What everyone is getting wrong about Leno's Law

That's right.

Leno's Law was signed.

Correct.

California finally did the unthinkable, and passed a law relaxing the state's strict emission standards for classic cars.

Before now, any car made from 1976 onwards was required to undergo smog testing every other year.

If a car can't pass, or even has a check engine light on, but is otherwise running just fine, too bad.

You can't register it.

Over the years, this has been a boogeyman in car culture, and the source of many a "California" joke, because ultimately, the law was doing what it was designed to: forcing old, higher polluting cars off the road.

Now, the rules are a little less strict, and in a state famous for regulations, actually having one dialed back to a sensible level sounds great.

But as with anything in life, there's no free lunch.

California Senate Bill 1392, which a lot of people know as Leno's Law, thanks to Jay Leno's very public support of it, is being presented like a huge win for the car community.

But it's not all roses and sunshine.

You might even argue this is just a rich person's law.

As a California resident, yeah.

Listen, I'm the first person to say that California smog testing rules are extremely broken.

We made a whole video about it on YouTube last year when the first version of Leno's Law failed to pass.

But the problem with this new law is that while it might help a collector keep their pampered classic in good standing with the state, it won't help your grandmother keep her trusty 1988 Honda Accord on the road here.

Because in a state like California, it's not just enthusiasts driving old cars, it's millions of people who can't afford anything newer.

My grandmother was Betty, and she, I don't believe, ever had a [laughs] 1988 Honda Accord, though she and my grandfather did have a sick 1991 Mercedes-Benz 350SDL at one point.

W126 for the win.

Blue on blue, of course.

Very nice.

Okay, you had cool grandparents, and Jay Leno's a car culture icon, but this law, while it's being celebrated by enthusiasts across the internet, it's arguably not gonna change the lives of most car enthusiasts, and that's unfortunate.

So today, we'll break it all down, go behind the scenes on Leno's Law, what it does, and more importantly, what it won't do.

By the way, if you like what we're doing here, do us a favor and hit us with a five-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

That's right.

Leno's Law was signed.

Correct.

California finally did the unthinkable, and passed a law relaxing the state's strict emission standards for classic cars.

Before now, any car made from 1976 onwards was required to undergo smog testing every other year.

If a car can't pass, or even has a check engine light on, but is otherwise running just fine, too bad.

You can't register it.

Over the years, this has been a boogeyman in car culture, and the source of many a "California" joke, because ultimately, the law was doing what it was designed to: forcing old, higher polluting cars off the road.

Now, the rules are a little less strict, and in a state famous for regulations, actually having one dialed back to a sensible level sounds great.

But as with anything in life, there's no free lunch.

California Senate Bill 1392, which a lot of people know as Leno's Law, thanks to Jay Leno's very public support of it, is being presented like a huge win for the car community.

But it's not all roses and sunshine.

You might even argue this is just a rich person's law.

As a California resident, yeah.

Listen, I'm the first person to say that California smog testing rules are extremely broken.

We made a whole video about it on YouTube last year when the first version of Leno's Law failed to pass.

But the problem with this new law is that while it might help a collector keep their pampered classic in good standing with the state, it won't help your grandmother keep her trusty 1988 Honda Accord on the road here.

Because in a state like California, it's not just enthusiasts driving old cars, it's millions of people who can't afford anything newer.

My grandmother was Betty, and she, I don't believe, ever had a [laughs] 1988 Honda Accord, though she and my grandfather did have a sick 1991 Mercedes-Benz 350SDL at one point.

W126 for the win.

Blue on blue, of course.

Very nice.

Okay, you had cool grandparents, and Jay Leno's a car culture icon, but this law, while it's being celebrated by enthusiasts across the internet, it's arguably not gonna change the lives of most car enthusiasts, and that's unfortunate.

So today, we'll break it all down, go behind the scenes on Leno's Law, what it does, and more importantly, what it won't do.

By the way, if you like what we're doing here, do us a favor and hit us with a five-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.