Car Inspections Made Easier?

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Created on Tuesday, 20 March 2018 18:40

Written by Kiernan Brisson

LYNDONVILLE - The lawmakers in the state of Vermont are looking to change car inspection laws, allowing for "minute" issues and problems to become "recommended" fixes instead of required fixes. The law change would allow for vehicles experiencing minor problems... such as a broken tail light... to pass inspection under the recommendation that the light be fixed. There are quite a few Vermont residents who agree with this action plan.

"It should be a lot easier," said Robert Gilman, a resident of Lyndon, "just like I said, a car should have good exhaust, good tires, good lights, it should have a good solid frame... you want to be safe but you don't want to go overboard you know, let's be honest about the situation." It would seem that this new law would answer a lot of the calls of Vermont residents who feel that vehicle inspection laws and regulations are too strict on the common car owner. There are many who believe that the regulations for car inspections are too stringent, and that problems including cracked lights, windshields, or even slight rusting to the underside of a vehicle should not mean the failure of a car inspection.
However, to reach its own, there are a lot of car mechanics and car inspection specialists who feel that the state of Vermont already has vehicle inspection laws that are too loose to ensure proper car safety for residents. Alan Brink, the co-owner of Easy Auto in Lyndon, feels that if any more safety requirements are axed from the inspection list, dangerous vehicles will find their way back out to the road with an updated inspection certificate. "At least the past twenty years i've had my inspection license, and I haven't really seen the process change," he explained. "As far as making the inspection process easier; no, it is not a good idea because now you're tapping into safety issues and that is not where you want to go."
Brink continued to talk about the Vermont inspection laws, and how they are already easier on vehicles than other states. "Because the vermont department of motor vehicles actually made it easier (to pass inspection) by allowing check engine lights and emission issues to pass right now, where as before those issues wouldn't have passed, no way." So now we must ask ourselves an important question, is it more important that we pass our vehicle inspections, or is it more important that only safe vehicles be allowed on Vermont roads?
The bill that is being introduced is intended to help poor Vermonters who either can't afford the required repairs or can't afford to buy another vehicle in order to satisfy the non-safety issues within a car inspection. This will allow for those broken or cracked tail lights to go unattended during an inspection. But as we have seen, many car inspection services disagree with this idea, due to the safety implications that can come from non-safety issues that are left unattended. Alan Brink went on to talk about these issues. He first talked about how many issues with cars can become much larger problems if issues are not fixed as soon as possible.
Take the busted tail light for instance, if the cracked cover is not fixed, then water could find its way into the socket and short circuit the light. Now you have a cracked tail light frame, and a light that no longer works; this is not only costing you more money, but also disabling others from knowing if your car is stopping or turning. These "recommended" fixes that use to be mandatory were made that way for a reason, and changing these rules to make inspections easier for the car owner is only making the roads more dangerous.