No more state safety inspections? Count NY in pls!

[mareakin]

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2011/03...ty-inspections/

excerpts:

"The legislative auditors surveyed available data from around the country and concluded that there is no reliable evidence to show that safety inspections reduce accidents."

"The reliability of the tests is also open to question. Pennsylvania officials took a vehicle with thirteen defects to twenty inspection stations. Most found only flagged seven problems, while some stations invented non-existent defects."

“In addition to the price of the inspection, motorists also incur other costs associated with getting an inspection,” the report stated. “Travel time, wait time, and time away from work or other activities are costs incurred by individuals who must get a vehicle inspection. The Program Evaluation Division estimates the indirect costs associated with getting an emissions inspection are approximately $21 million.”

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I've always found the safety inspection very annoying... the emissions inspection can at least be defended as a community interest (we all want to breath good air.)

Yes, yes, in some cases the safety inspection *CAN* affect others. for example, if u drive without good brakes

then there is the issue of how effective those yearly inspections are, as mentioned: many problems go undetected and the service guys do really only a cursory look at the car.

 

[demarpaint]

I was quite pleased my both my pre 96 vehicles didn't have to go on the dino sniffer this year. I never had any problems but those sniffer tests always opened up a door for some unethical shops. The inspection was quick and cheap this year. It was good to hear that everything was safe and in good order.

 

[cheetahdriver]

Arkansas quit doing inspections a number of years ago. Among other issues, I typically see a car with 1 brake light burned out a day, and at least one a week with 2 burned out. I would suspect I see about one a month (or more) with no brake lights, although that is mostly by noticing a rapid change in speed without any lights.

Beyond that we have cars with headlights taped in, cars that have windshields with cracks all the way across and all sorts of other nonsense. While I understand it is a pain, I never found it to be too much of a problem...

 

[Shannow]

State that I used to live in had annual safety inspections at Govt run centres, where they tested amoungst things:
* Headlight alignment;
* brakes (on a brake dyno, where the wheels were spun up, and braking effort/balance checked);
* Front end integrity;
* Exhaust system integrity.

Had the lowest road toll per person/km in the country.

It was expensive to them, so they started skipping cars out of the queue. Wash and polish the car before you go, and you were likely to get called out of the queue and not inspected.

Then the bureaucrats started making noises like "Annual inspections mean that car owners only look at their cars annually", and granted the Police increased defect issuing powers. They couldn't, however jack up the car and check balljoints, check brake effectiveness, nor enter private lands (like shopping centre and employer carparks for instance) to do their inspections.

In 5 years, the road toll increased back to the national average, and the blame the driver campaigns started, not the rubbish cars that stayed on the road, and were never maintained (my sister's amongst them).

 

[shrooms]

Hope PA would get rid of inspections. It's all bull.

 

[MNgopher]

If the data shows no difference in accident date from states with and without safety inspections, one wonders what the point of the inspections is or wonders if the inspections are actually doing what they are supposed to. Food for thought...

 

[yaris0128]

Originally Posted By: MNgopher
If the data shows no difference in accident date from states with and without safety inspections, one wonders what the point of the inspections is or wonders if the inspections are actually doing what they are supposed to. Food for thought...

just a way to swindle money from tax payers. look at license tabs. those serve no purpose but to get a wad of cash from ya every year.

 

[SuperDave456]

I was a state inspector for Texas when I was in High School and College.
At $12 it wasn't much. Now with emissions it is $30 IIRC.

We did catch stuff that people didn't know about. Bald tires due to alignment, Brake lights, cracked lights, holes in the exhaust due to rust that are under the passenger compartment.
The basic brake test would sometimes give us people who had a master cylinder that had failed long ago and they would fill it up regularly.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. There was enough junk on the road before the global economic collapse.
I imagine that more people will be forced into junk, or will drive junk longer.

Is there corruption in the system? YES!

However, there are also people who want to be safe and drive an inexpensive car. Yet those people know nothing about their vehicle.

I would vote to continue the "Safety Inspection" just to make sure some of these people have working tail lights. Is it a inconvenience?
Yep, but it is better than driving around not knowing if the people around you are going to kill you because they can't stop at a red light.

 

[dailydriver]

The only positive I can see in having our bloated, "somebody else's troubles" T.P. gov at this point is that, along with his draconian cuts to education, social programs, libraries, etc. (in the name of the cliched "budget deficit repair"), maybe he will decide to completely do away with our expensive, and TOTALLY incompetent privatized inspection system named Parsons.

(But probably not, since they more likely than not contributed HEAVILY to his election campaign.

)

 

[unDummy]

With the number of bald tires, bad brakes, burnt out bulbs, exhausts falling off, e-brakes that don't work.... I vote to mandate inspection in all states. Make it a 'safety' inspection and not emissions, mods, or other silliness. Just SAFETY!

 

[eljefino]

They've come out with fenders that rot in 16 years you can see and brake lines underneath that rust in eight that you have to put on a lift to notice.

If one just looks at their car topside, it looks great, and they don't know they have trouble brewing.

We locally have a codependency where people assume a stickered car is roadworthy, even if, say, the radiator's leaking coolant.

 

[glum]

Originally Posted By: cheetahdriver
Arkansas quit doing inspections a number of years ago. Among other issues, I typically see a car with 1 brake light burned out a day, and at least one a week with 2 burned out. I would suspect I see about one a month (or more) with no brake lights, although that is mostly by noticing a rapid change in speed without any lights.

Beyond that we have cars with headlights taped in, cars that have windshields with cracks all the way across and all sorts of other nonsense. While I understand it is a pain, I never found it to be too much of a problem...

Isn't it illegal to operate a vehicle that way? The police should be citing these idiots.

 

[sciphi]

I'm kind of glad we have annual inspections. The number of cars belching smoke around me is about nil. 95% of the cars have 3 working brake lights, and most of the pickups have both brake lights working. It forces people to get new tires once in a while so they can stop in the wintertime/rain.

Yes, there are problems like any other system. Plenty of chain shops will gladly hit you for $30 to replace a burned out bulb, or upsell on fluid flushing services. There are also shops that inspect the bare minimum to get paying work into the shop. You're automatically failed for a check engine light even if it has nothing to do with emissions.

Given the benefits of cleaner air, structural integrity checks (an issue thanks to road salt use) and vehicles forced to be maintained once in a while because of from annual inspections, I'd say to continue them.

Having lived in states where vehicle inspection isn't mandatory, I feel safer knowing the truly bad hoopties are in the junkyards, not on the roads.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: glum
Originally Posted By: cheetahdriver
Arkansas quit doing inspections a number of years ago. Among other issues, I typically see a car with 1 brake light burned out a day, and at least one a week with 2 burned out. I would suspect I see about one a month (or more) with no brake lights, although that is mostly by noticing a rapid change in speed without any lights.

Beyond that we have cars with headlights taped in, cars that have windshields with cracks all the way across and all sorts of other nonsense. While I understand it is a pain, I never found it to be too much of a problem...

Isn't it illegal to operate a vehicle that way? The police should be citing these idiots.


Yes they should. Light bulb filaments burn out without warning. I'd rather not pay a fine to Buford T Justice because he noticed a bulb out, and considers himself the last line of defense between junky cars and the public.

Cops here in inspected-land assume problems will get swept up at sticker time. Aside from OUI checks at 1 am they don't seem to hassle people over equipment issues. I'd rather choose my mechanic sometime over a month period than be pulled over by a cop of the town's choice on his schedule.

 

[NateDN10]

I agree that there are problems with state inspections.

But I still think that fundamentally, they're a good idea. When I see people driving around with bald tires and lights out, I feel better knowing that, even though they don't care about safety, they'll be forced to fix the problem at inspection time.

 

[Rick in PA]

I'm OK with annual inspections. While I'm not always happy with some of the inspection mechanic's calls (new tires where I felt they were marginally passable), the inspection often catches stuff I might miss (for example, ball joints).

The inspection program does keep cars in safer condition. Years ago, when I worked at a service station, we were always amazed at the condition of cars from a neighboring state that had a much "looser" inspection program.

Also years ago, PA had not one, but TWO, inspections per year. I was definitely OK with them scaling that back to once a year.

 

[glum]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Originally Posted By: glum
Originally Posted By: cheetahdriver
I typically see a car with 1 brake light burned out a day, and at least one a week with 2 burned out. I would suspect I see about one a month (or more) with no brake lights, although that is mostly by noticing a rapid change in speed without any lights.

Beyond that we have cars with headlights taped in, cars that have windshields with cracks all the way across and all sorts of other nonsense.

Isn't it illegal to operate a vehicle that way? The police should be citing these idiots.


Yes they should. Light bulb filaments burn out without warning. I'd rather not pay a fine to Buford T Justice because he noticed a bulb out, and considers himself the last line of defense between junky cars and the public.

Cops here in inspected-land assume problems will get swept up at sticker time. Aside from OUI checks at 1 am they don't seem to hassle people over equipment issues. I'd rather choose my mechanic sometime over a month period than be pulled over by a cop of the town's choice on his schedule.

You say "Yes they should", which I assumed was your response to my statement that police should issue tickets for burned-out bulbs. Then you complain about it. I'm confused.

I'm only familiar with how NY does it. Police there will give you a ticket for having a light out, but if you get it fixed within 24 hours (IIRC), you don't have to pay any fine or anything. The only exception (again, IIRC) is if you have both headlights out (in that case, I guess you're fined for sure, which is as it should be).

I see absolutely nothing wrong with police pulling you over for burned-out bulbs. In my experience, 95% of the time, they pull you over, tell you it's out, and don't issue a citation for it. I prefer this approach over having to drive with idiots like the ones eljefino mentions above. One time I was driving home at night on a state highway and encountered a moron with both taillights and one headlight out. Now that cretin should have been fined $1,000 AFAIC! But according to some, it shouldn't be a citable offense, nor should it be inspected for. Insanity! We don't live in the woods anymore people. Your idiotic actions affect others.

 

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: shrooms
Hope PA would get rid of inspections. It's all bull.



Never gonna happen Shroom. Not in this stupid Commonwealth.

 

[Ryan]

Originally Posted By: glum
Originally Posted By: cheetahdriver
Arkansas quit doing inspections a number of years ago. Among other issues, I typically see a car with 1 brake light burned out a day, and at least one a week with 2 burned out. I would suspect I see about one a month (or more) with no brake lights, although that is mostly by noticing a rapid change in speed without any lights.

Beyond that we have cars with headlights taped in, cars that have windshields with cracks all the way across and all sorts of other nonsense. While I understand it is a pain, I never found it to be too much of a problem...

Isn't it illegal to operate a vehicle that way? The police should be citing these idiots.


I try to stop as many cars as I can for "bulb" violations, but I never bother to write a real citation, just a warning. If I were to write a real ticket for a bulb violation, it would be dismissed in court as soon as they claim they fixed it.... You would also not believe how many people you can stop and tell them to get a light bulb fixed and they never do. I have seen several cars I have stopped before for something simple pass me and still haven't fixed the problem.

 

[mpvue]

Originally Posted By: lexus114
Originally Posted By: shrooms
Hope PA would get rid of inspections. It's all bull.



Never gonna happen Shroom. Not in this stupid Commonwealth.

but we're on the 'other' 8 year cycle now, before we go back to the 'other' 8 year cycle again.
I think lots of things will be changing, very soon...