THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION TRIAL SUBSTITUTE MOTOR VEHICLE INSPECTION PROGRAM

The report is a compendium of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Trial Substitute Motor Vehicle Inspection Program conducted in cooperation with twelve states. These states are: California, Connecticut, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee, Washington, and Wisconsin (Kansas has not completed its program as of this date and is not included). Each state had the opportunity to determine the effectiveness of alternative inspection programs compared to periodic motor vehicle inspection (PMVI). While each state drew somewhat different conclusions from its study, a common theme was apparent throughout all the studies. That is, an appallingly high number of vehicles operating on the roads and highways had mechanical defects and these defects were detected through the inspection process. Because the state studies represent significant and professional experience obtained over a six year period, NHTSA desires to share this information with all state governments and the highway safety community. Each of the state reports have been summarized in order to present the most important and unusual features of each project.