[justin66]

> It seems like such a system (even every 2 or 5 years) would result in major reductions in accidents and injuries

I bet such a system's impact would be vanishingly small and the money would be better spent elsewhere. Certainly not "major reductions." I'm not sure it's a terrible idea - we're bringing cars in for emissions checks anyway so sure, check the seatbelts for some reason - but let's not pretend it's going to do much.

It would be strange but weirdly reassuring to learn that almost all auto accidents are not caused by carelessness, recklessness, drunkenness, impatience and general incompetence. That they are caused by... neglect of routine maintenance. That would be very far from the world we are living in.

[darkwizard42]

I actually think it would have an astonishingly high effect. It would reduce the number of cars on the road without proper maintenance, which would generally correlate with drivers who don't care enough to prioritize their vehicle's condition (and therefore other's safety).

The second order effect might be very strong.

That being said, this will never happen because in America without a car you (avg. american) lose nearly all your ability to contribute to the economy and navigate your surroundings. We can barely align on taking licenses away from people who kill pedestrians in direct fault accidents [1]

1. https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/friends-identify-v...

[justin66]

Even in some scenario where crappy-car owners are some kind of especially pernicious safety menace (a claim for which I would demand actual evidence, since I don't believe it for a minute), I can't imagine what it would be like to live in a place in the United States where there are so many cars on the road that are legally undrivable for safety reasons that their removal would make any kind of significant difference. I read "astonishingly high effect" above and wonder if you even drive in the United States.

[mcgrath_sh]

Some states already require annual inspections, Pennsylvania being one of them.

[justin66]

Yeah. My state includes an OBDII emissions check which catches a lot of non-emissions related things.