VIRGINIA, USA — Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin signed Senate Bill 777 Monday, which bans a vehicle modification known as a "Carolina Squat."
Youngkin's office called the car modification "dangerous" and signed the bill alongside the family of Jody "BJ" Upton Jr., a father who was killed in a crash with a truck that had the Carolina Squat modifications.
“I’m honored today to be here with BJ’s family, the public servants who acted quickly to move legislation to my desk to address the problem, and the law enforcement heroes who will enforce this new law and keep our roads and highways safer,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “Nothing can bring BJ back, but with faith, time and love we can begin to heal from the pain of losing him. But the spirit of Virginia is strong, and when Virginians see a problem they come together and act.”
But what is the Carolina Squat?
According to the website Hot Cars, despite the modifications name, the trend actually started in California.
The modification makes it to the front of the vehicle is tiled up while the back end is pointing downward. Reporting from Hot Cars claims that originally the trend came from Baja racing in California and was intended to help prevent cars from crashing in the desert.
Why is the modification dangerous?
By raising the front end of the vehicle, the function and handling of the car can also change. The angle change of the front end has the driver pointed towards the sky instead of the roadway and can also make it so other drivers are potentially blinded by headlights.
Just last month, 27-year-old B.J. Upton was driving in Mecklenburg Count when police say another truck crossed the center line and hit him head-on. That other truck was modified with the Carolina Squat.
“B.J. didn't stand a chance,” said his longtime friend and fiancé of his brother’s Ann Taylor Kallam.
She described Upton as having “a laugh that you could recognize a mile away.”
Upton died in the crash with the modified truck and left behind a seven-year-old son and a family determined to get ‘Carolina Squat’ trucks off Virginia roads.
Kallam, helped get the attention of lawmakers.
“We can't bring B.J. back, but we can do something in his memory and his honor. And that is to make sure that the way he died, nobody else is going to die like that again,” she said.
What is SB 777?
Senate Bill 777 bans the Carolina Squat modification on Virginia highways, specifying that within the absolute minimum and maximum heigh ranges, the height of the front bumper cannot be more than four inches greater than the height of the rear bumper.
Where else is the Carolina Squat banned?
Virginia is the latest state to ban the modification. While it is often referred to as the Carolina Squat, North Carolina banned the modification on Dec. 1, 2021, and the South Carolina Senate voted almost unanimously to ban the modification on Feb. 2021.