In the last few months the proposal to change this in NZ from biannual to annual for all cars, not just those less than 6 years old, has seen a debate between the Automobile Association which supports the change and the Motor Trades Association which opposes it.
The AA states that mechanical factors account for only a small percentage of car crashes, and most of these are a result of bald tyres which should be reasonably apparent to police and even parking officers. In the majority of American states there is no compulsory periodic safety inspection, but police officers may stop a car they have reasonable cause to believe is unsafe and require it to be inspected. However, the relatively low cost of new cars in America means that the average age of what you see on the roads is fairly low by NZ standards.
There is little doubt that economic interests are behind the MTA's stance as the inspections must represent a significant component of their members' income, not just the testing fee, which is set at $50 but the repairs needed to conform to the warrant standards. The issue which many motorists also have cause to doubt is how many of those repairs are really needed and how many are just a means of boosting the garage's revenue.
Watch this space.
2 comments:
"police officers may stop a car they have reasonable cause to believe is unsafe and require it to be inspected".This is very much needed for safety in any country.I agree about it.this is very much relevant to thesite like:http://www.hendersonvalleyautomotive.co.nz/
The police do that in every developed country. In NZ the hoons and boy racers draw most of the police's attention, they are generally not part of the scene in the US.
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