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

[Elkins45]

What I see littering the highways are tread patches jettisoned from retreaded semi tires. That’s what I most fear coming through my windshield.

 

[DougR]

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.

I have to agree with you based on watching a YouTube channel, Wham Baam Teslacam. Every week, there are lots of crashes caused by failure to pay attention, drivers on the phone, drivers speeding on dry pavement in heavy traffic, speeding on wet pavement or heavy rain, impatient drivers who apparently do not care to share the road, impaired drivers, unsecured loads falling into the roadway, violating rules of road, the list goes on and on. I recall one instance where a single vehicle crash was attributed to the use of bald tires on an icy road. A Tesla has 4 cameras recording continuously to capture everything leading up to and including the crash. It's a source of data that's difficult to dispute.

 

[fdcg27]

Does a robust vehicle inspection program improve road safety?
Does anyone seriously doubt that it does?
The other side would be who would be impacted.
We have members here who use EOL beaters as DD commuters. They have the DIY skills and the money to keep their rides fully functional and could also afford to replace these old dears if required.
What about lower income folks who can't afford to properly fix what they have nor replace?
They rely upon their car to get to work, to get their kids to school or day care and to shop for groceries. and in the absence of that car would truly be lost.
In a perfect world, we'd all buy factory new cars and retire them after fifteen years or 200K, whichever comes first. By then, any vehicle is at the end of its life, if we're being honest.
We don't live in any such world nor will we ever.

 

[Elkins45]

Does a robust vehicle inspection program improve road safety?
Does anyone seriously doubt that it does?
The other side would be who would be impacted.
We have members here who use EOL beaters as DD commuters. They have the DIY skills and the money to keep their rides fully functional and could also afford to replace these old dears if required.
What about lower income folks who can't afford to properly fix what they have nor replace?
They rely upon their car to get to work, to get their kids to school or day care and to shop for groceries. and in the absence of that car would truly be lost.
In a perfect world, we'd all buy factory new cars and retire them after fifteen years or 200K, whichever comes first. By then, any vehicle is at the end of its life, if we're being honest.
We don't live in any such world nor will we ever.

So much rides on details. What does “robust” actually mean?

Kentucky used to have mandatory vehicle inspection back when I was a kid. If my father’s opinion is to be believed it was primarily a money grab by the state and didn’t actually take dangerous vehicles off the road. It‘s been gone for decades now. I started driving in 1980 and it was history before then.

 

[Exhaustgases]

Rust outs can be blamed on the manufacture of the car or truck period.
A way to get the manufacture to treat or paint all hidden areas in unibody frames or real frames, and eliminate all possible water - salt water ingress is to make them 50 years liable for any injury's caused by original non modified auto structural failures caused by rust, the time limit would be 50 years on every vehicle built. I bet they would do the ultimate best dipping electroplating and or painting there is then.

 

[Kurtatron]

What about lower income folks who can't afford to properly fix what they have nor replace?
They rely upon their car to get to work, to get their kids to school or day care and to shop for groceries. and in the absence of that car would truly be lost.

Car dependency due to American car centric infrastructure is a huge problem. It is a product of 50s fantasy (and auto marketing) that the world of the future was car dependency, better termed car slavery. In the United States, it is extremely difficult to live without a car, and that is a problem. Imagine if a majority of city dwellers could live without a car, that would be such a relief for people who are struggling financially. America needs to rethink its urban planning.

 

[fdcg27]

Car dependency due to American car centric infrastructure is a huge problem. It is a product of 50s fantasy (and auto marketing) that the world of the future was car dependency, better termed car slavery. In the United States, it is extremely difficult to live without a car, and that is a problem. Imagine if a majority of city dwellers could live without a car, that would be such a relief for people who are struggling financially. America needs to rethink its urban planning.

There are a few American cities that are walkable and also offer efficient public transportation. Many people who live in NYC do not own cars and can do quite well without them. They fly on trips or they rent a car as needed.
What about the really high prices at little neighborhood stores? More than offset by the savings in not having to own a car as well as the convenience of just dropping in for a few things on the way home instead of investing time and fuel in driving to and navigating through a grocery the size of a hockey arena.
That horse has largely fled the barn, though. There is no escaping car ownership for the places most of us live, work and shop. A personal car does bring freedom but it also imposes significant costs.
This also means that we have to allow lower income families access to cars that may be imperfect but are what they can afford.

 

[Fordiesel69]

As a certified PA State Inspection Mechanic I can say at times this will make no difference. With the contamination of absolute garbage unsafe auto parts, someone could easily replace the worn out ball joints / tie rod ends / wheel bearings to nice **tight** passable condition. Then a week later when the conterfeit garbage parts come apart that you thought were safe, you and your garage are going to be answering a lot of questions. Rust is honestly the least of our concerns as other motorists. As a passenger you have a point.

Or my favorite, how OEMS are allowed to use pot metal spare tire hangers that allow the tire to rot off the car and fall out on the road.

 

[Dave P.]

For those who need to fill body holes in a quick manner that will pass inspection, consider using a "high density" minimum expanding foam. A 6 pound foam is a rigid waterproof foam that will make a pretty epic repair. But even a can of high density foam will work nicely.

The foam can be quickly sanded to shape, coated with spray paint, spray undercoating or bed liner.

I will never claim this makes a perfect repair. But it can, with just a few minutes work, get a car to pass the body rust inspection.

If I ever buy a used car from you, I'm bringing a magnet with me

 

[eljefino]

Or my favorite, how OEMS are allowed to use pot metal spare tire hangers that allow the tire to rot off the car and fall out on the road.

Samsung and LG use magnesium in their washing machines... that stuff corrodes pretty quickly in bleachy water.

 

[mrbreezeet1]

In my current state of NC it all depends on the county, some have emissions. Otherwise, horn, wipers, lights, tires, tint, and a muffler (doesn't specify type). When I was in Maine. Sheeeew, they looked it over with a fine tooth comb. All the above plus rust/rot "sharp edges", e-brake, idler arm, tie rods, ball joints, u-joints, brakes, windshield, lift, tire size, headlight angles. You could run near any exhaust, but if you got a ticket for being too loud, the burden was on you to prove it was under 96db.

PA and WV is like that too!

 

[mrbreezeet1]

Years ago, this was the main reason duct tape and bondo were created! PA inspection said 'no rust holes in body or trunk"

We used Wax paper and Tigar Hair!

 

[mrbreezeet1]

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.

AGREE!!!!!

 

[mrbreezeet1]

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.

What about that brake drum on that dump truck?

 

[mrbreezeet1]

View attachment 175268
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.

It's not funny whoever put the laughter emoji he's right!

 

[mrbreezeet1]

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.

Well possibly the car could have been in the ditch because of a broken ball joint?

 

[otis24]

No inspection necessary in the great state of South Dakota!

 

[Sedin26]

No inspections in British Columbia. They used to enforce emissions testing every two years in Vancouver but stopped about 10 years ago because emissions declined about 90% in the city for cars and light trucks from 1992 to 2012.

 

[John105]

I'm not sure if I already replied after my last PA State inspection. I know they didn't do the safety inspection because the paperwork said 10/32 for brakes front and rear (they're almost gone I need to address this coming week as I'm off), and, on the stickers (can you believe it in 2023) there are no boxes X'd for wheels pulled. My $29.95 coupon is now $47 out the door. I think the shop offers inspections to generate repairs, but, if a car isn't going to do that, it's a waste of their time to collect $40 something and tie up a tech nit picking things, so out the door with stickers it goes.

imho emissions is different as they plug in to the Commonwealth's computer for 1996+.

From a coworker it's easy to buy stickers where he lives, again, with computers invented and deployed in the 80's, there's no reason for that. Then, what is silly, is there can be 4 color combinations on valid stickers. Can LE really remember all that? Not to mention legit stickers are fabricated by the shop. It's like having foxes watching hen houses.

PA may not be a good point of reference as it's the wild west anyway. No reggie, no insurance, no exterior legible tag, no DL, 5% tints. Pulled over? Allowed to go on with some tix. I think we can do better, but maybe we cannot. With all the loopholes, 95% of people are on the up and up, just a number I made up and think could be correct. I don't know anyone who openly cheats on state inspections, people just pay the money and get it over with. But why have a system if 5% can cheat is what I'm thinking.

 

[TimeFlies]

No inspections in British Columbia. They used to enforce emissions testing every two years in Vancouver but stopped about 10 years ago because emissions declined about 90% in the city for cars and light trucks from 1992 to 2012.

No inspections for private vehicles as you said.
But commercial use vehicles are annually up to 8200 kg gross weight, and every 6 months over 8200 kg.
My logging truck gets inspected twice a year, my pickup never.