Yes Dear

[Bird]

I recall when we were kids that dad had to have the car safety inspected every year and we had a sticker for that. But, as I also recall, they did away with safety inspections because it was cheaper to pay off a mechanic to give you the sticker than to fix the car. All the mechanic had to do was deny the violation was there when he inspected the car.

I can't think of anything that requires a government sticker in Indiana, anymore, except the license plate year expiration tags that they send you to save cost on metal plates.

David, I'm not sure what kind of bond the inspection stations have posted now. But 50 years ago, it was $1,000 and a plain clothes under cover state trooper visited inspection stations driving a car that would not pass for one reason or another. If an inspection station passed that car, they forfeited their bond and got a temporary suspension. I remember when our local Ford deal forfeited his bond and for a couple of weeks had to take any vehicle he sold down the street to the Olds dealer to get it inspected.

Of course, in my personal opinion, it's a stupid law because you only have to get your vehicle inspected once a year. If something happens the next day that would make it fail an inspection, you have a year. You're supposed to get the problem corrected and the vehicle re-inspected. If anyone ever actually had one re-inspected, I never heard of it.

One year, I took my Winnebago motorhome to an RV dealer for a new sticker, walked into the service department and told the service manager I had just inspected it myself to make sure it was going to pass, so he just got a sticker and went and put it on without inspecting anything. Another time I took that Winnebago to a GMC truck dealer for a sticker. Back then they checked headlight alignment, but have since dropped that requirement because too many mechanics charged for an alignment that wasn't needed. But the motorhome was about 1" too tall, with the roof mounted air-conditioner, to fit through his door to get to the designated spot to check headlight alignment. It was near closing time, I had just stopped and picked up a case of beer, and I told him, there was a way to get it in the building and that was to let air out of the rear tires. He said, "Oh, yeah." So I said, "Of course you have to let the air out of all 4 tires, pull through the door, air up all 4 rear tires to check headlight alignment, let the air out of all 4, back it out the door, and air up all 4 again." Then I said, "I think it's time for a cold beer for me; would you like one?" He did, and decided he could do the inspection and put the sticker on without getting the motorhome inside.

Of course, 50 years ago the stickers cost $3, and like everything else, kept going up, and went up again when they started the emissions testing, so now I pay $39.50 for each vehicle each year.

I have no idea what they do now, but 50 years ago, Oklahoma had a much more sensible system. Of course some people would complain about the inconvenience, but you never knew when you were going to come upon a couple of state troopers who had set up a little roadblock. You didn't even get out of the car, but they checked your drivers license, went to the rear of the car and had you turn on your lights, hit the brake to check the brake lights, went to the front of the car, had you hit the dimmer switch to check the front lights, had you turn on the windshield wipers, and check the horn. If you failed the inspection, you got a ticket. If you passed, you were given a sticker to put on your windshield and if you came upon such a roadblock again during that calendar year, you would just be waved on through. So if you happened to get a sticker in January, you were good for the year, but if you didn't get one until December, it was only good for that month. And of course, many years you didn't get one at all.

 

[dgl24087]

What's a county windshield sticker for?

Basically, it is a sticker indicating that the taxes have been paid, required under the guise of being a county or city vehicle license.

 

[mjarrels]

More tax... gets you into the landfield aka dump. I hate them... When I was much younger, state inspections were ever six months... hated them. Now only once each year. Lived in Washington state for 10 years... one inspection and live on without any stickers. Odd thing is I have a sun block cardboad thing that says remove before driving... windshield must have two big stickers that block my views!

"Goat locker"

mark

 

[RobertN]

That's basically what they used to do out here. As I mentioned in a previous post, that ended in the early 70's. Remember my parents driving in to Sacramento, and here traffic is stopped. It was a surprise inspection...

I have no idea what they do now, but 50 years ago, Oklahoma had a much more sensible system. Of course some people would complain about the inconvenience, but you never knew when you were going to come upon a couple of state troopers who had set up a little roadblock. You didn't even get out of the car, but they checked your drivers license, went to the rear of the car and had you turn on your lights, hit the brake to check the brake lights, went to the front of the car, had you hit the dimmer switch to check the front lights, had you turn on the windshield wipers, and check the horn. If you failed the inspection, you got a ticket. If you passed, you were given a sticker to put on your windshield and if you came upon such a roadblock again during that calendar year, you would just be waved on through. So if you happened to get a sticker in January, you were good for the year, but if you didn't get one until December, it was only good for that month. And of course, many years you didn't get one at all.