TT Oversteer

The future is here........Big Brother is breathing down our necks! Today in Sacramento I came upon a roadside smog test site. The Bureau of Automotive Repair is working with the CHP to randomly select cars and pull them over for a smog check.

A site is chosen and cones are set up to direct cars that are "randomly" chosen by the CHP officer into the test area. A portable dyno is set up with rollers and smog check equipment.

You can imagine how this scenario struck fear deep into the heart of this automotive enthusiast. Fortunately I was driving the Toyota mini van and not the chipped and bypassed 911. A random "sobriety checkpoint" for your car, if you will!

I did some cursory research and found this on the internet:
It's almost ten years old but describes what I saw perfectly.

http://www.epa.gov/oms/regs/im/roadside.pdf

I have heard some talk of this but today I saw it for the first time. As I understand from quick reading this is a voluntary program and the chosen "victim" can refuse the test. Upon refusal the license number of the concientious objector is stored in a computer for who knows what draconian measure.

As I understand it the intent of this program is to compare test results of a random sample of vehicles against the results of their previous smog test administered by a smog check station. So it appears that this is a test of the smog test program rather than a test of your individual vehicle per se.

The only question is whether (or when) a penalty will be issued to the driver for a failed random smog. With CA being in the crapper financially it won't be long before someone sees the $$$.

rusnak

I hope they burn in hell.......

abe

Given their site selection of Sacramento, Bakersfield, Fresno, LA, and San Diego in addition to the last form which is in spanish..I wonder if some smart lawyer might challenge this based on racial profiling of hispanics!

Unless they ticket me...I will refuse the test. "F" them...I am tired of these tyrants!


When I become KING...alot of things are going to change around here!!!!
King Abe

GothingNC

Gotta move to NC, pre-96 vehicles are exempt from smog

Now the EPA is working on increasing ethanol to 15%

John

theiceman

we are exempt pre 87 .... road side smog test .... I would refuse too...

abe

Well we are exempt pre-75...it doesn't mean that they can't randomly start checking them like above like a sobriety check point. If its happening here...stay tunned in your state if somehow this becomes a money maker. Lets see...we are excempt from testing but we are charging you for polluting because your car doesn't meet the epa standards.
abe

jakeflyer

Texas has a 25 year old exemption for the counties that have smog testing. My county, Hunt, does not have it yet. When the 911SC gets to the point of not passing smog in Ca., it is Texas bound. California has a 1975 and older exemption that is frozen in time.

In that California is on the verge of bankruptcy, the purpose of the check points is definitely green----- LARGE fines for what ever they can find wrong. This is definitely a money grab.

Cars that have been modified, have passed smog but are grossly out of specs, and vehicles that are registered OUT of State are some of the targets. However, DWI, drugs, weapons, and stolen car arrests are potentially of real benefit to the citizens.

Money quotas are undoubtedly on the rise, but the CHP are mostly good guys. It is unfortunate that they are in the role of revenue raisers as well as law enforcement. I wonder if that makes the citizen more or less safe.

rusnak

I'm going to keep a lighter in my car so I can light their test form thingy on fire.

MUSSBERGER

The king is dead. Long live the king.

Ed Hughes

I'd refuse and have the record note that I was on the way to a Doctor's appointment, which is the reason for refusal.

Or, I'd say I'm on my way to the cooperative to pick up some Medical Marijuana as I'm in pain due to my sudden comprehension on how screwed we really are now.

Or, I'd say I'm on my way home to "blog" on stupid effing ways that a state government can find to spend money they don't effing have.

Peter Zimmermann

Expired license tags have recently become a big deal in Bakersfield, with people actually writing letters to the editor about frequent stops at red lights revealing that the car in front of them was expired. I guess that's a recoverable fee, and the fine is hefty. Maybe the smog thing is just a ruse...

As of today I have not heard about any roadside stops, other than the Friday night DUI type, here.

theiceman

that tag thing is a bot scary.. That is like driving without insurnace. A insurnce company could easily say the car was not "road taxed" therefore the insurance does not apply. imagine getting hit by some clown with an expired tag and his insurance doesn't pay ? !!!

Peter Zimmermann

You have just brought up another bad issue! I have friends in law enforcement that have told me that the sheer number of uninsured drivers out there is staggering. Our Friday night DUI checkpoints always find expired tags and uninsured motorists. I would never allow the "Uninsured driver coverage" of my policy expire.

Amber Gramps

You guys are so behind the times.... This has been going on here for as long as I can remember. The CHP and the local "code enforcement" cops stage single lane check points just outside my tract every month like clock work.

Down in Pomona I saw one operation that had at least 25 impounded cars on tow-trucks for things like no insurance to no tags and even no drivers licence. They had it set up so one officer told you to get your licence and registration out for the second officer just up the road. If you didn't have it you turn left into a parking lot where a wrecker waited for your car and a cab waited for the driver. I've never seen so many crying woman.

The stop they do here is a total "road worthy" type test where they literally pull a car apart for a good half hour. Every car that pulls into my tract gets pulled over and asked for I.D. to see if you live here or are just trying to go around the blockade.

I got pulled over by "code enforcement" years ago and was told my load exceeded what my rear tires could hold. He put my rear end up on two portable scales and declared I'd have to put some of my load in the front seat. I was over by like 20 pounds. What a joke.

Amber Gramps

Pete, no kidding on the un-insured coverage. Last Tuesday I was hit from behind and hurt badly. I still have not gone to work. The guy offered me $1,000 if I would just drive away..... A good sign he was not insured. His truck left on a flatbed and I never did even get his name. All I got was a police report number and instructions to call in two weeks for the report.

The real kicker is that November is my insurance renewal month and the agent was a total *** trying to tell me that on that car we don't have coverage. The other three are covered, but not that one. RIGHT! By the time I was done reading the fine print on the contract I found that not only is it covered, but I have no out of pocket. In other words the last time I got hit and they claimed the damage was $499.00 and I would have to cover the first $500 they were totally screwing with me. Not a good time to be a Mercury customer.