Motor Vehicle Safety Inspections

TO:

FROM: James J. Fazzalaro, Principal Analyst

RE: Motor Vehicle Safety Inspections

You asked for a general explanation of past initiatives to privatize motor vehicle safety inspections.

Connecticut law requires safety inspections for certain types of vehicles prior to registration, but there are no requirements for periodic safety inspections for all vehicles. Virtually all safety inspections are currently conducted at Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) facilities. Some facilities have indoor inspection lanes, others only unprotected, outdoor lanes. The indoor test facilities have certain equipment that cannot be used at the unsheltered facilities, thus more extensive test procedures can be conducted in the indoor lanes. There were almost 139,000 safety inspections at the DMV test lanes in FY 1992-93; almost 161,000 in FY 1994-95. These are rough estimates based on the number of inspection tickets sold and not the actual number of inspections conducted.

The original law mandating the emissions inspection program required the DMV commissioner to consider the possibility of using the system to conduct safety inspections at a future date. The current law, authorizes the commissioner to employ the contractor to conduct most of the safety inspections the law already requires.

The Thomas Commission, which was required by law to study the state government and make recommendations for improving its operations, recommended in 1989 that safety inspections be privatized either through a single contractor or by a number of state-licensed private garages. In 1988, the DMV began a safety inspection demonstration project at the East Hartford emissions testing station. Subsequently, the DMV and the emissions contractor established safety inspection capabilities at two different emissions stations. Currently, these two stations conduct a safety inspection that is the equivalent of the inspection conducted at the outdoor DMV inspection lanes. Approximately, 56,000 inspections have been conducted at the two stations since they began in 1993.

The current emissions contract does not require the emissions testing stations to be equipped to conduct safety inspections or any other DMV functions. Should the DMV want this, the contractor is required to negotiate changes to the contract in good faith. But the contract acknowledges that all lanes as currently configured are sufficient to conduct the type of safety inspections being done at the two stations already doing them.

Periodic safety inspections are not required by law for all registered motor vehicles. Certain motor vehicles must undergo safety inspections under certain circumstances. Safety inspections prior to registration are required for: (1) motor vehicles that are at least 10 years old upon transfer of ownership; (2) antique, rare, or special interest vehicles; (3) modified antique vehicles; (4) fire apparatus of special or historical interest: (5) used motor vehicles brought to Connecticut from another state and not previously registered here; (6) composite motor vehicles assembled from the parts of other vehicles or whose appearance no longer resembles a particular make; and (7) vehicles that have been declared a total loss by an insurance company and subsequently rebuilt for use (CGS §§. 14-12(g), -16a, -103a)

State law also authorizes a police officer or DMV inspector to stop and examine any motor vehicle, its number, equipment, and identification. If the officer or inspector determines that the vehicle's equipment violates any state law, he can issue a defective equipment warning to the driver. The vehicle's owner has 10 days to have the vehicle repaired and submit it for an inspection of the cited equipment. Failing to respond to a defective equipment warning within established time limits can result in a civil penalty of $50 and a possible suspension of the vehicle's registration (CGS § 14-103).

The vast majority of safety inspections are conducted at DMV offices, although since 1991 the three safety inspection laws were changed to allow the DMV commissioner to designate emissions inspection stations to conduct such inspections (PA 91-355).

Some DMV offices have covered or indoor facilities (Danbury, Enfield, Hamden, Northwest, Old Saybrook, Wethersfield, and Willimantic). At other DMV offices (Bridgeport, New Britain, Norwich, Putnam, and Waterbury) safety inspections are performed in outdoor inspection lanes. The inspection at the outdoor inspection facilities is slightly less extensive than at the indoor test lanes. Equipment used at the indoor facilities to test wheel alignment and brakes cannot be used at the outdoor inspection lanes as it cannot be protected from the elements, so a different test procedure is used.

The number of safety inspections actually conducted at DMV offices each year can only be estimated. The DMV did not start counting inspections until 1995. But the DMV estimated the number of inspections for us by counting the number of inspection tickets it sold in each of the last three fiscal years. The assumption is that the number of tickets sold should correlate fairly well with the actual number of inspections performed since most people would not pay for an inspection and then not have it done. In FY 1992-93, the DMV sold 138,716 inspection tickets. It sold 151,233 tickets in FY 1993-94, and 160,779 in FY 1994-95.

When the law establishing mandatory motor vehicle emissions inspections was first enacted in 1978, the DMV commissioner was given the option of providing inspections at state operated facilities or through (1) an agreement with an independent contractor, (2) an agreement with private service station garages, or (3) any other system that could accomplish the purposes of the law. The law also specified that in selecting an emissions inspection system, the commissioner had to consider the possibility that such a system be employed to conduct safety as well as emissions inspections at a future date (PA 78-355). Although the law was changed the following year to mandate emissions inspections through a private contractor, the safety inspection provision remained.

The law was rewritten in 1993 and the consideration of future safety inspection requirement was replaced with the current law. It authorizes the commissioner to employ the emissions testing system and the contractor or contractors he selects to conduct any safety inspections currently required by law, except those resulting from defective equipment warnings (i.e., CGS §§ 14-12(g), -16a, and -103a, but not -103).

Privatizing safety inspections was proposed by the Thomas Commission which was created by the legislature (SA 89-40) to study state government and make recommendations regarding its organization and efficiency. One of its recommendations was privatization of safety inspections either through using a single contractor or by licensing up to 20 private garages as inspection facilities.

Late in 1988, the DMV announced it was initiating a demonstration program aimed at meeting its statutory mandate of considering the possibility of the emissions inspection program being employed to conduct future safety inspections. It established a prototype safety testing lane at the emissions inspection facility in East Hartford. During the demonstration period, a driver could get a free safety inspection while his vehicle was being emissions-tested. The DMV also announced that safety inspection lanes would be constructed at two new emissions testing sites.

The two sites ultimately chosen for safety inspection lanes were at the Beacon Falls and Darien inspection stations. These are the only inspection facilities currently conducting safety inspections; they began inspections in April 1993. The DMV indicated that these two sites have conducted 55,863 safety inspections through December 1995. The inspection conducted at these stations is apparently equivalent to those done at the unsheltered DMV inspection lanes. The emissions stations have not yet been required to have the equipment that is used for wheel alignment and brake inspections.

The current emissions inspection contract does not require the contractor to prepare or equip its emissions stations for safety inspections, vehicle registrations, license renewals, or any similar DMV function. It requires the contractor to participate in good faith negotiations to amend the contract if the DMV wishes to add any of these functions at a future date. Those additional negotiations apparently will include the inspection fee the contractor will charge. Under the current emissions contract, the contractor acknowledges that all its currently configured inspection lanes are of adequate size and length to conduct the safety inspections being done at Beacon Falls and Darien. We have no specific information as to the extent of any current discussions between the DMV and the contractor with respect to expanded safety inspection functions.