INSPECTION OF CARS

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 126, 23 November 1935, Page 34

INSPECTION OF CARS

STATE OF CONNECTICUT

A COMPULSORY SYSTEM

In spite of the fact that the majority j of Connecticut's car owners remain unfamiliar with the new compulsory j semi-annual inspection of motor [ vehicles (says the "New York Times'"), \ the process of testing more than 300,000 j passenger and commercial cars is pro- j gressing throughout the State. The! work differs so widely from the com-1 pulsory inspection systems of Massa-1 chusetts and Pennsylvania that it constitutes virtual pioneering in State control of vehicular safety—and is thus not without its difficulties. The inspections were inaugurated in July, closely following the amendment i adopted by the 1935 Legislature. The Chief Engineer of the State Department of Motor Vehicles, in explain- j ing the law, predicted that the check- \ up would result in better servicing of cars and assurance on the part of car owners that when repair work was done it would conform to definite standards. Inspections average half an hour for each car. There has been a general stiffening of the requirements, inspectors becoming more familiar with weak spots in the cars tested. In the Hartford station, which is typical, more cars were rejected than passed the. first time through the lane. Defective lights accounted for 8348 rejections out of 37,834 inspections, while 6777 rejections were due to faulty I brakes. Wheel alignment difficulties were involved in 2805 cases. An earlier report showed that 4136 cars were passed on first inspection, while 3192 were rejected. Since the hours for inspection extend from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., it is apparent that if ten stations average ten hours a day for 300 working days only'6o,ooo inspections could be made in the course of a year. The law, however, does not compel the commissioner to inspect all registered cars in the State. It merely gives him the power to examine these cars. The flexibility of the law in this respect is expected to enable the commissioner to make such experiments as may be necessary to accomplish his purpose— which is safer motoring in Connecticut. The rush to have cars " inspected when the line formed at Hartford showed a marked desire on the part of motorists to comply with the law, in spite of the fact that compulsory inspections are not generally popular. In one day 600 cars were inspected and 150 rechecked. Many of the cars submitted for inspection were used vehicles. The law requires that an unregistered used car must be officially inspected before it may be put in operation again. Dealers began advertising their "inspected" used cars. Many people who feared that, after taking a vacation in the old car, there would not be enough brake lining and tire tread left to pass the test rushed to the Hartford inspection station pre-

pared to get the matter settled the ROAD RESEARCH quickest way possible. There are stories of motorists who rented good tires for the period of the test and I In a report covering two years to others who ordered brake adjustments , March 31 last the British Road Research than Selttip^eiti^h ™! Board Claims that "a ««* beginnln, practices, the Motor Vehicle Depart- j has been ma«e on a very comprehenment was able to enforce considerable ! sive programme of research, the need service on many cars which, if not ■ for which is based on the large sum inspected, might have constituted a\ of money, upwards of £50,000,000 a menace to life and property. ■ year, involved in the making and upThe Connecticut plan differs from keep of roads in Great Britain and on other compulsory inspection systems the still more urgent problem of road in that it is entirely conducted by the ! safety." State. Inspectors are not permitted to ; There are two main problems, duradvise as to where or by whom repairs i able road surfaces and non-skid road are to be made, if the car is rejected, surfaces. Skidding is being examined Twenty-five cents is charged for each | from three angles. The design of j semi-annual inspection. ; the vehicle is important, in regard to When a car passes the lest the j methods of braking, position of the owner is furnished a certificate of in- j centre of gravity, weight distribution, spection showing the date and place and ratio of width to length of chassis, of inspection as well as the condition \lt may be found necessary, the report of the car's equipment. The owner I states, to adopt the expensive and must carry this certificate in the car j somewhat, dangerous research method at all times, ready to show it on iof skidding full-sized vehicles on a demand to any police officer or motor-1 large surface. The old' omnibus vehicle inspector. J "skaiing-rink" at Chiswick might be j borrowed. j _. , ~ . ; Work has been done on measuring I une of the American concerns, it is i the slipperiiiess of wet surfaces. Thi- I reported, will introduce this year at': confirms that wet roads are mor°' least one model powered by a Diesel j slippery in summer than in winter engine. In general the New York; The tests have indicated possible Show is not expected to reveal any causes of slippery roads, as. for inradical changes in car design, but many stance, absence of stone in the surface improvements are predicted—better layer. braking ability and greater ease ofj A small machine has been devised handling, with lower upkeep cost. It jto help in discovering how to prevent is said there will be a trend towards > Hie "film" which forms on a road in longer springs, with the engines moved j wet weather. well forward and the bulk of the body j The problem of durability is much over the springs, as much as 85 per | more complicated. A vast programme j cent, on some models. Some of the [of research on materials and methods | bigger and more expensive cars have] of road-making and road-dressing is already been shown to dealers but the being initiated. It involves the use big production low-price type of car of elaborate machinery -to test 'how is still subject to factory silence and roads stand up to modern conditions much speculation, and how they can be improved.