The California Approach to Vehicle Inspection/Maintenance

Though primarily decentralized, California has proposed a biennial Inspection/Maintenance Program that is a hybrid of the decentralized and centralized concepts of vehicular pollution inspections. Private repair garages will volunteer to become licensed by the State in order to conduct inspections and repairs. This novel approach greatly enhances motorist convenience but also results in lesser inspection and repair accuracy than seen in the typical centralized approach.

Several features have been built into the proposed program that protect the motorist and minimize decisions on the part of the mechanic. Equipment and quality assurance measures are comparable to those typically found in a centralized approach. The major features of the program will be discussed in this paper.