PERIODIC MOTOR VEHICLE INSPECTION IN NORTH CAROLINA: A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY

STATISTICS ARE PRESENTED ON FAILURE RATES AND REPAIR CHARGES, AND THE RELATIONSHIP TO VEHICLE AGE, MILEAGE AND PRESUMED DRIVING ENVIRONMENT (I.E. RURAL OR URBAN AREAS BASED ON A SAMPLE OF 47,402 PRIVATELY OWNED PASSENGER CARS. OVER A THREE-YEAR PERIOD, THE MOST NOTABLE REDUCTION IN FAILURES OCCURRED IN THE LIGHT CATEGORY WHICH DROPPED FROM OVER 60% FAILURE TO APPROXIMATELY 29%, WITH HEADLIGHT FAILURE CONSTITUTING THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE LIGHT FAILURES. FAILURE RATES FOR DIRECTIONAL SIGNALS, BRAKES, STEERING AND HORNS WERE ALSO REDUCED, BUT LESS DRAMATICALLY. THE SLIGHT INCREASE IN WINDHSHIELD WIPER DEFECTS WAS ATTRIBUTED TO THE 1968 REGULATION REQUIRING WIPERS TO BE IN GOOD WORKING ORDER, NOT JUST THE DRIVER'S SIDE. THE FAILURE RATES RANGED FROM NEARLY 50% FOR NEW, LOW MILEAGE CARS WITH AN OVERALL FAILURE RATE OF APPROXIMATELY 70%. URBAN CARS APPEARED TO BE NEWER WITH CORRESPONDING LOWER MILEAGES THATN THE RURAL CARS, BUT WERE SUBJECTED TO REPAIR CHARGES THAT WERE APPROXIMATELY 25 CENTS HIGHER. /SRIS/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • 47 Pp, 16 FIG, 15 TAB
• Corporate Authors:

  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

  Highway Safety Research Center
  Chapel Hill, NC  United States  27599
• Authors:
  • Reinfurt, D W
  • PASCARELLA, E A
• Publication Date: 1969-11

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Age; Automobiles; Brakes; Headlamps; Horns; Inspection; Motor vehicles; Repairing; Steering gears; Windshield wipers; Windshields
• Uncontrolled Terms: Repairs
• Old TRIS Terms: Wipers
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00223213
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Nat Safety Council Safety Res Info Serv
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 26 1970 12:00AM