As I drive around Utah, I have noticed more and more cars with brake lights, tail lights and headlights not working. I have noticed a dramatic increase since the Legislature and Gov. Gary Herbert got rid of the required vehicle safety checks.
Normally, these defective lights would be found and repaired annually on the car during re-registering. Now, the drivers are oblivious to the problem and it is up to the police to enforce the safety checks. This is just a visual indication of the problem.
Problems with the brakes, suspension, steering and many other safety systems are also going unchecked causing dangerous cars to be on the road. The drivers are also oblivious to this.
The annual safety checks were generally easy and pinpointed many mechanical issues to be repaired. Most drivers know little or nothing about their cars and we relied on the checks to keep our highways safer.
The fact that this law was removed shows a disregard for the public’s safety by the Legislature and Herbert, and was frankly a very poor decision.
Bill Dark, Park City