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Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Hamilton, NJ
Posts: 20,165
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I guess they are reducing inspection requirements, and no front plate is one of the items they will overlook. But it will still be illegal to not have one, meaning you can still get a ticket. This state is dumb.
Law enforecement wants front plates, so until that changes (ie never), that petition is useless. Sorry.
N.J. yields on vehicle inspections
Auto group wants to put brakes on plan; cites safety
Thursday, March 01, 2007 BY KEVIN SHEA
It's happened to vehicle owners across New Jersey.
You anxiously wait while your vehicle undergoes the state's inspection process and when it's over the inspector says your car is in great shape, except the small light above your rear license plate is burned out.
Or there's a crack in your tail light.
Or there's water in your headlights.
The inspector then slaps a red fail sticker on your windshield and says that you'll have to make the repairs and come back for a re-inspection.
Not anymore.
Starting today, about 10 safety conditions that previously meant a fail will turn into a pass based on anew set of guidelines issued by the state Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC).
Vehicles with inoperable or missing lights, cracked or broken mirrors, even a missing license plate, will not be failed anymore, but inspectors will officially advise motorists to have the repairs made because they could still be ticketed by a police officer if they get pulled over. But they won't have to return to an inspection center, either.
The MVC says the new guidelines will save the state $2.9 million a year and allow about 100,000 motorists to avoid a re-inspection.
But not everybody is on board with the new plan.
The AAA of New Jersey believes parts of the plan will compromise traffic safety, and a state-licensed private inspector and a police officer found faults with the plan as well.
AAA spokesman David Wein stein said the automobile association participated in the public discussion of the MVC's plan and the MVC was responsive to many of the association's concerns.
Still, AAA believes vehicles should not be passed to travel state roads with a missing, obstructed or inoperable high- mounted rear stop light, or a cracked or broken mirror, like the new guidelines allow.
"Generally speaking, there's no incentive for motorists who receive these advisories to fix these problems," Weinstein said.
"That third brake light, that's a serious issue for us," Weinstein said. "It's incomprehensible."
"To their credit, the MVC addresses many of our concerns, but anyone who thinks you can drive safely with a broken mirror is out of their minds," he said.
The MVC does not believe any of the new passable items are safety matters.
"The goal of our inspection program has always been to ensure that only the safest vehicles are traveling our roads, and we will continue to uphold that standard," MVC Administrator Sharon A. Harrington said in a statement. "While serious issues involving items such as brakes, steering, and tire wear will always be cause for rejection, those items that do not pose a safety risk should not be cause for a second trip to an MVC facility.
"Although these are minor defects that can be easily fixed, customers should understand that minor does not mean they should be ignored," Harrington said in the statement.
Weinstein said New Jersey has more than 6 million drivers, about 7.4 million registered vehicles and is one of the most densely populated states. "In a state like this, it's pretty important."
Again, Weinstein said, the MVC was responsive to the public. "But they're also supposed to promote traffic safety."
West Windsor Police Officer Tom Tarr, a 19-year veteran with 10 years on the road as a traffic officer, has mixed feelings about the new guidelines.
As a New Jersey citizen, he's all for it. He sees the state's position and believes it will reduce inspection station wait lines and be a benefit for the average motorist.
But as a police officer, he has a problem with vehicles passing inspection with one license plate.
What if a vehicle is involved in a hit-and-run crash and a witness sees the car fleeing toward them with no front license plate?
"An opportunity to make an identification is compromised," Tarr said.
And he agrees that letting vehicles back on the road with broken lights, for which he could write a motorist a ticket, reduces incentive to make the repairs.
While the MVC says that vehicles could be subject to a traffic summons if repairs are not made, Tarr said a traffic ticket is no incentive either. The motorist has to pay the ticket price in court, not make the repair, he said.
"I want to see all the equipment that came with the vehicle there and in proper working order," Tarr said.
Steve Larkin, owner of Larkin's Service Center in Ewing, has been repairing cars for 27 years and he's been doing state-authorized inspections at his shop for nine years. He had gripes with the system be fore the new guidelines, and he cannot fathom passing a car with a broken rear-view mirror or having only one license plate, knowing the motorist could get pulled over when they leave his shop.
"I just think it's not right," Larkin said.
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