Last month my daughter\u2019s car had its Virginia \u201csafety inspection\u201d.\u00a0 It failed.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s probably good that the law protects us from people like my daughter and her unsafe vehicle.\u00a0 I mean, what if her brakes fail, or her bald tires don\u2019t have adequate traction, or the boot covering her CV joint is cracked, or\u2026\u00a0 Wait, what?\u00a0 Her CV boot was cracked?\u00a0 That<\/i> failed the inspection?<\/p>\n
Not the brakes, or the tires, or the steering.\u00a0 A small rubber boot whose function is to keep grease on the CV joint and keep dirt and water out.\u00a0 Hardly a safety item.\u00a0 (All front-wheel drive vehicles require that the front wheels turn at the same rate, even during turns, since they\u2019re coupled to the drive train; the CV \u2013 or constant velocity<\/i> \u2013 joints accomplish this.)<\/p>\n
Have you ever experienced the wheel falling off a car due to a worn CV joint?\u00a0 Ever seen or heard of this happening?\u00a0 Of course not.\u00a0 That\u2019s because, long before they fail catastrophically, they grind and pop and otherwise let you know that they are unhappy.\u00a0 And you fix it!<\/p>\n
So why does the Commonwealth of Virginia have this on the safety inspection checklist?\u00a0 Why, for that matter, do we even have<\/i> a government-mandated safety inspection?\u00a0 Of course, you will argue, it is because people don\u2019t take care of their cars, and it\u2019s a way to protect drivers and pedestrians from these people.\u00a0 Imagine, you say, if we didn\u2019t have inspections: People would drive old, beat-up cars with bad brakes, bald tires and cracked CV joint boots.\u00a0 The terrorists would win!<\/p>\n
Right.<\/p>\n
What evidence exists that state-mandated safety inspections have decreased the number of accidents caused by mechanical failure?\u00a0 Do states that mandate inspections have fewer accidents caused by mechanical failures than those that don\u2019t mandate inspections?\u00a0 Have you ever looked at your state\u2019s list of inspection criteria and thought about how many of those items don\u2019t have anything to do with safety?\u00a0 Even for those that you think are safety related, like headlights, for example\u2026 If they work at the inspection and one burns out the next day, are you good for the next year?\u00a0 Or would you replace it as necessary?\u00a0 Of course you\u2019d replace it (both, if they\u2019re halogens).\u00a0 So what does the inspection do, other than give a false sense of security that your car is mechanically sound, when it might not be?<\/p>\n
And what about personal liberty and responsibility?\u00a0 Eric Peters of EricPetersAuto.com says it very well: \u201c[Why] not treat people as individuals \u2013 and hold each of us individually responsible for what we do \u2013 as opposed to binding us because of what others do? If I cause an accident because my car has bad brakes, I should be held criminally and civilly responsible. But if I have caused no one any harm \u2013 but \u2018Joe\u2019 has caused an accident because he<\/em> drove his car on bald tires with bad brakes \u2013 please hold him<\/em> responsible. \u00a0Not me<\/em>!\u201d<\/p>\n But instead of \u201cJoe\u201d getting ticketed for his bone-headedness, we all<\/i> get ticketed annually at $16 per vehicle (or, in Virginia, $51 for large trucks), even if it\u2019s in perfect condition<\/i>.\u00a0 And when you fail, you get further ticketed up to whatever it takes for the inspector to deem it \u201csafe\u201d.\u00a0 So far this year, for my two (of three) cars whose inspections were due, I\u2019ve been ticketed over $250, one for passing, and one for a split, non-safety related CV boot.\u00a0 (Incidentally, I already knew about the CV boot, and I planned to fix it in the next few months when I had cash. \u00a0Now I had to pay for that instead of something else.\u00a0 Can you say, \u201cbroken window fallacy\u201d?)\u00a0 Can\u2019t wait to find out what my ticket on the third car will be.<\/p>\n So much for our state motto, Sic semper tyrranus<\/i>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"