Mandatory State Inspections

[Joe Marconi]

Only 17 states and the District of Columbia have mandatory state inspections. Many feel that the cost of running the program outweighs the benefits. Others say, leave government out of this. Let the people take care of their own car and let repair shops manage these issues. Should there be mandatory state inspections, nationwide? I say yes. There is a movement to pass a law (H.R. 229) that would require all states to participate in a mandatory Safety Inspection Program.

 

Here’s why I am for this. In my state, New York, we have annual state inspections. My customers come in and there are usually no issues, they pass no problem. But, we get a lot of people that are not regular customers. The owners of these vehicles bounce around from shop to shop; they shop for discount tires, discount oil changes, discount brake job, etc. These people never establish a relationship; consequently their cars are not in tip top shape. They come to me for a state inspection, and many times will fail for a cracked windshield, tires worn due to an alignment problem, broken tail light, torn wipers, parking brake not working and other safety-related items. Without a mandatory inspection, these vehicles would never get the attention they need.

 

Here’s one more scenario; I do accident investigations, helping the State Troopers and other police departments piece together the reasons for a vehicle accident, mostly when a fatality is involved. While most of the accidents are either driver error or drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol, a great many of the accidents I see are caused by mechanical failure. The most common reasons: worn tires, worn brakes, leaking wheel cylinders, suspension failure, and others.

 

I’d like to hear your comments on this, both from shop owners that are from states with an inspection law and those that don’t.

[xrac]

My home state is Kentucky. They use to have a vehicle inspection but it was discontinued some where about 1980. I do not know if Indiana has ever had one but we do not have one now. I am all for vehicle inspections. All the time we see vehicles that are unsafe to drive and the owners do not fix them but continue to drive them. This is especially true concerning tires.

[CARMandP]

We have an emissions inspection in a few counties around Nashville. The county we live in doesn't have one. I REALLY don't see the point in an emissions test. So what if the car will pass a smog test if its unsafe to drive. I am not sure if the government should be involved in a safety inspection. I am becoming more and more skeptical that most of what the government gets involved in they screw up. It would be just another way to waste money. The government is already involved in forcing us to buy fuel efficient cars off the hoax of global warming and look how well that is working out.

[xrac]

We have an emissions inspection in a few counties around Nashville. The county we live in doesn't have one. I REALLY don't see the point in an emissions test. So what if the car will pass a smog test if its unsafe to drive. I am not sure if the government should be involved in a safety inspection. I am becoming more and more skeptical that most of what the government gets involved in they screw up. It would be just another way to waste money. The government is already involved in forcing us to buy fuel efficient cars off the hoax of global warming and look how well that is working out.

 

CARMandP, I am with you about government intrusion and less government. However, there are some cars on the road that should not be driver without some attention and they endanger us all. There was a boy from Washington, Indiana, who played basketball at East Tennessee State. He was almost 7 foot. Coming back home from school he hydroplaned and was killed. I bet if you could have saw the tires on that vehicle you will know why he hydroplaned.

 

http://www2.tricities.com/news/2009/jul/30/etsu_basketball_player_killed_in_car_crash-ar-242850/

[Gonzo]

Oklahoma dropped their state inspection about 8 or 9 years ago. The fall out from not having it is very apparent. I hired one guy in to do only inspections, and small "C" mechanic jobs. He lost his job when the inspections were gone. Aside from that, it was a great advertisment for the shop. A lot of people would never show up at a shop unless it was for the inspection. Those folks found out what we do, some would feel comfortable with our style and became regular customers. These days there's no reason to stop...potential customers ... just keep on driving by.

 

The lack of inspections is a serious matter. Letting it up to the consumer to decide only means they'll decide not to spend a buck. I believe when it comes to the world at large, you...me...and any other person on the public highways need some sort of way to insure the other driver isn't driving a death trap that could eventually harm myself or my passengers.

 

Not that I want the government or local branches involved into our personal lives... this is one thing that shouldn't be personal. Why else do we have the FDA to insure our food products won't harm us, becasue if it was left up to the individual I believe more harm would come to more people. That harm is what an automotive inspection would avoid (or at least lower the possiblity of)

 

My thinking is that it shouldn't be a state inspection, but a national inspection. People cross state lines everyday, but nobody seems to be concerned that an out of state cars inspection is out of date if they are in a state that doesn't have any inspection. Just seems pretty silly to me not to have a regulated inspection. Seems pretty stupid to let a consumer who knows nothing about their car except where to put the gas be in charge of making decisions on the well being of their car.

 

Inspections not only could create more jobs but also create more traffic flow in a repair shop. I can't see anything wrong with the process.... as long as money isn't involved and we're talking about the safety issues.... enough said. I can replace a car... I can't replace a human life.

 

CARMandP, I am with you about government intrusion and less government. However, there are some cars on the road that should not be driver without some attention and they endanger us all. There was a boy from Washington, Indiana, who played basketball at East Tennessee State. He was almost 7 foot. Coming back home from school he hydroplaned and was killed. I bet if you could have saw the tires on that vehicle you will know why he hydroplaned.

 

http://www2.tricitie...rash-ar-242850/

[Junior]

I agree that there should be a safety inspection. Unsafe vehicles come into our shop every day and these cars should not be on the road endangering other motorists. The unfortunate problem with the state inspection system in NYS is that its seriously flawed. Many safety items are not covered specifically ball joints do not fail unless they are entirely separated, tires pass with 0.002" of tread and brakes do not fail unless they are contacting metal to metal, rusty rotors missing chunks don't fail unless they are cracked. The process as a whole is very inefficient also. The NYS VIP system is built on grossly overpriced very outdated technology. The machine you have to buy from the state is slow and has a very poor workflow design. This causes inspections to take far longer than they should. We get $21 for performing an inspection that if done correctly takes a solid half hour. From that we need to pay for the machine, pay for each time it connects and pay for the stickers. So we walk away with about $12 or so for that work, or about 28% of our regular hourly rate. We can not turn an inspection down if a customer requests one even if we know it will fail and they won't fix it and we are forced to pass cars that are unsafe.

 

I think there should be a safety inspection program, but not like the one in NY.

[TheTrustedMechanic]

We recently had a 17 yo kid sentenced to prison (short sentence but still) for an accident this last winter. It was in the country, snowing and the roads were slippery. The kid slid though the stop sign and hit another car, killing the 62 yo driver and injuring his granddaughter who was a passenger. Why is this pertinntt to the discussion? Because the kid was driving his truck with defective brakes. He had taken a pair of vice-grips and pinched off the brake line to the rear. He later retrieved the pliers from the impound yard.

 

The kid's attorney, typical no-ethics or morals, story was well the kid was young and did something stupid. He was inexperienced and just made a mistake. No biggie, my bad.

 

But the reality is the young lady is emotional scarred, a family is left lost without a provider, a husband, father, brother, grand-father all because this kid didn't care enough about others, or himself, to make sure his truck was safe to operate. Sure, given the road conditions the accident may have still happened, but you can't justify the kid's actions in any way. And even if Michigan had safety inspections the kid may have fallen in between inspections when the accident happened, but if we had safety inspections the innocent driver may still be alive. Awareness of vehicular safety may increase. Now I'm being delusional.