Driving without doors, is that even allowed?

We recently put the 335hp Ford Bronco through its paces in a dusty but beautiful quarry. The party tricks The special thing about this car is that, in addition to the roof panels, the doors can also be easily removed. But is driving on public roads without doors even allowed?

The Ford Bronco isn’t the only car where you can leave the doors at home. Perhaps an even more famous car that can do this trick is the Jeep Wrangler, which also has a folding windshield. There’s no doubt an extremely open and free feeling when you’re strolling around the compound with no doors, but what does Uncle Cop think about when you’re walking down the street with no doors?

Driving without doors

What is certain is that it is not allowed in most cars. On most passenger cars, the exterior mirrors are mounted on the doors. If you leave your doors at home, leave your wing mirrors at home too and you can rely on a cast.

This also applies to the Jeep Wrangler, where the exterior mirrors are also mounted on the doors. The fine print on the Jeep website therefore states that driving without doors and with the windscreen folded in is “only permitted in the Netherlands in specially designated off-road areas”.

Hmm, that sounds like a no for the Jeep, but we have hope for the Ford Bronco. During our test drive with the extreme off-roader, we immediately noticed that the exterior mirrors are mounted on the bonnet. These stay in place when you unscrew the doors. Does that change anything?

Answer from RDW

A quest brings little. Time to call the RDW. Initially, traffic specialists did not know what to do with this question, but after a few days the organization came up with an answer: “European legislation does not require that there must be doors in a car.” If there are doors in a car are, the vehicle must meet the requirements applicable to doors. If the road can be accessed by a vehicle without doors, such as the Ford Bronco, then the vehicle must meet all applicable requirements when driven without doors.”

So there is no rule that prohibits driving without doors, but your car must meet all other requirements. This will not work on most vehicles as the outside mirrors are mounted on the doors. This is not the case with the Ford Bronco, suggesting that in this particular case you can enter the public road without doors.