The Vehicle Safety Inspection (or Not) Thread

[JJZ 109]

But another way of looking at it is number of fatalities per square mile of the given state For your state of MA it is .0446 fatalities/sq mi, In MI as mentioned by another poster is .0181/sq mi, and in my home state of IL it is .0197/sq mi. My state at one time inspected pickup trucks but not cars. Only thing that is inspected now is trucks with over 8001 pound plates, or trucks pulling trailers with 8001 or more pound plates. So tractor trailers, school buses, and large pickups

Maybe it should be figured by miles of road per state. Bottom line is that most any stat there is can be maniuplated, twisted or skewed to most anyone's point of view.

 

[crashz]

Or number of drivers per state maybe?

In the Northeast we have a climate that is perfect for turning a 5 year old car into a rusty wreck. Not to mention a huge portion of the population that knows nothing about cars (think college kids) or cares nothing about themselves or other people (think junkies). I feel that the greater Boston area is the nucleus of the "Its not my fault!" plague.

With a corrosive environment and millions of clueless drivers, I'm glad most New England states conduct thorough vehicle inspections.

Flame on!

 

[Gary Fowler]

My beef with state mandated vehicle safety inspections is that they are often farmed out to businesses out to make a profit which they do by making the repairs, needed or not. I'd prefer that any inspections be done at states facilities who have no profit motive. But then people would gripe about 'big government', so ....

I just want to say that I now live in Arkansas having moved here from Texas. Texas has required yearly inspections, Arkansas has none. I see no more out of compliance vehicles here than in Texas. Arkansas did away with inspections years ago after it was found to not be any good at preventing accidents. State Troopers will still cite you for violation if you dont keep your vehicle up to par but they are only looking at safety items not mechanical failures like brake pads, loose tie-rods, etc. Maybe they can cite you for bad shocks if your car is bouncing like a bunny rabbit down the road, but that would be the exception.

I am of the opinion that 99.99% of wrecks are not caused by mechanical failure but by inattentive/defective/impaired drivers.

 

[duramaxsky]

Most fatalities come from DUI or texting. I would be shocked if 1% could be blamed on defective equipment. Most oil change places inspect cars and let you know. Most people don't want to drive an unsafe car. I know I don't. Those who don't care are a problem anyway in one of the other cause areas. I am glad WA doesn't have that stupidity.

 

[aczlan]

Maybe it should be figured by miles of road per state.

The problem is that in a more urban state, you will have lots of people driving short distances in close proximity to others and running into them.
In a more rural state, you are more likely to see vehicle and animal, or single vehicle crashes.

Bottom line is that most any stat there is can be maniuplated, twisted or skewed to most anyone's point of view.

The first day of Statistics 101 the professor said "The first question in Statistics is, what do you want the answer to be"
I have found that to be very true.

Aaron Z

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Waste of time and money, just like our emmision inspections. Purely a money grab.

 

[k0ua]

I am of the opinion that 99.99% of wrecks are not caused by mechanical failure but by inattentive/defective/impaired drivers.

Probably add another 9 to the tail end of that estimate.

 

[Howling]

This is a self selecting group. We are here because we use and like tractors. This tends to be people that understand and care for their equipment and kept safe to operate.

There is another larger group of people that don't care to understand the details of the car. They get it turn the key and get from A to B. If it don't start call AAA and have someone fix it. These are the folks the state inspections are aimed at. They need that annual check to make sure it still safe to drive.

There are lots of stores about inspection station abuse and cheats. I have watched the inspection process evolve over 30+ years here. Originally a mechanic could make any car pass if they wanted. Slowly the state has changed the system to avoid passing dangerous cars. And stopping questionable failures to generate work for the inspection station mechanics.

 

[two_bit_score]

Good call, Diggin It. There's no sense getting a thread shut down the week before it turns 6 years old.

To all of the people opposed to state inspections; how about some suggestions for other ways to ensure that people try to keep their vehicles safe?
I asked several times in the other thread if motor vehicle owners in states without inspections are still expected to keep their vehicles safe; yet the sound of crickets is deafening.

No, I responded to your question.

You frame this in a way that seems to suggest an answer you want.

Texas and most states have multitudes of laws about vehicle safety. Any officer who sees an unsafe vehicle can take action on the violation as per the law.

Vehicle Safety Inspections as carried out in most states are a pure sham. They have nothing to do with performing a comprehensive safety inspection.

People who are responsible are going to keep their vehicles safe. Those who are irresponsible are not going to be deterred by the requirements it seems you would like to impose.



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[two_bit_score]

That's exactly my point; you really don't know how many accidents on the road are caused by mechanical problems... I cited several in the other thread alone whivh I am aware of.

Once again, you didn稚 田ite any cases or accidents. You mentioned some anecdotes without any actual support for your unsubstantiated, self serving argumentative conclusions.