State Inspections

[Road Runner]

I am starting to like my black-face wearing governor more every day.  He has proposed to do away with the dreaded annual car inspections.  I think this is a great idea.  He also wants to raise the tax on cigarettes and gas.  Two more great ideas.

Do you have car inspections?  Do you think they serve a significant purpose?

The governor says that all the data shows that they are a waste of time and money.  I feel sorry for the people who might be out of work as a result, but I'm sure there are other similar opportunities available for someone who knows how to nitpick.   

[jsharr ★]

We have them.  Process has been simplified and the inspection is sent electronically to the state.  Without it you cannot register your vehicle.  Not sure if they are good or bad, just a fact of life in Texas.   We went to a one sticker system.  Used to have to have an inspection sticker and a registration sticker on your car, now it is just registration, as you cannot get it issued without an inspection.
On the plus side, no need to carry registration papers in the car as they are on the windshield.

[bikeman564™]

13 minutes ago, Road Runner said:

Do you have car inspections?  Do you think they serve a significant purpose?

 

Thankfully no. Back in the 90s sometime, Michigan had an emissions inspection but only on vehicles 10 years old or newer. SCAM.

[12string]

we have them, but they are stupid.  Pretty much consists of plugging into your OBDII port.  So you can drive around with no brakes, lights, bald tires, whatever, as long as there are no stored codes.  At least we get to wait 5 years for new cars and 2 after that.

[jsharr ★]

3 minutes ago, 12string said:

we have them, but they are stupid.  Pretty much consists of plugging into your OBDII port.  So you can drive around with no brakes, lights, bald tires, whatever, as long as there are no stored codes.  At least we get to wait 5 years for new cars and 2 after that.

In Texas they check emissions, gas cap leakage, tires, brakes, steering, lights, wipers, windshield glass cracks.

pretty comprehensive list.

[Razors Edge ★]

31 minutes ago, jsharr said:

In Texas they check emissions, gas cap leakage, tires, brakes, steering, lights, wipers, windshield glass cracks.

pretty comprehensive list.

The challenge with Virginia's inspections is that there is an annual "safety" (with window sticker) and a every other year "emission" inspection (tied to registration) and those two are not tied together.  It would obviously make most sense to have a single every-other-year safety/emission comprehensive inspection tied solely to registration (no window sticker, just plate sticker), and a five year waiver on any inspections for NEW vehicles (ie the dealer does the initial inspection, passes it, and then a new doesn't have to re-pass until five years out).

56 minutes ago, Road Runner said:

He also wants to raise the tax on cigarettes and gas.  Two more great ideas.

Yeah, cigarette taxes should be pretty high to deter folks, and there are better alternatives to smoking for the nicotine addicts.  Gas taxes are really no longer the optimal way to 1) raise revenue nor 2) reduce driving - unless they are supper high.  Sure, any penny they get is still a penny they get, but with cars and trucks getting increasingly better fuel economy over time (and electric cars), a mileage tax obviously makes more sense - especially one derived from something like miles driven and vehicle weight. 

[JerrySTL ★]

We have emission inspections around the St. Louis area.

Illinois gets Federal inspections. That's why 3 former governors went to prison. 

[Longjohn ★]

13 minutes ago, JerrySTL said:

 

Illinois gets Federal inspections. That's why 3 former governors went to prison. 

That’s what Pennsylvania needs.

We have always had state inspections, always a scam. It used to be twice a year and very through. Cost five bucks or so. Now they check the brakes and lights and sniff the gas cap once a year for $50.00.

[Wilbur ★]

Only when selling a car for mechanical items.  Every two years a tailpipe sniffer for the dreaded CO2 (greta gas). 

[Kzoo]

1 hour ago, bikeman564™ said:

Thankfully no. Back in the 90s sometime, Michigan had an emissions inspection but only on vehicles 10 years old or newer. SCAM.

And only on your side of the state.  We never had emissions inspections on the west side.  The EPA has tried a couple times to implement it here but locals have been able to argue in court that any air quality issues we have come from IL and WS and car emissions are not the cause and vehicle emissions tests will not have a positive bearing on air quality in the region.

[Razors Edge ★]

5 minutes ago, Longjohn said:

Cost five bucks or so. Now they check the brakes and lights and sniff the gas cap once a year for $50.00.

It is a weird sort of regressive "tax" maybe coupled with some sort of free money to the inspection places.  Clearly, as a way of creating revenue, it would make more sense to get the money from the folks doing the most harm & wear on the roads, not from the folks who drive 10 miles a year at the same cost as the folks who drive 30,000 miles a year.  Likewise, depending upon how much the inspection station gets to keep - 0% to 100% - it might be a political thing where enough money is made for the station that the WANT it as a guaranteed & year round source of revenue. 

Some states do their own inspections, some outsource to the private industry, but it would be easy to make any method a jobs program and/or a money grab.

I assume states who have done away with safety inspections did so using some sort of stats showing it wasn't making the roads safer and was just frustrating drivers or costing the state $$$ to maintain.

[Indy]

We don't have them here, but due to all the coal rolling idiots around here, I'm actually in favor of at least an emissions inspection.  And I think it will be hilarious when it happens, eventually it will be required everywhere, and they have to dump their bro dozers because they can't afford to put them back together.

[bikeman564™]

23 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

And only on your side of the state.  We never had emissions inspections on the west side.  The EPA has tried a couple times to implement it here but locals have been able to argue in court that any air quality issues we have come from IL and WS and car emissions are not the cause and vehicle emissions tests will not have a positive bearing on air quality in the region.

I did not know this. Probably because SE had more vehicles. Again, this points to SCAM.

[Kzoo]

7 minutes ago, bikeman564™ said:

I did not know this. Probably because SE had more vehicles. Again, this points to SCAM.

agreed

[Kirby]

NY has them annually, but I have no idea what they check. 

[Longjohn ★]

33 minutes ago, Kirby said:

NY has them annually, but I have no idea what they check. 

Your wallet, that’s what it’s all about.

[maddmaxx ★]

3 hours ago, Road Runner said:

I am starting to like my black-face wearing governor more every day.  He has proposed to do away with the dreaded annual car inspections.  I think this is a great idea.  He also wants to raise the tax on cigarettes and gas.  Two more great ideas.

Do you have car inspections?  Do you think they serve a significant purpose?

The governor says that all the data shows that they are a waste of time and money.  I feel sorry for the people who might be out of work as a result, but I'm sure there are other similar opportunities available for someone who knows how to nitpick.   

I lived in VA for 5 years and came to believe that your state inspection was the best thing about driving in that state.  When I was there the inspections were every 6 months and involved a full inspection from headlight aiming to pulling one random wheel off and inspecting the brakes, crawling under the running car to search for exhaust leaks.  They would tell you if you needed new wiper blades, check for cracked glass, sloppy steering components and uneven tire wear.  The state ran a fleet of both known bad cars and known good cars through the stations unannounced and the license was pulled if you were found to be cheating.

Drive out of VA and suddenly you are blinded by oncoming cars with poorly aimed lights, smoking tailpipes, broken windshields and some truly dangerous cars that shouldn't be on the road.

VA was doing it right.  Sorry it was a pain for car owners.

[Ralphie ★]

I’ve noticed a hell of a lot of one eyed cars since we did away with all but the emissions code check a few years ago. 

[Further]

44 minutes ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said:

I’ve noticed a hell of a lot of one eyed cars since we did away with all but the emissions code check a few years ago. 

In Pa a dead light is a pretty sure way to get to talk to every bored cop that sees you.

Usually just a verbal warning, but you never know how things will go....  

[Longjohn ★]

19 minutes ago, Further said:

In Pa a dead light is a pretty sure way to get to talk to every bored cop that sees you.

Usually just a verbal warning, but you never know how things will go....  

On Live PD they are always pulling cars over for a burned out light and searching their cars and busting them for drugs. They also smell their breath and bust them for DUI. Oh one more thing they do, they run their license and bust them for any outstanding warrants.