Written by Gregory Monte.
Last week I concluded that state vehicle inspections were not necessarily about safety: Vehicle Inspections – Is It Really About Safety? Some of the Facebook commentary in response to that post informed me that some states actually don’t have any inspections. This was news to me, so I decided to look into it a bit.
Turns out that this is very true. According to PartsGeek.com, the following 10 states don’t have this requirement:
- Alaska
- Arkansas
- Iowa
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Montana
- North Dakota
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
But, but, but …
But what about all of those irresponsible drivers out there? Aren’t they going to be driving dangerous cars? What about the safety of all of the other people on the road?
This reaction reminds me of a blog post I wrote almost a year ago: Judge Decrees: Drivers “Can’t Be Trusted” to Monitor Their Own Speed. Here is what “his honor” had to say about speed limits in Com. v. Kondor, 651 A. 2d 1135 (1994):
“… less competent drivers need this kind of regulation [speed limits]; they cannot be trusted to choose an appropriate speed for themselves because they lack the skills to make a prudent choice.”
Can’t be trusted?
What a condescending prick!
Applying the judges “wisdom” to vehicle inspections, clearly those ten states are not of the opinion that motorists “can’t be trusted.”
And for good reason.
The vast majority of people keep their cars in decent condition, not because the state forces them to do so, but because they care if they or their loved ones live or die. I am a perfect example of this. Because I drive close to 1,000 per week, I make sure to get an oil change, tire rotation, brake check, etc. every time that I go to my mechanic – which is about every 4-5 weeks. Requiring my car to then undergo a vehicle inspection is just a wasted, added, unnecessary cost.
So, with all due respect to his “honor,” now I fully understand why they call judicial decisions “opinions.”
My Free Resources
Applying the Traffic Ticket Defense Method to Challenge a Citation.
This is a seven-page, detailed explanation of my three-step method for challenging any traffic ticket. I use the “Driving at a Safe Speed” statute from Pennsylvania to illustrate this method, but it can be applied to any other statute that you might be cited for in the vehicle code.
In addition, no matter what state you live in, the procedure is the same: you need to understand the statute you allegedly violated, look for technicalities in that statute and (most importantly) find case law to support/reveal those technicalities.
Click to Download the Free “Applying the Traffic Ticket Defense Method to Challenge a Citation”
The Pennsylvania Stop Sign Defense Strategy in a Nutshell.
This is a one-page, eight-point summary of the strategy I discovered while researching ways of beating unfair stop sign tickets. It is specifically geared to Pennsylvania but can also be applied to most other states.
Click to Download the Free “Pennsylvania Stop Sign Defense Strategy in a Nutshell”
My Son’s Opening Trial Statement at the Court of Common Pleas.
This is an elegant, one-page, powerfully concise expression of my defense strategy.
The Brief – My Son’s Case Brief for the Court of Common Pleas
- An eighteen-page argument for why an illegal stop sign is not enforceable.
- Requested by the President Judge at Wayne County, PA, Court of Common Pleas.
- A highly distilled application of the Pennsylvania Stop Sign Ticket Defense.
Traffic Ticket Defense Blog 
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