1. Home
  2. TRID
  3. View Record
https://www.nationalacademies.org/trb/events

STUDY OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF STATE MOTOR VEHICLE INSPECTION PROGRAMS. FINAL REPORT

This publication contains the results of a federally mandated evaluation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the effectiveness of State motor vehicle safety inspection programs in (1) reducing highway crashes that result in injuries and deaths, and (2) limiting the number of defective or unsafe motor vehicles on the highways. A NHTSA task force reviewed relevant literature, studied existing Periodic Motor Vehicle Inspection (PMVI) programs, conducted site visits to selected PMVI and non-PMVI States, and analyzed NHTSA's crash data bases. In addition, two public hearings were held and comments requested from the public through two separate notices published in the Federal Register. It was found that there was no conclusive evidence in the literature that PMVI programs are, or are not, effective in reducing crashes. Currently, 21 States and the District of Columbia have PMVI programs. Fourteen PMVI States and the District of Columbia, and 18 non-PMVI States inspect for emissions. In the PMVI jurisdictions, there is considerable variation in the equipment items inspected, and in the procedures, rules and regulations for inspections. Analysis of the Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS) data and State crash data files failed to show any evidence in the crash data examined which would suggest that PMVI programs affect the crash involvement rates of older vehicles compared to newer vehicles. Analysis of data concerning vehicle component failures from the Crash Avoidance Research Data file (CARDfile) for four States indicated that non-PMVI States reported a higher percentage of old and new crash-involved vehicles with component failures. Tire failures accounted for the majority of the increased percentage of component failures reported in the non-PMVI States. The task force found that PMVI was effective in limiting the number of poorly maintained vehicles on the highways. An attempt to correlate this with a reduction in crashes on the highways failed to show any significant effect of PMVI.

Media Info

  • Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
  • Pagination: 100 p.

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00490613
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Report/Paper Numbers: HS-807 468
  • Files: HSL, TRIS, USDOT
  • Created Date: Jan 31 1990 12:00AM