Arthur Richardson: It’s time to get rid of passenger vehicle inspections

To The Daily Sun,

As a lifelong resident of the Live Free or Die State of New Hampshire, I feel strongly that now is the time to get rid of the burdensome and minimally effective passenger vehicle inspection requirement. Being one of only 12 states still having this law on the books and considering the number of studies that have been done without any clear finding of decrease in the number of accidents or injuries resulting from these inspections, this expensive, inconvenient, and unnecessary burden on the automobile owner serves no useful purpose other than a lucrative involuntary transfer of our hard-earned dollars to the repair shops and auto dealers.

As a retired commercial pilot and flight instructor, safety has been foremost throughout my career as well as my personal life. In aviation accidents the generally accepted cause over time has been 5% attributable to mechanical defect and 95% to pilot error and poor judgment. I recall that in motor vehicle accidents it is closer to 2% the vehicle and 98% the driver. This is not surprising considering the distractions built into today's automobiles as well as personal electronics and far too many drivers' skills and experience levels well below that needed for anything but ideal conditions. To realize any meaningful improvement in highway safety, we need to focus on the real cause of the vast majority of accidents, the driver.

It is my hope that Attorney General John Formella, with the backing of our Legislature and Gov. Kelly Ayotte, will take the necessary action to prevent a private out-of-state contractor, Gordon Darby, from continuing to profit by imposing this unneeded burden on the backs and wallets of our fellow New Hampshire drivers.

Arthur Richardson

Alton Bay