Joke - State vehicle inspection

[Super Santa]

I had moved to South Carolina from New York, and at that time a vehicle inspection was required to register my car...

But I was nervous -- my car was in rough shape. I thought of New York State's rigorous inspections. Any number of problems might turn up that would be expensive to fix. I drove down a country road and found a garage that had an inspection sign. When I told the mechanic what I needed, he circled the car, turned on the lights and honked the horn. Then he attached a new sticker and asked me for the three-dollar fee.
I was shocked. "Is that all you have to do?" I asked.

"Well," he answered, "you drove it here, didn't you?"

[ArmyValker]

That's how it is here NOW. 

[Gryphon]

That's how it is here NOW. 

That isn't entirely true.  The fee is $12.

[hubcapsc]

At the gas station I hung out at when I was in high school, they inspected the flop out of your car...

At other inspection stations, it was just how Early Bird said... a joke...

Lots of people didn't want to wait around through the hassle of a real inspection, so they flocked to
the joke inspectors.

The real inspectors only got $3 for all that work, so they were loosing money...

So we ditched the whole thing, now everyone drives around with bald tires and one headlight...

-Mike

[JimL]

I can actually see both sides of this debate.  Obviously there is an interest in keeping dangerous cars off the road.  The inspection process could solve some of this, but probably only if it is performed at designated facilities with strict controls on quality (similar to the emission control stations we have to visit on an annual basis here in the Nashville area).  Of course, this comes at the cost of more government intrusion and what comes with it (taxation/fees) which I am generally opposed to.

If I thought that this would significantly make the highways safer, I would hold my nose and agree with it.  However as we saw in an earlier post today....you just can't legislate human stupidity (the "Whats up with DUI's LSA" thread), it didn't make any difference what condition this drunken ignoramus' car was in, she was a menace to society and bikers no matter what.

[Robert]

New Yorks inspection is tough and its there so that they can make money and get Federal money. There are laws already on the books to cover safety related issues and the pollution aspect is a bunch of bs too. They have the check engine lights that will tell you if things are out of range. They had to make them state centers because even with big fines they felt people were still sliding by and the current shops were getting paid under the table. I also want to say that there are things that you can slide on in cars and other things you cannot. I have seen to many accidents caused by bad tires and brakes and I almost think there should be criminal penalties. I know that repairs cost money but you have to take care of your cars because we drive close to each other and one persons lack of maintenance/money shouldn't be someone else's problems. Enough happens without bad maintenance.

[ChromeDome]

Only thing you need here in Illinois is your insurance card. It is different if your vehicle is a commercial vehicle or for hire re but for private vehicles nada ... of course it just cost me around $90 to renew my tags for the car and will run around $70 for the bike.

[fiddle mike]

"Well," he answered, "you drove it here, didn't you?"

I rode my Valk for about two years with an expired sticker even after the state required that it be hung under the license tag in plain cop sight.  When I finally took it over to the oil change place to be inspected I barely got off the bike before this big old boy told me to ride around the back.  A Harley was parked behind the shop. When I pulled up the tech looked at my Valk and asked, '97 or '98?  Saved a lot of time dealing with someone who doesn't have to stick a broom handle in the exhaust to tell if there are baffles.  When I asked if he wanted me drive around and demonstrate the brakes he laughed , "Naw, I already saw you stop." 
He must be a spiritual brother to your inspector.

[Kymbo]

well just took my Valk over the pits for an inspection here in South Australia as I bought it from another state .It cost me $214 for the inspection and $505 for the rego ,stamp duty and licence plate and he told me I need to change my indicators because the didnt have DOT number on them

[Hawkeye]

South Carolina hasn't had a vehicle inspection program for at least the last two decades.  But we do have some pretty savvy country boys.

[ArmyValker]

We have inspections every year, and until now, even a car that is a year old needed an inspection...

When I worked as a grease monkey in a local shop in high school, I did the inspections as an unlicensed 17 year old. . guess the boss wanted his real mechanics doing work that paid real money.

I'd check lights, blinkers, backup lights, honk the horn, pull the front driver wheel and write the ticket. I could do one in under 10 minutes.

Last time I took my truck in, I had a backup light out, my brakes were questionable, and the guy just wrote the ticket and handed it back to me.

In Germany, if you had visible rust on any part of the vehicle you failed. If your brakes where under 50 percent, you failed, they did exhaust, they did a rolling brake test, an inspection took like an hour. If the car was over a certain age.. you paid tons of taxes on it.

[PharmBoy]

Oklahoma hasn't had vehicle inspections for 10 years or longer.  You will get a ticket, however, if you don't keep all the lights burning.  I remember seeing an article somewhere after the inspections were dropped stating that there had been no increase in accidents or deaths due to traffic accidents...JTL

[John Schmidt]

Florida had inspections for a few years about 30 yrs. ago. They did a study and found the number of accidents caused by equipment problems were unchanged, so the governor disbanded the entire system. A few people fussed about the loss of Fed. money, but he showed them they were actually losing money when all costs were totaled against income. The entire state breathed a sigh of relief because it was a big PITA, and all the inspections were at state owned and county operated locations.