windshield with Rain-X and do just fine, my concern is cops pulling over or inspection issues - I still do street drive this car on perfect days - which, in NJ, are few and far between.

 

[BlownAway05]

Found this statute:

39:3-74. Windshields must be unobstructed and equipped with cleaners

Every motor vehicle having a windshield shall be equipped with at least one device in good working order for cleaning rain, snow or other moisture from the windshield so as to provide clear vision for the driver, and all such devices shall be so constructed and installed as to be operated or controlled by the driver.

No person shall drive any motor vehicle with any sign, poster, sticker or other non-transparent material upon the front windshield, wings, deflectors, side shields, corner lights adjoining windshield or front side windows of such vehicle other than a certificate or other article required to be so displayed by statute or by regulations of the commissioner.

No person shall drive any vehicle so constructed, equipped or loaded as to unduly interfere with the driver's vision to the front and to the sides.

N.J. Stat. Ann. § 39:3-74 (West)

 

[95PGTTech]

So although it would not be required for inspection, I could be pulled over and ticketed?

 

[Lt. ZO6]

So although it would not be required for inspection, I could be pulled over and ticketed?

That appears to be the case. Easy way around it, if this vehicle is to be a dedicated track vehicle, is to trailer it to your events.

 

[95PGTTech]

That appears to be the case. Easy way around it, if this vehicle is to be a dedicated track vehicle, is to trailer it to your events.

It does see 90% track duty. Unfortunately, I still street drive it a few times a year and plan to keep it that way. I think I'll just leave the wipers alone for right now, possibly do something to set it up to just on/off to simplify the wiring.

 

[CWCobra]

Found this statute:

39:3-74. Windshields must be unobstructed and equipped with cleaners

Every motor vehicle having a windshield shall be equipped with at least one device in good working order for cleaning rain, snow or other moisture from the windshield so as to provide clear vision for the driver, and all such devices shall be so constructed and installed as to be operated or controlled by the driver.

No person shall drive any motor vehicle with any sign, poster, sticker or other non-transparent material upon the front windshield, wings, deflectors, side shields, corner lights adjoining windshield or front side windows of such vehicle other than a certificate or other article required to be so displayed by statute or by regulations of the commissioner.

No person shall drive any vehicle so constructed, equipped or loaded as to unduly interfere with the driver's vision to the front and to the sides.

N.J. Stat. Ann. § 39:3-74 (West)

Dang! Sounds like the oil change reminder sticker on the 'shield is a violation!
Wonder if all the Quick Lube places are aware of this?

 

[95PGTTech]

No person shall drive any vehicle so constructed, equipped or loaded as to unduly interfere with the driver's vision to the front and to the sides.

At 6' 4", even with an extremely low-mounted aftermarket seat I had to remove the OEM inside rearview mirror for this exact reason. It was like driving with a 6" cowl to me I absolutely could see nothing on right hand turns.

 

[LT1Squirrel]

If you only drive it a couple times a year on the street i assume you should be fine, plenty of guys in my club in nj dont have front plates and rarely get pulled over unless theyre doing something else/stupid... hell, on my old jeep with 35's it rarely had a hood/front grill due to multiple encounters with trees out on the trail haha

 

[95PGTTech]

I was again wondering I was flipping through some of John Fore III's photos of Etown and Atco and saw a few cars I recognized with cowl hoods that go all the way to the windshield. Can't remember if they ditched the wipers or not but one or two I recall didn't even have the entire wiper cowl they drilled the spot welds out and removed the entire piece. Regardless, with a cowl like that the wipers would never work. One or two I remember driving on the street from time to time I guess I'm going to have to make some calls.

Consensus: not the letter of the law, gamble getting caught or not.

 

[usmotox]

Rain X and a trained monkey with an ear bud and a squigie???? How the heck do you spell "squigie"?

 

[95PGTTech]

Rain X and a trained monkey with an ear bud and a squigie???? How the heck do you spell "squigie"?

squeegee

No need for it, Rain X and 55mph is better than wipers in my past experience.

 

[CSD]

So although it would not be required for inspection, I could be pulled over and ticketed?

Where would an officer leave you a parking ticket? :lol:

Those wipers serve two purposes so yes they're required. It would be an equipment violation

With that said, if you don't drive this car in the rain I'd say go for it. As long as you don't drive like an a-hole, the likelihood of an officer stopping you just for missing wipers is slim to none

Edit: As you can see in my sig, I drove my Cobra with no wipers. Never pulled over