Car Inspections Suppress the Poor

In this day and age we are constantly reading about different ways that new policies and procedures are impacting the poor and minorities. The world is a harsh place for the poor and it seems that rich bureaucrats want to keep making things harder.

What about the ways they have already punished those that are less fortunate?  Why has nobody looked at one of the biggest, most sweeping ways that the poor are being suppressed by many states? What am I talking about?

Annual Vehicle Inspections.

This process is required in many states and it is usually advertised as a way to keep unsafe vehicles and cars that pollute more than their fair share off the roads. Cleaner air, safer streets... what's not to love?

In reality, this annual nuisance is really only a way to punish the poor. Think about it. What types of cars are going to fail this inspection? Not the ones driven by CEO's and high powered attorneys. Certainly not the ones driven by lawmakers. Those people can afford new vehicles that are sure to pass. As vehicles age and aren't maintained properly, the likelihood of failing these inspections increases.

Who is the most likely to drive an older vehicle that has not been maintained properly? That's right - a poor person. Maybe they aren't dirt poor, but they might be lower middle class. A family that is living paycheck-to-paycheck and can't afford the added costs of a new vehicle or expensive maintenance procedures for a car that is at least running. These are the people that are going to be hit the hardest by these inspections.

Under the guise of making roads safer and keeping air cleaner, inspectors are able to fail a vehicle for a license plate light that won't illuminate, or a crack in an otherwise functioning muffler. These safety failures must be corrected before the car can be legally driven and emission failures must be corrected within a certain time span.

Most families that are living paycheck-to-paycheck can't afford to drop $500 to $1000 into a vehicle the same day they find out it fails a safety inspection. They probably can't afford to scrap up that amount of money within 30 days of failing an emissions inspection either. The choice becomes taking on credit card debt or getting to work. Guess which one usually wins?

So now we have a class of poor and lower-middle-class families driving old vehicles and carrying credit card debt on the car as well. They can't afford a new car, and they resign to continue driving the older one for as long as it will last, adding each year to their debt in order to correct problems that don't effect the performance of the vehicle. Meanwhile, they are passed on the highway by a state road crew that is billowing blue smoke from the muffler. A sure sign that they are leaking oil.

The poor don't need cars that are in pristine condition. They need cars that get them from point A to point B. They need to be able to get to work and back. They know their cars aren't the best on the road, they don't need to pay an inspector to tell them that.

Stop suppressing the poor by ending frivolous inspections that unfairly punish those who can afford it the least. Stop annual vehicle inspections and give the poor a fighting chance.