State inspection results in car being taken off the road because of rust?

The only thing about a car or truck that needs inspection is the nut behind the wheel. You know the ones that think they push the brake pedal and actually push the gas pedal. Or the ones that can't handle a slick road with sharp turns, or are on their cell phones or playing with a cigarette. I'd worry more about an electrical or engine or transmission mechanical failure causing a wreck than the rust. I have never seen a wreck caused by rust. Bad mechanics working on cars? Yes wrecks from bad repair jobs. You know forgetting to tighten some bolts here or there etc.
 
Here in Pennsylvania -- inspection is annual. Any and all codes have to be fixed before it passes inspection. I see cars from Ohio & Michigan that should be in the junk yard. Bald tires all the way around, bumpers taped on, etc.... Having no inspection is putting peoples lives in jeopardy daily and should be illegal.

Only in emissions counties. Here in Franklin the check engine light can be on and you can still get a sticker as long as it passes safety.
 
Surface rust not an issue. However once it creates holes it becomes a reason to not pass vehicle in NH. It was demise of 07 Acura MDX with subpar body work. It led to floor even being punky below carpet .

A dealer did not inspect closely on trade in and low balled me thinking they got a one up. I parked rust side against building close.

I took “low ball” happy and found them selling for less as-is cannot drive off lot a month later.
 
Maybe ask these guys:





Shoot, if you are on a motorcycle, all it takes is a rock in the road. Imagine riding along, minding your business (in SC with no helmet) and the car in front of you kicks up a bolt that fell off another car, or for that matter, that just fell off someone's truck and it strikes you at 70 MPH.

I was driving on I-26 coming from Charleston and a commercial truck in front of me had a box on angle iron drop on the road. People swerving everwhere. Saw a muffler on the highway too.

So, IMO, inspections are needed in all states. Especially in states that are lax on personal safety equipment while riding motorcycles.
So still no proof that inspections make us safer huh?

So the box you mention falling off would have been found on inspection? All of these are about unsecured loads, and most are just opinions from law firms soliciting business. Surely you jest?

Yes, I agree, tie your load down, but this has nothing to do with inspections.
 
Maryland is the toughest but only required once when car changes owners. Costs around $100 which tells you how thorough they are. An oil, power steering fluid or trans fluid leak can fail. Seat belt retractor doesn't retract easily can fail. Parking brake light not working, fail. Fog lights not working, even if the car didn't come with fog lights. Fail.

This is why you see many clapped out 2000 Civics or other 20+ year old beater with historic tags. And why few dealers sell cars under $5000 here.
I hate Maryland. Very aggressive towards its residents. Super police state
 
So still no proof that inspections make us safer huh?

So the box you mention falling off would have been found on inspection? All of these are about unsecured loads, and most are just opinions from law firms soliciting business. Surely you jest?

Yes, I agree, tie your load down, but this has nothing to do with inspections.
If those firms specialize in vehicle accidents, might they be the best to ask if they have been retained to deal with accidents caused by unsafe vehicles? They might not advertise it, but it seems like a safe assumption that they of all people would be in the know.
 
If those firms specialize in vehicle accidents, might they be the best to ask if they have been retained to deal with accidents caused by unsafe vehicles? They might not advertise it, but it seems like a safe assumption that they of all people would be in the know.
Possibly, but there still talking about debris not inspections. Here is one quote for example"

"However, you might want to call an attorney if debris fell off another person’s vehicle, causing an auto o truck accident. This could include loose cargo, lumber, gravel, and barrels falling off the back of a truck."

completely different topic.

Still no study or reliable analytics showing lack of inspection causing accidents.
 
Illinois doesn't have safety inspections. The larger urban areas get hit with smog test. If they were to use rust as a qualifier it would take out half the car in the state. Got a rusty Accent with +185K miles and just put in a new clutch. It's the winter beater and summer hauler.

I blame the state using salt for rust. Doesn't seem to do much good though.
 
First link is voice of Auto Care industry. Second link is governmental agency view


https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-15-705.pdf GAO was asked to review these state programs and NHTSA’s assistance to states. This report assesses: 1) what is known about the safety benefits and costs of operating state vehicle safety inspection programs, 2) challenges that states have faced in operating these programs, and 3) actions NHTSA could take to assist states with these programs. GAO analyzed NHTSA 2009—2013 data and state data for crash trends related to vehicle component failure; reviewed studies that analyzed relationships between safety inspections and outcomes; and interviewed officials in 15 states that have inspection programs.
 
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First link is voice of Auto Care industry. Second link is governmental agency view


https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-15-705.pdf GAO was asked to review these state programs and NHTSA’s assistance to states. This report assesses: 1) what is known about the safety benefits and costs of operating state vehicle safety inspection programs, 2) challenges that states have faced in operating these programs, and 3) actions NHTSA could take to assist states with these programs. GAO analyzed NHTSA 2009—2013 data and state data for crash trends related to vehicle component failure; reviewed studies that analyzed relationships between safety inspections and outcomes; and interviewed officials in 15 states that have inspection programs.
Sorry, these are also not real studies.

The first is a ppt by the Auto Care association, hardly unbiased. For example, they site SC as a state with no inspection and high deaths. I live in SC. I hear of traffic deaths all the time. There for all the reasons mentioned, distracted, too much speed, too fast for conditions, etc. Not scientific, opinion piece.

The second was based on interviews, and even they acknowledge they have zero facts. . Even their fancy tables are based on "estimates" I quote "GAO interviewed from 15 state vehicle safety inspection programs, these programs enhance vehicle safety; however, the benefits and costs of such programs are difficult to quantify". Its the opening paragraph.

Every traffic fatality here is thoroughly inspected. I have never heard of even one being by an unsafe vehicle, even being in a state that is supposedly rife with "dangerous" vehicles.

Additionally, if there are unsafe vehicles on the road, every state including here, a LEO can pull them over and ticket, but they never do.

Much better to be socialist sheep and send everyone in the state to a time wasting and expensive "inspection" that adds little value, for the 0.001% of vehicles that should not be on the road.
 
Even in the 80's, I've heard of that in PA. In 1999 I moved to PA, and tons of cars have rust perforation.

I know in CT, in 1999, I gave my 1979 Volvo to my bro, and he had to fix some rust in the rear 1/4's. Same, when our aunt gave him a 1985 Volvo.

The idea I always heard was it's a unibody car and cannot have perforation. But let's face it, people get around inspections. Just this week a coworker told me he bought one in N Phila. I said where, and he told me it's not for me. I said for real, I've got issues with our 2011 GM.
 
First link is voice of Auto Care industry. Second link is governmental agency view


https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-15-705.pdf GAO was asked to review these state programs and NHTSA’s assistance to states. This report assesses: 1) what is known about the safety benefits and costs of operating state vehicle safety inspection programs, 2) challenges that states have faced in operating these programs, and 3) actions NHTSA could take to assist states with these programs. GAO analyzed NHTSA 2009—2013 data and state data for crash trends related to vehicle component failure; reviewed studies that analyzed relationships between safety inspections and outcomes; and interviewed officials in 15 states that have inspection programs.
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It’s foolish to think that vehicle safety inspections do not make the roads safer. Brakes and tires alone are of course critical to operational safety of a vehicle.
The fact that investigations specifically focused on the cause of accidents relating to substandard equipment barely exist doesn’t mean that they are not happening.
I was Fire Marshal for over five years and wrote hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of citations for Fire code violations a year and probably more than that in required remedial action building permits.
The guys in the building inspector department called me the $10,000 man as a joke as someone presenting my paperwork to pull a permit hardly ever got out of that office with lesser permit requirements. Me and the electrical inspector were on a first name basis.
Many building owners butted heads with me and often said they’d call the mayors office to which I would pull my phone out, pull up the mayors personal phone number and ask them if they wanted to push the button or should I.
Do I know if I “saved a life”? Not directly but how do you quantify someone saved from something that was prevented? Where a fire happened was anyone interviewed asking if they found the exit because the exit sign worked or that the exit door wasn’t pad locked? Not that I recall but overall everyone was safer because of it.
Every word of the Fire code is written in blood as is the automotive safety standards. Enforcement of these standards makes us safer no matter how far down in the sand we push our heads.
 
I live on the WV and OH/KY border. You can visually tell from a block away which cars are from KY and OH neither of which require safety inspections.
Safety inspections help keep junk off of the road and everyone safer.

I've lived in states that have mandatory safety inspections and others that don't. I prefer the latter. Where I live in KY, sure you see vehicles that don't belong on the roads, but it's hardly at a level that's concerning to me. When I see a vehicle that bad, I assume the driver doesn't have insurance / registration anyways (and would skip a safety inspection if one were required), and I bet this is a dynamic in safety inspection states as well. I suppose I could understand the requirement deep in the rust belt where cars can be made unsafe by factors that are not noticeable to the driver.

Much of my belief on this topic is because I've personally experienced "safety inspections" to be an opportunity to upsell by the establishments providing them. When I lived in MO, both my girlfriend and I experienced this. Hold the safety inspection over someone's head and say you need to fix X, Y and Z. Sorry, but feel I know more about my car and how safe it is than these often low-wage inexperienced mechanics do.
 
So still no proof that inspections make us safer huh?...
So, you didn't read of my personal experiences with my family, huh?
Didn't read about the mufflers, and hangers on the side of Interstate 26 around Charleston, SC, huh?
Didn't read about all the big chunks of tires on the sides of the road all over the state of SC, huh?

Here's an example of what happened to the car behind mine when that aforementioned event hit their windshield (and it's a police vehicle).



And even more:



Regardless, I'm not trying to convince you because, honestly, I have no dog in this fight and it's not about winning or losing.

You will believe what you do, and until you experience the things in life I have been though, you will not learn from my experience.

I wish you, your family, and your friends safe travels. I hope that you never experience what my family did because of someone else's poor maintenance, and no inspections to catch that poor maintenance.

Oh, and in case you are willing to learn from my life experiences, here is additional information from NHTSA that shows in their study, 9 percent of vehicles had problematic tires in the pre-crash phase which implies (at least to me, maybe not you) those would have been found at inspection.

 
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I've lived in states that have mandatory safety inspections and others that don't. I prefer the latter. Where I live in KY, sure you see vehicles that don't belong on the roads, but it's hardly at a level that's concerning to me. When I see a vehicle that bad, I assume the driver doesn't have insurance / registration anyways (and would skip a safety inspection if one were required), and I bet this is a dynamic in safety inspection states as well. I suppose I could understand the requirement deep in the rest belt as cars can be made unsafe by factors that are not noticeable to the driver.

Much of my belief on this topic is because I've personally experienced "safety inspections" to be an opportunity to upsell by the establishments providing them. When I lived in MO, both my girlfriend and I experienced this. Hold the safety inspection over someone's head and say you need to fix X, Y and Z. Sorry, but feel I know more about my car and how safe it is than these often low-wage inexperienced mechanics do.
It does create two worlds. Most people don't even know/care. They nary have a car over 3 years old, it has zero chance of failing an inspection other than tampering.

Me, I know inspections only too well. ONLY my 2007 BMW purchased new, has NEVER failed. My 2006 Lexus, my 1998 Maxima, my 2011 Buick, ALL HAVE FAILED.

it's no different than swimming at the YMCA, or belonging to a club.

It's a big rift. Majority of people don't care, because they have cars that have zero chance of failure.

Emissions could spell the end of a seemingly good car. Because they are rarely diagnosed and become $2000+ only to not have fixed the problem (aka parts cannon)

What do I know I just hate it when one of my cars fail. But I don't think it's purposeless to inspect, just hate my own circumstances at times. Do I buy a 2025 Tahoe to make the problem go away? Maybe, but it's a lot of money. And my Tahoe rhetorical question is real.

We just got inspected to 7/24 and made the problem go away until then. P0420. I inspected early and lost 3 mos, when the car had no MIL and I/M was in a ready state.
 
So, you didn't read of my personal experiences with my family, huh?
Didn't read about the mufflers, and hangers on the side of Interstate 26 around Charleston, SC, huh?
Didn't read about all the big chunks of tires on the sides of the road all over the state of SC, huh?

Here's an example of what happened to the car behind mine when that aforementioned event hit their windshield (and it's a police vehicle).



And even more:



Regardless, I'm not trying to convince you because, honestly, I have no dog in this fight and it's not about winning or losing.

You will believe what you do, and until you experience the things in life I have been though, you will not learn from my experience.

I wish you, your family, and your friends safe travels. I hope that you never experience what my family did because of someone else's poor maintenance, and no inspections to catch that poor maintenance.

Oh, and in case you are willing to learn from my life experiences, here is additional information from NHTSA that shows in their study, 9 percent of vehicles had problematic tires in the pre-crash phase which implies (at least to me, maybe not you) those would have been found at inspection.


Did you notice my name and Avatar. I live in Charleston, and I just got back from Columbia, so 200 miles on I-26 just today. I have seen tons of crashes on I-26. You know what caused them - idiot drivers, some local, some tourists - of which there are a ton - mostly just passing through, and a lot of trucks out of the 2 busiest ports on the East coast. It was bumper to bumper for 100 miles there and 100 miles back with lots of trucks slowing things down. It was a slow day, I only saw one car in the ditch. I wonder if it was there because it had a rusty fender? Somehow I doubt it.

I certainly don't wish an accident on anyone. I just have not seen one iota of proof that inspections help, only vague inferences. Your personal experience in SC doesn't seem like it would have been prevented with an inspection, since it was something that fell off a truck?

Saying that vehicles had some sort of problem some percentage of the time isn't very definitive. Having bald tires on dry pavement doesn't much matter. If my brake light doesn't work but I run into the back of someone, it didn't matter. Its not proof of anything.

Maybe someone should actually do a quantitative peer reviewed study with actual data. Now its simply opinions, usually by people or organizations with a bias.

Idiot drivers in brand new cars cause accidents all day long. And for the record, even my oldest vehicle would pass any state inspection - I promise you. However I would fail emissions in a CARB state since I used federally approved aftermarket CAT's, not CARB compliant ones when they failed, even though there is no inspection at all here.
 
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