is 开云体育鈥檚 listener-powered journalism podcast. Every episode begins with a question submitted by our audience.
Today, a vehicular trifecta, thanks to questions from Keese Lane and Mike Santos of Essex Junction, and Julianne Jones of Derby:
鈥淒o car safety inspections have any impact on road safety?鈥�
鈥淒o vehicle inspections make for a safer roadway here in Vermont?鈥�
鈥淲hy do we have car inspections?
Note: Our show is made for the ear. We highly recommend listening to the audio. We鈥檝e also provided a transcript. Transcripts are generated using a combination of robots and human transcribers, and they may contain errors.
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Josh Crane: There are some topics we get asked about a lot: maple syrup, compost and recycling, the housing crisis. Another big one? Annual car inspections.
Keese Lane: Do car safety inspections have any impact on road safety?
Mike Santos: Do vehicle inspections make for a safer roadway here in Vermont?
Julianne Jones: Why do we have car inspections?
Josh Crane: That鈥檚 Keese Lane and Mike Santos of Essex Junction, and Julianne Jones of Derby.
They submitted their questions independently of one another. But their curiosities are animated by a shared frustration.
Julianne Jones: My car failed inspection.
Mike Santos: So I had a bad experience with an inspection.
Keese Lane: Growing up in Vermont, vehicular inspections were always a challenge.
Josh Crane: requires annual safety inspections for every car registered here. We鈥檙e one of just nine states that do this. We鈥檙e joined by our neighbors 鈥� , and . Also, , , , , and .
, and have these inspections every other year.
And just to be clear, we鈥檙e not delving into the world of emissions inspections here. That鈥檚 a whole other can o鈥� worms. We鈥檙e talking about safety 鈥� brakes, steering, headlights, etc.
If you pass inspection in Vermont, they put a little yellow sticker in the corner of your windshield 鈥� a literal golden ticket.
And if you spend long enough here, you鈥檙e bound to hear whispers about where to go for that golden ticket, which car mechanics are trustworthy, and also which shops to avoid.
And then there are those who want to take down the whole system. Hundreds of Vermonters have mobilized online, on Facebook, under the banner 鈥�.鈥� The Vermont subreddit is littered with people , and also swapping evidence to show why we should lose the requirement entirely.
None of this has amounted to much in the way of tangible changes here 鈥� at least, not yet. And so people like Keese, Mike and Julianne have turned to us with skepticism, and also to vent.
Julianne Jones: I was a little frustrated.
Keese Lane: It's frustration, it's annoyance.
Mike Santos: It just feels disingenuous.
Keese Lane: And we all just kind of watch it happen.
Josh Crane: Keese Lane says when he was younger, he couldn鈥檛 afford cars that were in good enough shape to pass inspection. And so he chose cars not for their safety or longevity, but for the inspection stickers they came with.
Any car with a current inspection sticker would do 鈥� like the Saab 9000 he drove his senior year of high school. The rear passenger door didn鈥檛 latch, the front passenger door didn鈥檛 open from the inside and when you shifted into fifth gear鈥�
Keese Lane: It was just extra neutral. But it had an inspection sticker that was good for another 10 months when I bought it.
Josh Crane: Keese can afford newer cars these days. But when he thinks back to the beaters of his past, he has a hard time believing 痴别谤尘辞苍迟鈥檚 safety inspection program is actually making the roads here safer.
Keese Lane: I grew up with unreliable cars, and at no point did the car inspection process make my cars safer or make me more reliable on the road. It just added a lot more stress.
Josh Crane: And then there鈥檚 Mike Santos. During one inspection, a mechanic told him his car needed new rotors and brake pads. Then he got a second opinion.
Mike Santos: I went to a different garage and passed. And they didn't find any sort of issues.
Josh Crane: Mike鈥檚 like, really? Is this the best we can do?
Mike Santos: It's challenging to have faith in a system where there are so many inconsistencies.
Josh Crane: And finally, we have Julianne Jones. Two years ago, her car was in the shop for some scheduled maintenance and an inspection. She was expecting a $1,200 bill.
Julianne Jones: And I went to pick it up, and they said, 鈥淯nfortunately, we cannot pass your car until you fix the rust.鈥�
Josh Crane: Rust on the car鈥檚 rocker panels. It wasn鈥檛 on the list of work during her scheduled maintenance visit. And it ran her an additional $1,200 to get it fixed and pass inspection.
Which brings us to another gripe Julianne has with the whole system. She鈥檚 lived all over New England, and she thinks Vermont cars are in a class of their own when it comes to how quickly they get rusty in the winter. She says she notices it when she visits her mom in Massachusetts.
Julianne Jones: You know, in the winter, my car is just caked in salt. Like it鈥檚 like, the white, gross, you know, I need a car wash every day. And driving down there, I'm, like, what? These cars are so clean! Like, how do they stay so clean all winter? (Laughter)
Josh Crane: She鈥檚 like, let me get this straight: Vermont puts salt on the roads, which leads to our cars getting rusted faster, which leads to more failed inspections, which leads to expensive repairs.
Julianne Jones: It seems like a scam for the state to be able to get money.
Josh Crane: The state does get a few bucks per inspection sticker. But the vast majority of the money drivers like Keese, Mike and Julianne are paying to get their cars checked out 鈥� it鈥檚 flowing right to the shops themselves.
And that means those shops 鈥� all privately owned 鈥� have a certain amount of power.
Brian Moegelin: A lot of shops will 鈥� you bring your car in, they're always looking for the biggest ticket, you know?
Josh Crane: Brave Little State is a production of 开云体育 and a proud member of the NPR Network. I鈥檓 Josh Crane and I鈥檒l be right back.
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鈥楽tartling and beyond comprehension鈥�
Josh Crane: In the early 1900s, as Ford Model Ts rolled off the factory floor and into peoples鈥� driveways, the United States faced a growing problem: .
And in the summer of 1930, New England states joined a growing movement to encourage car safety inspections. It was dubbed the 鈥淪ave-A-Life鈥� campaign.
Vermont inspections were still optional at the time. And the state鈥檚 motor vehicle commissioner, Charles T. Pierce, said he was "gratified by the hearty response鈥� from Vermonters, according to a local newspaper article. But he also found it, quote, "startling and beyond comprehension" that inspectors found so many cars to be in such unsafe condition.
It鈥檚 hard to blame him. Of the first 4,000 cars inspected in Vermont, only 14% were found to be in safe working order. More than a third had defective brakes, and more than three-quarters needed the lights repaired or replaced.
Five years later, in 1935, Vermont passed a law to require annual safety inspections for all vehicles.
Shop around
Josh Crane: Cars have come a long way since 1935 鈥� a time when to be ordered by mail from a brochure.
And 痴别谤尘辞苍迟鈥檚 inspection program has come a long way, too.
Brian Moegelin: So, basically, this is where we can get into the whole inspection system.
Josh Crane: I鈥檓 standing in a repair bay at Brian鈥檚 North End Automotive, in Burlington.
Brian Moegelin digs a tablet out from under some wrenches and papers on a workbench.
Brian Moegelin: So this is a state-issued tablet, okay. And so this is linked to a state network.
Okay. Let's go back over here.
Josh Crane: He leads me away from the garage and ducks into the lobby. He鈥檚 a towering guy, and his four-legged friend roaming the entryway is no slouch either.
Josh Crane: How much does he weigh?
(big woof)
Brian Moegelin: 170.
(more woofs)
Josh Crane: Pro tip: Do not point a microphone at a dog, especially not a 170-pound English Mastiff named Potato.
Anyways. Brian has 25 years of experience as a car mechanic and certified technician. And as you can tell by the name of the shop, he鈥檚 the owner here. He wears a blue t-shirt that is somehow devoid of oil stains, and a flat cap with a pen tucked into the side.
(phone rings)
Brian Moegelin: Hello, this is Brian. Can you hold, please?
Josh Crane: We鈥檙e here to talk inspections. Brian says Vermonters should get their cars checked out regularly.
Brian Moegelin: And so, I agree with keeping vehicles safe, you know.
Josh Crane: And he says that the variable that question-asker Julianne brought up 鈥� all that salt on the roads 鈥� that鈥檚 a big reason why. It is harder to keep Vermont cars safe due to the added wear and tear from rough roads, long winters and road salt.
Brian Moegelin: Vermont 鈥� the crap that we put on the road and the quality of the roads definitely play an effect, or play a role, in how well these vehicles will hold up.
Josh Crane: By the way, to Julianne鈥檚 concern about it all being a scam, the state says it uses the same approach to salting the road as our neighboring states. But that鈥檚 just for the roads the state maintains, like highways. The state says town roads, meanwhile, might be salted differently.
But Brian doesn鈥檛 agree with the way 痴别谤尘辞苍迟鈥檚 current inspection program is set up. You know the stereotype that car repair shops are just out to nickel and dime you as much as possible? Brian can confirm.
Brian Moegelin: A lot of shops will 鈥� you bring your car in, they're always looking for the biggest ticket, you know?
Josh Crane: More repairs, whether they鈥檙e necessary or not, the bigger the ticket. And he says the ambiguity of the state inspection program gives shops a prime opportunity to run up your bill.
Brian Moegelin: A lot of the rules are left to the shop's interpretation of the rules.
Josh Crane: Too open for interpretation. Too many unnecessary and expensive repairs. These are longstanding complaints about 痴别谤尘辞苍迟鈥檚 inspection program.
And a few years ago, the state tried to address what it considered to be ambiguity in the inspection manual itself.
Dan Merchand: The inspection manual used to be 547 pages, and .
Josh Crane: Dan Merchand is a lieutenant at the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles.
Josh Crane: One hundred and sixty two pages, that sounds like a beach read now.
Dan Merchand: I mean, it's a 鈥� it鈥檚 maybe, I don't know, half a half an inch, three-quarters of an inch thick, and the old manual was, was massive. Looked like an old Webster's Dictionary.
Josh Crane: The old Webster鈥檚 Dictionary version included a bunch of stuff that didn鈥檛 directly relate to safety. With the new rules, you can no longer fail an inspection for tinted windows or for missing a front license plate 鈥� even though those are both technically violations of state law.
The new manual is also more specific. For instance, a cracked tail light is no longer an automatic failure 鈥� only if the crack is big enough that water can pool inside and white light shows through.
Dan Merchand: It made it more definitive of what the requirement was, as opposed to before. It was more open to interpretation before.
Josh Crane: Interpretation is still part of the process. Take rust. Rust itself is not an automatic failure 鈥� it depends on the type of rust, and where.
The inspection manual includes phrases like, 鈥渞usted to the point that integrity is compromised.鈥� Or, 鈥渞ust that affects the safe operation of the vehicle.鈥�
This means mechanics still have a good deal of leeway. Which could mean nickle and diming on unnecessary repairs 鈥� but it can also go the other way. About a decade ago, a mechanic in central Vermont tried to do an elderly customer a favor and passed an old car that had rusty brake lines. A little while later, those lines burst. The people in the car were killed and the mechanic was later .
Here鈥檚 Brian Moegelin again.
Brian Moegelin: You know, see a lot of crap out there, okay. There are a lot of cars that in my mind, you know 鈥� a father of three 鈥� I would not want to be on the road with some of these vehicles.
Josh Crane: So, not every vehicle should pass inspection. But Brian says, if you think the shop that failed your car is forcing you into unnecessary repairs, or you just feel like there鈥檚 something fishy going on, you don鈥檛 have to trust what they鈥檙e telling you. Instead, you can go get a second opinion at a different shop.
Brian Moegelin: The amount of money that we make refuting what other shops say is astounding. Like, it's ridiculous.
Josh Crane: Brian has even had a few experiences where what other shops say has looked a lot like straight-up fraud. He recalls one incident where he says another shop took an old, rusty rotor off the junk pile and tried to pass it off as one of the repairs a car needed to pass inspection.
Brian Moegelin: Paul, you remember the dealer that flipped the rotor over?
Paul McCarthy: Oh, yeah. (Laughter) Yeah. I can tell you exactly who that was, that鈥檚 for sure.
Brian Moegelin: So, I mean, that's the stuff that we deal with, okay? And it's ridiculous that, you know, this is the reason why you have shops that are trying to overcome the stereotype, and it's a small number, and the majority of them are just out to maximize their profit in every which way, shape or form, regardless of the person's financial situation.
Josh Crane: Just to play devil鈥檚 advocate a little bit, people listening to this, like, why should they trust you when you say, like, 鈥淲e're a reputable shop, but all these other places aren't鈥�?
Brian Moegelin: Because I just tell people, if you don't like what I say, go to somewhere else. Like I'm not hiding anything, you know. I'm not trying to entice anybody here. All of my, all of my business is based off of word of mouth, you know. And there's something to be said by that.
Inspecting the inspectors
Josh Crane: But we don鈥檛 have to depend on trust and word of mouth alone. As a backstop, the state of Vermont actually has a team whose job it is to make sure shops around the state follow the rules as they鈥檙e intended.
Dan Merchand: Basically regulate dealerships, inspection stations.
Josh Crane: Dan Merchand again, from the Vermont DMV. He鈥檚 part of that team.
Among other things, they basically inspects the inspectors.
Dan Merchand: Say, for instance, you know, someone has a vehicle, they bring it in for inspection, and the vehicle fails inspection, and they think, you know, that the station is trying to charge them, you know, for unnecessary repairs鈥�
Josh Crane: That person might just go get a second opinion at a different shop, like Brian suggested. But they could also contact Dan鈥檚 office and file an official complaint.
Dan Merchand: Depending on what that complaint is, you know, we may arrange a time to go out, examine the vehicle and meet with that person, and then we would then go talk to the license station, you know, here in Vermont.
Josh Crane: If they determine the customer鈥檚 complaint has merit 鈥� that is, that the shop was, indeed, charging them for unnecessary repairs in the name of an inspection鈥�
Dan Merchand: They can be fined for that.
Josh Crane: The DMV can also issue warnings or, with enough violations, can actually suspend a shop鈥檚 license, or revoke it completely.
Last year, in 2024, Vermont shops completed almost 500,000 vehicle inspections, statewide. And from all those inspections 鈥� completed across 1,600 inspection stations 鈥� the Vermont DMV handed out 115 warnings and seven fines. The last time they revoked a license was in 2021.
Hearing these numbers, you鈥檇 probably come to a different conclusion depending on how you feel about safety inspections: They could be viewed as evidence that shops are not taking advantage of customers as much as some suspect. Or, that the state isn鈥檛 doing enough to enforce its own rules.
But there鈥檚 still the bigger question we鈥檙e trying to answer: Are all these rules actually making the roads safer?
That鈥檚 after the break.
A look at the numbers
Josh Crane: Remember how we said Vermont is now in the minority of states requiring annual inspections? Well, you could say the heyday for inspection requirements in this country was the early 1970s. That鈥檚 when 鈥� an all-time high.
At that time, the U.S. government was using federal highway dollars to incentivize states to adopt inspection requirements. But ever since the feds took away that financial lever in 1976, states haven鈥檛 had the same motivation to keep their programs going. And the total number of states with inspection requirements has been shrinking ever since.
got rid of their program in 2001, and did so in 2010. They cited, among other things, a lack of evidence that inspections actually improved safety.
And according to from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, they were onto something.
The report looked at crash data from the years before and after Oklahoma and New Jersey ended their inspection programs. And it found that the number of crashes involving 鈥渧ehicle component failures鈥� 鈥� things like brake malfunctions 鈥� they made up just 2 or 3% of all crashes when those states had inspections. And the numbers didn鈥檛 change after they got rid of them, suggesting that car inspections really didn鈥檛 make a difference when it came to these sorts of crashes.
Unfortunately for those of us who crave certainty, this isn鈥檛 quite so cut-and-dry. from the University of Texas at Austin focused on Texas鈥� inspection program, which was similar to 痴别谤尘辞苍迟鈥檚 at the time. It found that crashes involving vehicles with defects were twice as likely to result in fatalities. In other words, inspections do improve road safety. And the researchers recommended that Texas keep its inspection program 鈥� and even consider adding more inspection items. (By the way, Texas did not take that advice. Earlier this year, .)
So, there鈥檚 two different studies that have come to opposite conclusions. And there鈥檚 a lot more where that came from. There鈥檚 no shortage of data, but a lot of it鈥檚 specific to one place or one particular variable. Caveats to everything. And none of the research focuses on 痴别谤尘辞苍迟鈥檚 inspection program.
Do car inspections make Vermont roads safer? Based on my reporting, I think there鈥檚 a good chance inspections here make a difference in a relatively small percentage of situations. And people may draw different conclusions about whether that makes them worthwhile.
痴别谤尘辞苍迟鈥檚 inspection program has been around for 90 years. And while the data about whether it improves safety paints a noisy picture, if you look at a map that shows states that have inspections and states that don鈥檛, it鈥檚 clear that, like a lot of things, these decisions might come down to politics and culture more than hard data.
Maybe that鈥檚 why northern New England states, like Vermont and New Hampshire, still have mandatory inspections, while many of their cold-weather peers, like , don鈥檛. Lawmakers here do regularly introduce bills to reform or even repeal inspection requirements.
And in New Hampshire, the same guy who used to run the inspection program there recently came out and .
But for now, nothing has stuck.
Parting advice
Josh Crane: What do you, what do you like about being a mechanic?
Brian Moegelin: I like helping people. I have always been into cars鈥�
Josh Crane: Back in Burlington鈥檚 Old North End, mechanic and shop owner Brian Moegelin is waxing nostalgic about his biggest passion: cars. He especially loves Jaguars.
Brian Moegelin: That was from a movie back in, I want to say, like 鈥�85 or 鈥�83 with John Candy. And I fell in love with this one car, you know?
Josh Crane: I spot a red Jaguar coupe parked right in front of the shop. And I later learned it鈥檚 not just red but 鈥渇lamenco red.鈥�
Josh Crane: Is that your Jaguar?
Brian Moegelin: That is one of my Jaguars, yes.
Josh Crane: How many do you have?
Brian Moegelin: I鈥檓 not going to disclose that information. (Laughter)
Paul McCarthy: Way too fricken many. Way too many.
Brian Moegelin: Way too many.
Paul McCarthy: Yes. It鈥檚 not only that. It's the Land Rovers鈥�
Josh Crane: That鈥檚 one of Brian鈥檚 mechanics, Paul McCarthy. Brian says Paul will take over the shop when he steps down in the next few years.
Brian鈥檚 been managing this place for a while, and he tells me he wants to step out of the garage and into the classroom, to school the next generation about car repair, and working in the industry.
But before Brian leaves, he has some advice for taking care of your car 鈥� and your wallet 鈥� in Vermont.
One: Brian says, if you have a car, use it.
Brian Moegelin: But not driving your vehicle is actually one of the worst things that you can do. I use a lot of analogies to help people understand, like, if you, you know, want to live a long and happy lifestyle, eat right, go to the gym, stay active. And it's kind of the same thing with a car.
Josh Crane: So you鈥檙e saying people should do less exercise and drive more?
Brian Moegelin: I think you know where I'm going with that, yeah.
Josh Crane: Piece of advice number two: Seek a long-term relationship with a reputable shop.
Brian Moegelin: If you have a good relationship with a shop that you've been with for a really long time, generally that's a very good thing.
Josh Crane: A big sign that a shop is reputable? It鈥檚 not that easy to get an appointment.
Brian Moegelin: We always tell people, like, if you can get into a shop during a crazy time of year, like tire season, like the same day, that's generally a shop you don't want to go to.
Josh Crane: His final piece of advice: Don鈥檛 rush it.
鈥� says you only have 15 days to get an inspection for a newly registered vehicle. Brian says reputable shops often book more than a couple weeks out. And even if you already have an inspection sticker, you might not realize it鈥檚 about to expire until a couple weeks beforehand. I mean, I鈥檝e definitely been there.
If you鈥檙e like me, you might be tempted to call around and take an appointment with the shop that can get you in the quickest. But Brian says, waiting for an appointment can be worth a lot. Even if it means spending some time with an expired sticker.
Brian Moegelin: Don't feel forced to go to a less reputable shop just to get a sticker. Okay. Too many people make that mistake, and it forces them into high dollar repairs that probably aren't necessary.
Josh Crane: As for the future of vehicle inspections here in Vermont: Just this past legislative session, lawmakers introduced to the state鈥檚 inspection requirement. And 鈥� drum roll please 鈥� none of them went anywhere.
In other words, you鈥檙e probably gonna need to get a car inspection next year, and the year after that. So, buckle up.
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Credits
This episode was reported by Josh Crane. It was edited and produced by Sabine Poux and Burgess Brown. Our intern is Catherine Morrissey. Angela Evancie is our Executive Producer. Theme music by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.
Special thanks to Rick Green, Steve Belitsos, Brian Chase, Drew Cline, Pete Hirschfeld, Abagael Giles, Joey Palumbo, April McCullum, Melody Bodette, Mike Dunn, Andrea Laurion, Lola Duffort, Amy Tatko, Scott Davidson, Jeremy Reed and Ernie Patnoe.
As always, our journalism is better when you鈥檙e a part of it:
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Brave Little State is a production of 开云体育 and a proud member of the NPR Network.
