As if the NJ Turnpike wasn’t bad enough?
TRENTON (AP) ― Saturday is the last day that New Jersey will inspect motor vehicles for mechanical problems.
Inspection stations will just check emissions on vehicles five years or older starting Monday. Motor Vehicle Commission administrator Raymond Martinez says the changes will save the state about $17 million. Most of the savings come from scrapping 2.4 million mechanical inspections and re-inspections performed each year and by shifting new car emissions testing back a year.
School buses, limousines, jitneys, taxis and other commercial-plated vehicles will still be checked for emissions and mechanical defects. New Jersey will become the 30th state that doesn’t look for bald tires, worn brakes, non-working lights and turn signals, and cracked windshields.
Here in NC, they check for all that stuff once a year — at the car owner’s expense, at designated repair shops. You can’t get your plates renewed without it. They don’t check emissions though.
Ha! In PA it’s once a year AND emissions (so you have to save up for it if your car is older, ’cause it ALWAYS needs something, right?)
Since many state governments are tax poor because so many people are out of work, with no prospects for decent jobs in their lifetimes (college* to those wonderful “golden” years we’re always hearing about), i’m guessing we’ll see more of the collapse of society in the future (and that this article is the tip of the proverbial iceberg). Some cities are letting go police and firemen, teachers, and government employees to save tax dollars. All those “let go” are on welfare until they find work (see first sentence for what to expect on that front). The ol’ Death Spiral two-step.
* Why will the great masses of “students” coming out of our secondary schools (those that haven’t already dropped out) continue on for a degree when there aren’t any jobs here? i think we’ll see a HUGE drop in college attendance, schools closing down, more professors out of work, etc.