Comment by ajsnigrutin
8 hours ago
I live in a country with mandatory (mostly-)yearly car inspections (and all other motor vehicles).
Many time you don't even know that there's an issue and they only find it during the inspection. Handbrake works only on one side, normal brakes don't work properly on one of the wheels, there's play in one of the joints or tie rods, etc.
You park, pull the handbrake, you have no idea that if you parked on an incline, your car would roll downhill, but because they noticed it during an inspection, you get that fixed. At the same time, you're forced to replace all the blown lightbulbs etc., even the ones not used daily (fog lights, etc.), since they check those too. Many people don't even notice their brake lights not working.
UK here, so yearly "MOT" inspections.
Last year the handbrake was like you say, only on one side. And the seatbelt mount was weak.
This year it uncovered two gaping holes near the suspension struts.
I can't imagine not having that inspected at least yearly!
I was sold incorrect tyres once, picked up in the inspection. Why wouldn't I want to know?
And yet somehow in the US states that don't have inspections things keep working. It's not as though we don't have statistics regarding the causes of traffic incidents.
"Keep working", or people get injured, or die at higher rates due to faulty vehicles on the road.
US road infrastructure is pretty bad at the best of times, highways are devoid of safety and notification systems. Hence why MASSIVE pile ups are a thing