This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Gov. Gary Herbert signed into Utah law that vehicle safety inspections would no longer be required beginning Jan. 1, 2018. What was he thinking?
Of all the vehicle owners I know, there are only a scant few who pay any attention to the safety aspects of their vehicles. Their horn only gets tested when they really need it on the road. I don't know of anybody who uses their emergency brake but it's there for emergencies. How would they know whether it works or not when they need it the most?
I see many vehicles on the road that have any number of lights that don't work and, when driving at night, there are many vehicles coming toward me that need to have their headlight alignments checked.
So next time I have a vehicle pass me on westbound I-80 at 80-plus mph with bald tires, then down the road a few miles, piled up in the barrow pit, I'll say a prayer for them along with a sarcastic, "Thank you," to the Utah Legislature and Gov. Herbert!
Don Gardner
Sandy