District of Columbia Vehicle Safety Inspections to End: Trouble Ahead?

Penny wise and pound foolish? Many think so, as the District proposes ending its safety inspection program for privately owned cars. This savvy move will save the District $400,000.00 a year. The question of course is why was the inspection regimen necessary these many years?

Maybe, it is because 35% of all vehicles inspected last year failed? The eighty one point safety check routinely unearthed safety deficiencies such as worn-out brakes and tires and out of work components including lights and blinkers.

The District now suggests that the inspections have not been shown to make driving in the District safer but c'mon its like asking any safety program to prove it prevented something that did not happen. Impossible right?

 The inspection employees interviewed in our favorite hometown paper, the Washington Post, seemed unanimous in their view that this program saved lives. The state of Pennsylvania concluded that their inspection program saved more than 125 lives per year.

It seems like even one life saved would be worth more than $400,000.00. Penny wise and pound foolish, you be the judge.