The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-04-10

motor Venlcle acclueut totHB aio that the inspections have shown that 90 per cent of Connecticut cars have had defects serious enough to warrant rejection at the inspection lanes. The committee finds, how ever, that because of inspection the public takes better care of cars and as c result, the number of rejections decreases with each succeeding inc spectiosa.
 Inspection Changes
 The report recommends Q number of minor changes in inspection dc. tails and procedure including the use of temporary sheds until per- msnent housing can be obtained: evening inspections on certain days during summer season: additional equipment to thoroughly test steer. Ing equipment, and establishment of temporary lanes il sparsely settled areas.
 In regard to public attitude, the
 I've sincerely believe that . vast majority oS car owners and opera. tors are in favor of Inspections and that this public support Is !ncreas- ing. The evidence of this public Sa. vor has been given in many ways. Tn 1885, before compulsory inspec. tons began, thousands of car own CTS voluntarily brought their cars to the lanes although at that time the experiment was new and the car owner submitted to many de. lays and inconveniences. Since the first inspection period in 1886, there have been substantial progressive decreases in the number Of owners who have waited until the final days of the period to put their cars through the lane. Today the nunl- ber of those who delay Is consider. ably below the percentage of those who procrastinate in getting theit cars registered at the annual regis tration renewal period despite the fact that motorists have been urged to avoid last minute registration de- lays for more than a quarter of q century. Public opinion polls have always shown . majority in favor oi inspections"
 Fewer Fatalities
 Tt appears significant the re. port dads, "that since reestablish- Ing motor vehicle inspection there has been a very sharp reduction in fatalities which Is In marked con. tyast to the national increase. How ever we lay no claim that motor vehicle inspection alone should be given credit for all of this reduc- tiond since motor vehicle accidents are usually the result of two or more contributing factors in which faulty mechanical condition of the vehicle often plays Q very decided part, which may or may not prove to be the apparent vital factor.
 '"There are many factors entering Into statistical analysis of accidents, especially in relation to ynechani. cal failures and imperfection in cars, whch should be considered be- fore conclusions are drawn solely from the accident report data which is available. State managed !nSpec. tioslS are comparatively new. Pro. cdeure usually has been experi,nen. tal for some time bfeore permanent systems have been put into effect. Attendants have had to be trained. The amount of dependable factual data Is only now becoming suffi. c!ently inclusive to get information on results.
 inspection periods invariably coincide with other activities, such as speed reduction, educational and general safety campaigns, affect Ing accident frequency and severity There too Is the unreliability of the operators accident report re- garding mechanical defects Of c car which has been iri an accident It is illegal to operate a car witf, defective safety equipment and it Is the unusual person who will make hmiself liable to arrest by admitting to driving car with defective me- chanism. Where accidents are in- vestigated by trained observers the difficulty of determining iinperfec. tions prior to the accident is ap- parent as the accident itself may have affected any of the safety devices.
 Tn spite of these difficulties wt begin to get more and more re. liable data which does indicate the large part inspection plays in pre-. venting accidents and lessening the effects of accidents which do occur Reports of operators mad polie in. vestigations, imperfect as these art admitted to be, show that from ; to 5 per cent of accidents art caused primarily by defective equip ment.
 Defective Vehicles
 "A more careful study made iI the State of Washington disclose' that defective vehicles are involved in l36 per cent of accidnetS. More significant Still are figures from tn, Interstate Commerce Commission showing that 7.7 per cent of tsucI accidents and 3S per cent of bui accidents indicated vehicle defects These vehicles. ss . rule. engaged as they are in passenger and com modity transport. have the best o1 garage care and frequent coSnpan, inspections. If their mechanica failures are as high as indicated i is fair to assume that the les carefully watched private passenger car has a much higher frequenc, of safety equipment failures.
 "Our Connecticut inspections havt shown that 30 per cent of our car' have had one or more defects ser ious enough to mean rejection al the lanes and require adjustment or repairs by service men. Tn othel w.rrslr iya a ADA A9R itagssaaflnsig fnadl