It happened again several weeks ago: A lady calls and has an old car that died and won't start. The wrecker hauls it in and we go to work. It wasn't a difficult problem. The float was heavy and the engine flooded out. Replace the float, clean out the bowl and change the oil ... pretty standard repair, right? That part was.

The tech took it out for a test drive and got about two blocks down the street. He then turned around and very slowly made his way back to the shop. He came in, pitched me the key and said, “You better drive that, and don't go too fast!” When I asked what he meant, he just said, “Drive it.”

To make a long story short, both front wheel bearings were shot. The left side was literally ready to fall apart. Both lower ball joints were extremely loose, and one outer tie rod end was bad. Holy smokes, why didn't she say anything about that when she called?

The car was barely worth the cost of the carburetor repair, let alone the front-end repair. When I called her, she told me she had just bought the car a month ago and didn't know there was anything wrong with it.

Several weeks prior to that we had a 1-ton pickup in for front-end repair. You had to be careful getting in it because there weren't any floorboards. When I called to tell them that unless and until they got the floorboards fixed, we wouldn't work in it, they said: “But it doesn't leave the apartment grounds except to go to the hardware store, lumber yard, or to pick up supplies.”

I could go on, as I'm sure we all could. My point is that we need periodic motor vehicle inspections (PMVI). I've heard all the reasons why it won't work and in my opinion none of them hold water when I consider that the people I love and hold dear are traveling on the same roads with these accidents waiting to happen.

I won't take up your time by listing all the statistical facts and figures I have that show the positive effects of state-mandated safety inspections. You have probably already seen most of them anyway. If you haven't, you can imagine what they show about the benefits of inspections.

The programs can work if we, as an industry, get behind them and support them. I know, “we” means us, not someone else. That means a time commitment, but without our input the programs can and do evolve into nothing more than a revenue source for the states. I have my own opinion on the centralized/decentralized debate, but that is an issue for the individual states. The important thing is to get the programs in place and start saving lives!

Curt Marsh, AAM, is vice president of Marsh Garage, an ASA member-shop in Indianapolis. He is ASE master and L1 certified, and is also certified by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management as an Indiana certified emission repair technician. Marsh has been working full time at the shop since 1973. For more information about Marsh Garage, visit www.marshgarage.com.

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