"N8N" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> I can't believe I'm actually posting this message, but I am going to
> have to say that I'm becoming more and more in favor of annual safety
> inspections for vehicles. It seems like more and more people just
> don't maintain their rides. I have heard, in the last week, a vehicle
> with a terminal-sounding rod knock; seen a vehicle with an obviously
> blown head gasket, and finally one with no lights on the rear of the
> vehicle at all except for the third brake light. Now if these are the
> *obvious* issues immediately identified by a cursory glance from a
> passing vehicle, what else is being neglected? Brakes? Suspension?
> Critical drivetrain parts like the driveshaft that could actually pose
> a safety risk should it fail? It seems fairly likely...

Around here, such an inspection would get about 1/3 of the cars off the
road for safety violations and another 1/3 for illegal modifications
(illegal mufflers - or maybe non mufflers would be a better word,
illegal lighting etc...). Hmmmmmm, maybe such an inspection program
would not bu such a bad idea if run properly.....

> The scary thing is, I live in a fairly affluent area. I am probably
on
> the very bottom end of the salary range for this area, it's not like
> people are scraping to get by - or if they are, they don't show it.
My
> 16 year old car is the exception, anything over 10 years old is highly
> unusual. It would appear that people just don't care, or don't have
> enough mechanical knowledge to even identify serious problems...

Or they just don't give a damn. Kinda hard for them to afford the health
club to drive to and insipid toys for their over indulged children (not
to mention the gobs of $$$ they throw away into college investment
schemes so some tenured red-bag can fill said children's heads with
useless crap in 20 years or so) if they were required to actually
*maintain* their automobiles for the safety of the rest of us....