State Could Do More to Enforce Its Vehicle Safety Laws

Dear Street Smart:

Why do I see so many vehicles that have either been altered or are plain wrecks going down the road practically sideways? New York and Maryland have some progressive laws that California would do well to consider:

* A safety inspection is performed along with the smog check.

* An insurance voucher must be provided for registration tags to be issued.

* Violators have their vehicles towed away and impounded; they are not merely given citations.

* A car that has suffered major damage in a crash can’t return to the road without a safety inspection.

I challenge our governor and the Department of Motor Vehicles to get their act together. I bet that they would not only collect delinquent fees, but also get a lot of uninsured motorists off the road.

Edward Pfirrmann

Costa Mesa

Dear Street Smart:

What happened to the requirement that a car have two headlights and two tail and stop lights? Cars without these, along with those missing front or rear fenders, are the ones driving in and out of the lanes with no brains or insurance behind them.

They say there is no money for the safety-check lanes. What about the fines? It’s high time that we put in insurance and safety checks just like those for smog equipment and registration.

R. Noyes

Anaheim

Your points are well taken. Although several states have laws requiring regular safety checks, California has been conspicuously lax when it comes to ensuring that the vehicles on its roads are up to snuff. The responsibility is left up to the individual motorist, and we all know what that sometimes means.

California at one time did have a program in which special Highway Patrol units flagged down motorists to do spot safety checks. It died in the early ‘70s, when funding for it dried up. It appears that since then, no one in state government has had the political will to push for such a program along with the tough schedule of fines that would be needed to pay for it.

The state has performed a bit better on the insurance front. Although California does not require proof of insurance at registration, there is a law on the books mandating that all motorists carry insurance. Law enforcement officers will routinely ask for proof of insurance during a traffic stop. In addition, a law that went into effect Jan. 1 requires a motorist to show an insurance voucher when he or she takes a driving test. Uninsured drivers involved in accidents face getting their licenses suspended.

State officials have considered the idea to require proof of insurance at the time of registration, but the Legislature has so far chosen not to embrace it. It, like mandatory safety checks at time of registration, seems like a good idea. But perhaps the only way you’ll see it be a reality is to approach your local representative in Sacramento.

Dear Street Smart:

We constantly hear that more money is needed to pay for additional freeways, improvements, etc. I am aware of one untapped source of funds that would certainly pay for at least a mile or two of highways--the huge number of vehicles on our streets and highways without current registration.

Now that 1990 and 1991 stickers are in place on most rear bumpers, the red 1989 stickers are really noticeable. I commute less than 30 miles round-trip five days a week. Recently, I started counting red stickers and usually see 10 to 12 each way. If my small sample is valid, there must be thousands of such cars and hundreds of thousands of dollars in uncollected registration fees.

The vehicles without current registration are not just old junky cars whose owners presumably would not be paying much of a fee anyway. I see new and expensive cars just as often. Maybe we need an 800 number so we can report these babies the same way we can report cars that emit pollution (800 CUTSMOG). That at least gives one the satisfaction of doing something.

The Department of Motor Vehicles does have an investigative unit to which you can report such things, but my single experience with them was not very fruitful.

Six months ago, I wrote to them about a neighbor whose out-of-state registration expired two years ago. A second letter yielded a telephone call from a nice gentleman but no other apparent result.

Still, it might be worth a try. In Orange County, you can write to the Department of Motor Vehicles, Investigations Section, 909 W. Valencia Drive, Fullerton, Calif., 92632. The phone number is (714) 680-7941.

Thanks for letting me tell you about my pet peeve.

Julie DeLaricheliere

Garden Grove

Although it is unclear what happened in this particular instance, the DMV over the past year has been focusing a considerable amount of attention on tracking down motorists whose auto registrations aren’t up to date, said Gina McGuiness, a DMV spokeswoman in Sacramento.

The department has instituted a special program designed to track down unregistered cars through parking tickets, moving violations and reports from disgruntled neighbors. The goal is indeed to recover the millions of dollars of registration fees owed the state by people flouting vehicle registration requirements. That money goes for roads, the Highway Patrol and other motoring services.

The DMV also has an investigations unit in Irvine, at 18231 McDurmott West, Suite 100, Irvine, Calif. 92714; (714) 476-9260. The investigations units also handle a variety of other complaints about motor vehicles.