On Wednesday, Jul 23, 2003, at 09:36 Australia/Adelaide, Rocky Frisco
wrote:
>
> Exactly! I could name you at least five "testing stations" that didn't
> even pop the bonnet. The test was five bucks. One guy near 21st and
> Sheridan said "Gimme the five bucks and I'll put a Safety Sticker on
> your dog or your skateboard." ;)
>
>
They are trying to bring in annual inspections here in South Australia
(the only Australian State that currently has this is New South Wales).
Our Auto Association says that studies have revealed that the annual
inspections have only reduced accidents by at most 1% and that random,
roadside checks are equally as effective and far less expensive.
I lived in New South Wales for 8 years and suffered under the annual
inspections. Yes, we had "friendly" inspection points (usually
service/gas stations) that would let us through with only a cursory
glance but this became tougher as the police cracked down on the
practice by conducting their own random checks (i.e. when they pulled
you over for speeding, etc.). If they spotted a defect that had
obviously been there for a while they would go back to the place that
last inspected the car and check out all the cars checked there for 3
months.
If the station was shown to be letting cars through with defects then
they could be fined (or investigated for potential corruption) and lose
their inspection licence. And yep, those licences were worth big bucks
because they will inspect your car; find defects; you would pay them to
fix the defects.
The worst thing is that some newspaper survey says that 72% of the
population in South Australia thinks there should be some sort of
roadworthiness testing and this result could be used to get the bill
through parliament (we all know how politicians like to be popular -
and not to be blamed for future road deaths!). Of course "some sort of
roadworthiness testing" doesn't necessarily mean annual testing before
registration - but hey, let's not let facts get in the way of a survey
result, eh?
Eric
'68MGB MkII
Adelaide, South Australia
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