Post
by Byron510 » 09 Apr 2014 20:36
Spelling error duly corrected - damn spell check!
Yes - Dec. 31 this year Air care is gone. Then all the clunkers can come out again.
In my opinion, air care is pretty much a waste, but it kept the worst of the worst off the road.
The mechanics I have talked to in the last few years have told me that very little work comes from Air care fails any more. But the scary stories they tell me about the mechanical things that roll into the shop because they finally broke.. well let’s just say the DOT may be expanding beyond the trucks soon on those road side stops now that air care keep a population of those unmaintained vehicles off the roads.
For us 510 guys though, most of us do keep our cars in good shape - they are worth too much to mess around with. But it will be interesting to see what comes out of not have any type of vehicle inspection over the next few years. We have got so used to air care that you hardly ever see some smoking clunker driving around. If you do, you know it's time is soon up.
But back in the 80’s, prior to emissions testing in our area, I can remember some of the wrecks you'd see people driving, spewing out raw fuel and copious amounts of oil. That first year of emissions testing saw a lot of squished cars - our 510's were not exempt. But mostly it was the American cars that were the worst polluters (and anyone with a wankle!), and in a few years most of the beater 60's and 70's sedans were pretty much gone. Now today’s cars fall apart mechanically often before the engines wear out due to standards imposed by legislators.
But I don't think it'll take too many years before some type of vehicle inspection will come into play. In many ways I don't want it; I'd like to think that people would maintain their vehicles to a safe level. But sadly this isn’t the truth. The vast majority of people treat their cars like they do their dishwasher or washing machine – run it until it absolutely won’t run any more. Then fix as cheap as possible and only what absolutely needs to be done.
When I look at the trucking industry here in southern BC, it's dominated buy a sizable minority group who simply maintain absolutely nothing - their trucks are for the most part wrecks. A far cry from what was in this countries trucking industry 30 years ago, when truckers were some of the most respected on the road. Scrap that now. And the current attitude by this group as a whole relates not only to maintenance and driving habits – they share licences, cut holes in the floors of their trucks and crap out on the ground, while their unlicensed family member drive their trucks. Look at DOT road checks - The increase in the number of people (which our tax dollars have to cover) needed to keep this one group strait is staggering. This particular group are so much on the sly, they have opened their own shops just to falsely pass their crap vehicles, and they maintain a radio network vigilant at finding and skirting the DOT checks - It's such a shame, and they truly have earned no respect in this country at all.
Enough of that rant, but I can see the exact same thing now happening with cars on the road. And we’ll all pay for it in the end.
Sometimes it's better to go with the enemy you know....
And Ole Blue will see it’s last emissions test in the next couple weeks – I’m not worried about it at all. But I won’t miss the process that’s for sure.
Byron
Love people and use things,
because the opposite never works.