Quote:
Originally Posted by RETed
This inspection is not always rigourously enforced.
-Ted
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Your talent for understatement is unsurpassed.
On The Big Island, in order to pass Safety Check (what we call Inspection, for you Mainlanders) you need $15, current registration, an insurance card, a windshield (no big cracks), front&rear turn signals, hi-lo beams, brake lights, reverse light (singular), and a horn.
Motorcycles get to skip windshield and reverse light.
They also check window tint. Too dark=fail.
Oh, and one place said my exhaust might be too loud but passed me "this time."
Did you know the inspector should fail a car if it pulls to the left or right when the brakes are applied? In the 15 years I've lived here, I haven't seen one inspector get inside a car, let alone test drive one. Or lift the hood to check for emissions stuffs.
Heck, the car should fail if the wheels move more than 1/8" side to side if you pull on them.
Never had a tech take his hand off the pen he was using to pass the vehicle.
If the driver's window does not go down... fail. It's needed for hand signals in case your lights stop working. Not going up isn't a problem. Not existing isn't a problem either.
They're supposed to check the VIN. Never seen it done.
Seatbelt frayed? Airbag not working? Gas cap missing?
Fail, fail, fail.
The list goes on and on.
Here is a link to the manual. Makes for interesting reading, if you want to see all the things they should but don't check or if you need to know the minimum allowable height for lights, plates, bumpers, and such.
There were some newspaper articles recently about Inspection Stations complaining that the process takes a half-hour and they only get a few bucks and that if they were working on cars during that time they could charge $75+ an hour, so I understand why Big Island guys whip you around in under 5mins. I'm certainly not complaining. Emissions, tinted tails, loud exhaust... I weep for the environment, but prefer the stop-n-go Safety Check.
Aloha,
~j
hawaii
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