A study was conducted to survey the field of vehicle inspection and to determine, if possible, what relationship existed between such inspections and the reduction motor vehicle accidents. A state-by-state analysis was made of the percentage of improvement in motor vehicle death rate during the period 1937-1965 and a comparison made between the various states. Despite this research attempt and several others to prove that inspection programs improve accident records, no reliable evidence exists that such is the case. However, present data does tend to lean in favour of inspection as means for accident reduction. Better accident investigation and better accident statistic compilation are necessary in order to properly evaluate the accident- reducing significance of compulsory motor vehicle periodic inspections. Possibly the answer to inspection needs of the future lies in the diagnostic centre, which has become relatively popular on a voluntary basis in recent years and which can make a hundred or more tests of a motor vehicle in a short time at a comparatively low cost.
Abstract