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Mandatory Safety Inspections: Easier Said Than Done
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However, information has recently been developed that appears to show a correlation between safety inspections and reduced highway fatalities. The Department of Transportation for Pennsylvania completed a report in March of last year that showed very clearly the importance of safety inspections to saving lives on the Nation’s highways. The report, which was undertaken by Cambridge Systematics, Inc., came to the conclusion that Pennsylvania’s — as well as other vehicle safety inspection programs — are an effective way to reduce fatal crashes and save lives. Specifically:
• Nationally, vehicle safety inspection programs appear to be a significant factor in lowering fatal crashes.
• Based on the model results, Pennsylvania can be expected to have between 115 and 169 fewer fatal crashes each year, corresponding to between 127 and 187 fewer fatalities each year, than it would if it did not have a vehicle safety inspection program.
• The largest difference in reported vehicle failures at the scene of fatal crashes between states with programs and states without programs is for vehicles of three years of age or more.
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The absence of good maintenance practices by car owners was likely one of the key reasons that many states began mandating that cars obtain yearly safety inspections. |
• The combination of state-level and county-level analysis of fatality data provides consistent and complementary results.
However, changing the dynamics in this country to improve the image of safety inspection and hopefully increase the number programs is going to take a lot more than one study. For starters, motorists are going to have to see a major benefit from safety inspection and be willing to support it both at the federal, state and local levels. This will be no easy task and will require a major effort by industry along with state and local authorities who, by the way, are not strong proponents in many states. A key element will be making the actual inspections more efficient. This means that the time it takes to inspect a vehicle will have to be optimized and locations where drivers can obtain the inspections are going to have to grow. At the same time, the programs cannot afford to be perceived as ineffective. No doubt improvements in inspection technology will need to be implemented to help the industry and states meet these seemingly competing goals.
Every year, I hear from members that safety inspection is something the industry can get behind and we should be working together to make it happen. However, I always warn them that changing the tide on this issue is not going to be easy and will require considerable time and funds to make it happen. It also will require industry and government consensus that this needs to be done and how it should be accomplished — not an easy task in today’s highly charged political environment. However, with the possible economic and public safety benefits that could result from more PMVI programs, perhaps it is worth a second look.
AARON LOWE is vice president of Government Affairs for the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association. For more information on government affairs initiatives, visit: www.aftermarket.org
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