Owning a car comes with all kinds of questions. Many of these can be related to the bumper of a car. For example, if you’re doing some work on your car, and the front or rear bumper has been detached, you may wonder if it’s still legal to drive a car in your state. Here’s a quick answer
Whether driving without a bumper is legal depends heavily on the state that you’re in. Driving without a bumper is illegal in heavily populated states, such as California, New York, or Florida. However, most southern states like Texas, Alabama, and Mississippi don’t have laws preventing you from doing so.
However, this certainly doesn’t answer the question entirely. In the article below, we’ll first have to look at the three parts that make up a bumper. Otherwise, you’ll run the risk of driving without a part that’s considered part of the bumper. Furthermore, we’ll look at the rules for each state and how much you can get fined per state if you don’t follow the law. Read on!
Want to save money on gasoline? earn up to $0.25/gallon every time you fill up? GetUpside is a free-to-use cashback app for US gas stations. Use coupon code “THEDRIVERADVISER25” and earn an additional $0.25/gallon the first time! Click here to download the app for Android or iOS.
First, You Need To Understand The Anatomy Of A Bumper
Before we dive into detail about the laws in different states, we have to make sure you know the difference between the bumper, bumper foam, and bumper cover. The reason for this is that what many call the ‘bumper’ is actually the bumper cover.
The bumper cover is the plastic part on the front of the car that easily gets scratched or dented. In the image below, we’ve been able to find a picture that shows you what precisely a bumper cover is. It’s important to know that a bumper cover has an aesthetic purpose and is NOT a safety feature.
However, the actual bumper of the car is a safety feature. The bumper cover hides the actual bumper from sight. The actual bumper, also called an impact bar, is hidden behind the bumper cover. It’s a structural part of the car that helps mitigate the impacts of a crash. In the image below, the bumper is indicated by the red circle.
Between the bumper cover and the impact bar, you’ll often find a piece of styrofoam or other material referred to as bumper foam. The bumper foam also functions in the aspect of safety because it’s the first part of the crumple zone and absorbs the kinetic energy of light impact collisions.
So, What’s The Actual Bumper?
Often, when people talk about a bumper, they’re either talking about the bumper cover + bumper foam. This is the point where the metal impact bar becomes visible and where it starts to look like you’re doing something illegal. Furthermore, these parts are often integrated, which means taking them off happens at the same time. Therefore, this is the definition we’ll use for this article.
Bumper Requirements According To State
First, let’s have a more in-depth look at the United States and the states where you are and aren’t allowed to drive with a bumper (bumper cover + bumper foam). As you can imagine, driving without a bumper means you’re increasing the risk of injury for yourself as well as others in the event of a possible crash.
In this case, it’s not so much the cover that’s the problem; it’s the fact that you’re also removing the foam, which is officially part of the crumple zone. Furthermore, in modern cars, these pieces contain several sensors and electrical wiring, which means removing them will most likely impact the performance of your whole vehicle.
However, interestingly enough, this doesn’t mean that you aren’t allowed to drive without a bumper in all states. In the image below, we’ve divided all states into three categories. First, there are the red states where you must drive with both a front and rear bumper.
The orange states indicate that the vehicle must have its factory specifications when driving on public roads. Since most (if not all cars) are equipped with front and rear bumpers, this means it’s illegal in most cases to drive without one.
Finally, it will be no surprise that the green states indicate states where you’re allowed to drive without a front and/or rear bumper. There’s no penalty for doing this in these states.
What Fee Do You Pay If You Get Caught Driving Without A Bumper?
If you decide to take a bumperless car for a ride in states where this is not allowed, it will come as no surprise you run the risk of getting fined. In the table below, we’ve gathered the maximum ticket fees you can expect to pay in each state if you get caught driving without a bumper.
However, we have to be clear here that the below-mentioned fees are largely based on other traffic infractions mentioned in the laws of each state (yes, we went through the traffic laws of these states).
Most traffic laws don’t specify a fine for driving without a bumper. Instead, it’s often classified as driving with a vehicle that has improper equipment. We noticed that most states don’t penalize this very hard. In most cases, the fine for driving without a bumper is less than speeding 10 – 20 mph.
| States | Bumper Requirements | Maximum Ticket |
| Alaska | Factory design can’t be altered | $100 – $150 |
| California | Front and rear bumpers are required | $200 +/- |
| Florida | Front and rear bumpers are required | $125.50 to $151 (excl. court costs) |
| Hawaii | Front and rear bumpers are required | $200 +/- |
| Idaho | Front and rear bumpers are required | $90.00 |
| Illinois | Front and rear bumpers are required | $135 |
| Indiana | Factory design can’t be altered | $192 |
| Iowa | Front and rear bumpers are required | $210.25 |
| Louisiana | Front and rear bumpers are required | $150 – $200 |
| Maine | Factory design can’t be altered | $146 |
| Maryland | Front and rear bumpers are required | $90 – $130 |
| Massachusetts | Front and rear bumpers are required | $35, $75 or $150 |
| Michigan | Front and rear bumpers are required | $130 |
| Minnesota | Front and rear bumpers are required | $175 |
| Missouri | Front and rear bumpers are required | $123 |
| Montana | Front and rear bumpers are required | $150 – $200 |
| New Hampshire | Front and rear bumpers are required | $62 or $124 |
| New York | Front and rear bumpers are required | $208 |
| North Dakota | Front and rear bumpers are required | $100 – $150 |
| Ohio | Factory design can’t be altered | $205 |
| Pennsylvania | Front and rear bumpers are required | $200 +/- |
| Rhode Island | Front and rear bumpers are required | $85 – $95 |
| South Carolina | Front and rear bumpers are required | $200 +/- |
| Tennessee | Front and rear bumpers are required | $100 |
| Utah | Factory design can’t be altered | $50 – 100 |
| Vermont | Front and rear bumpers are required | $50 – 100 |
| Washington | Front and rear bumpers are required | $48 |
| West Virginia | Factory design can’t be altered | $100 – $300 |
| Wisconsin | Front and rear bumpers are required | $162.70 |
Is It Safe To Drive Without A Bumper
Does driving your vehicle without a bumper (cover + foam) make the car much less safe from a collision point of view? We wouldn’t say so. This is because bumpers are designed according to the ‘bumper standard’ of the Department of Transportation. This means the bumpers are there to withstand a crash of 5 mph.
For this reason, the bumpers are only there to prevent damage to the car’s internals (such as critical sensors, electrical wiring, engine, transmission, etc.). So the bumper serves a purpose, but it’s not like it will prevent lethal crashes in a collision (except when you take off the impact bar, but that’s a different story).
On the other hand, the cover and the foam do serve a purpose for pedestrians. As you have already seen at the beginning of the article, taking off these parts leaves the impact bar and other parts of the car’s metal frame exposed. Hitting a pedestrian with a metal frame without covering will most likely result in much more severe injury than when you would have driven with it.
When Should A Bumper be Repaired Or Replaced?
Bumpers can be damaged or dented in many ways. You may hit something, or others may hit you from behind. However, if your bumper gets damaged, you’ll need to fix it. Some dents can be fixed while keeping your existing bumper. In other cases, you’ll have to replace the bumper. So when should you replace or repair your bumper? Check these out.
Driving With A Damaged, Cracked Bumper
A cracked bumper would need replacement and not repair. Only on rare occasions can you use an epoxy or fiberglass glass kit to repair a cracked bumper. In other cases, it is impossible. Moreover, cracked bumpers tend to lose their structural value (thereby not being able to absorb impacts of 5mph).
Driving With A Bumper That Has Paint Damage
From a legal perspective, bumpers with severe paint damage don’t need to be replaced. This is because the bumper hasn’t lost its structural value. However, if you want to replace the bumper, it’s a balancing act between cost and reward.
This is because replacing bumpers used to be the way to go. Bumpers of older models of cars were designed to be scrapped when damaged. However, modern-day bumpers carry so much technology and electrical wiring that having them fixed can be an option worth considering.
Also read:
- Can you drive a car without a muffler?
- Can you drive a car without a title?
- Can you drive a car without a differential?
- Can you drive a car without power steering?
- Can you drive a car without a catalytic converter?
- Can you drive a car without a thermostat?
- Can you drive a car without a battery?
- Can you drive a car without brakes?
- Can you drive a car without brake fluid?
- Can you drive a car without a cabin air filter?
- Can you drive a car without a CV axle?
Hi! My name is Stefan; I’m the owner and lead writer at TheDriverAdviser.com.
I’m an active writer on this blog myself, as well as a novice car mechanic. For the really technical stuff, I find writers with experience as a mechanic or who have studied mechanical engineering.
Read more about our fantastic team on our about page!