Concerning the Sun Journal Sunday article on vehicle inspections, I have dealt with the inspection system for many years. Most mechanics are honest people that try to do inspections correctly, but the system is problematic. (Aug. 24)

If there is a safety benefit to requiring vehicle inspections, scientific findings should prove this. A colleague of mine that has lived in Indiana says its vehicle inspection program was dropped as the evidence is that states with required inspections have no better accident rates than states without inspections. Does Maine have evidence to the contrary?

There are garages that pass vehicles that shouldn’t pass. Conversely, some stations will require a vehicle to be in pristine condition to pass, or consider an inspection license to be a license to steal. It cannot be just the bad roads and harsh winters in this state that cause the cost of car ownership in Maine to be 50 percent higher than the national average. Does Maine penalize a station or mechanic that is caught requiring unneeded repairs?

Garages that do inspections are for-profit. Accordingly, there is a motive to find reasons to fail vehicles, or to do a perfunctory check if they pass the vehicle. If inspections are to be done fairly and objectively, should we continue to task it to for-profit garages, or should we instead establish government-operated inspection facilities? Perhaps in the latter case, vehicles that shouldn’t pass wouldn’t, and vehicle owners will not be “ripped off” for unneeded repairs.

Matthew D. Collins, Lewiston

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