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Posted by David Sherman on Sunday, April 27, 2008 at 14:38:39 :
In Reply to: Re: Okay it's not true posted by MoparNorm on Sunday, April 27, 2008 at 12:19:01 :
It's the big fat elephant party that runs Idaho. But they still think we need smog testing, even though forest fires are far and away the biggest source of air pollution here.
I think there are really only two reasons for smog testing. First, to raise revenue without actually having to call it an increase in the motor vehicle tax, and second to keep out the riff-raff. All the new cars pass the smog tests with no problems, so that's just easy money for the smog testing company (private contractors) and the State. The new car dealers probably don't mind either. The true "antique" vehicles are grandfathered in and don't need to be tested (since there are enough rich people, Republican and Democrat, who collect antique vehicles).
That leaves the poor schmuck driving to work at his $10/hr job in a 1980 Datsun who fails the smog check. Then he has to either move to a different county (or state), buy a new vehicle, or pay at least $500 to a "certified" shop to either fix the vehicle (which is impossible for less than the old beater is worth) or "certify" that he's spent that much money trying. If he's a friend of mine, I'll suggest that he add a gallon of denatured alcohol to a tank of gas, get old beater well warmed up, and try the smog test again. Most of the time, that will make it pass, at least in Washington. My point is that the only vehicles that are both required to be smog tested and are likely to fail, are 20-30 year old worn-out non-computerized beaters owned by people who can't afford anything better. Smog laws seem to me to be just one more way of harassing these people, along with "blight" codes and similar laws against looking poor in public.