Remote smog check-points

[tuolumnejim]

Read this from what I understand you can refuse as it is strictly voluntary. However they will record your Plate and my guess is you will then get something in the mail telling you to go to get a Smog Check for some made up reason.

http://www.epa.gov/oms/regs/im/roadside.pdf

You got it right on the head, from your link:

The BAR greeter also provides the driver with a consumer information
handout (Appendix D) that further explains the Roadside Inspection Program. If the driver
agrees to participate in the inspection process, the vehicle is inspected. If the driver refuses, the
vehicle is released and another vehicle is quickly directed into the test lane. The license plate
numbers of vehicles whose operators decline to participate in the Roadside Inspection Program
are recorded and entered into a laptop computer for later analysis.

[Ron-Solo]

Well, that Volvo in the picture was fair game to be stopped. No front plate, 5200 CVC. Then you can get the entire "safety inspection" courtesy of the vehicle code.

Plus, it's ugly.

[Lyte-]

how can you understand stopping people without just cause?

I think stopping someone for a DUI is very much so a "just cause. I 100% support those check points and think they need to do them more often. I don't drive around drunk so I am not concerned with being stopped at one, as I have always been flagged through with out having to speak to anyone.

[locosway]

Drive a diesel, no smog needed (for now).

[jeffm223]

I think stopping someone for a DUI is very much so a "just cause. I 100% support those check points and think they need to do them more often. I don't drive around drunk so I am not concerned with being stopped at one, as I have always been flagged through with out having to speak to anyone.

What's the word I'm looking for? Ah, "capitulator." The old "if you have nothing to hide" argument that is slowly leading us into a police state. When they cross-link gun ownership databases with driving records (many proposals for this) and toss your car for a weapons check at one of these little toll booths, will you feel the same way? Wake up and see this for what it is - "Papers Comrade!". Police contact without probable cause has no place in a free society.

[flyer898]

In one of my past lives I was a smog licensed technician. Immediately following that incarnation I was an investigator and later a manger for the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR). I have some insight into the running and justification for our State's smog program.

That justification was based on two things. One was illegally modified vehicles being operated on our roads and polluting the air we all breathe. The second justification was many vehicles were malfunctioning in ways their owners were not aware of and likewise polluting our air more than they should have been.

Alas, good government regulation (if there is such a thing) is hard to get rid of when it becomes unnecessary: an anachronism. That is the state of things with the smog program. It is an anachronism and does not contribute to reducing air pollution to an extent that would justify the cost.

Technology has superseded the motivation to remove smog devices and ignorance of undetected malfunctions. Cars no longer have obvious after treatment devices that are easily removed (remember air pumps) and the emissions controls in current use are technology that has matured such that it positively contributes to both economy and performance. This is a far cry from how things were in the 70s when smog programs were justified and expanded to the current model.

Technology has also superseded the need for smog inspections to ensure cars are functioning as designed. The computer controls are able to detect malfunctions and warn the driver they exist. In this era of $3:00 per gallon fuel there is sufficient motivation to get it fixed; threat of a smog inspection is unnecessary.

It was a good program in its time and it did a good job of reducing air pollution from cars and trucks. Today it is irrelevant, yet it hangs on through beauracratic inertia. And besides there is a 100 million dollar budget to fund it and state jobs absorbing that funding that depend on the program.

When I started law school I was ASE (Automotive Service Excellence -- the national certification for technicians) certified as a Master Automotive Technician, Advanced Diagnostic Specialist, Truck Technician, and Master Machinist. I have done the job, regulated those who did the job, and moved on. I have no vested interest in seeing the smog program continue or go away.

To get back on topic, I think the rules governing detentions for the purpose of verifying compliance with smog check would probable mirror those for DUI check points. To date I have not seen any case law on this; at a minimum the NHTSA guidelines for DUI checkpoints should apply. This is an area of law that may evade being subject to a legal test because it does not result in prosecution for a crime and imposition of a jail sentence.

The simple answer is the time for smog checks has passed and with it the rationale for roadside compliance checks. This does not however preclude a law enforcement officer form enforcing the law against modifying smog control devices in an appropriate circumstance. I would have no hesitation in filing a case based on that.

[locosway]

The problem is all gasoline cars/trucks already must smog. Diesel vehicles are also going to need to pass smog here as well. With that said, if people already must smog their cars, why make them do it on the roadside? It seems like a huge waste of money. The only way this would do anything is if you catch a hod rodder who modified their car. In all respects, it's likely their car would still pass smog, just not the visual inspection. Also, these people are a very small percentage of the cars.

Instead, they should smog their own government vehicles. I can't count the times I've seen a state owned vehicle dumping noxious gases from it's tail pipe.

[retired]

flyer, thanks for that informative post, it was an interesting read.

[Ron-Solo]

Instead, they should smog their own government vehicles. I can't count the times I've seen a state owned vehicle dumping noxious gases from it's tail pipe.

They do. All LASD vehicles get smogged every two years, Black & Whites included.

[locosway]

They do. All LASD vehicles get smogged every two years, Black & Whites included.

Doesn't happen down here in OC, not from the trucks and buses I've seen running around.

[banzaijohn]

I think the L/E vehicles may be exempt. They do have to have the speedos recalibrated every year. The AAA comes out every 12 months and recalibrates all of our speedos, but I don't think they do the smog. Most new passenger cars are smog exempt for the first 4 or 5 years depending upon VIN number. It's rare for a police car to last that long; too many hard driven miles.

I saw a system in Glendale that scanned the air and photographed the plate of the vehicle emitting the air. I think it was a modernized version of what was depicted above, as no traffic was actually stopped. It flagged vehicles that were over threshold amounts. What they did with the information, I don't know, maybe send them to a smog inspection?

[locosway]

Most new passenger cars are smog exempt for the first 4 or 5 years depending upon VIN number.

Try every other year for new cars, and every year for older cars. Unless something drastically changed recently.

[Ron-Solo]

L/E vehicles are not exempt.

Loco, just because you don't see it happening, doesn't mean it isn't done. Most trucks and buses are diesel, which don't get smogged.

I just had my Crown Vic smogged.

[Ron-Solo]

Try every other year for new cars, and every year for older cars. Unless something drastically changed recently.

Where do you get your info? Cars are smogged every TWO years based on the VIN and new cars are exempt for the first four years (but you pay a fee for this)

[locosway]

Where do you get your info? Cars are smogged every TWO years based on the VIN and new cars are exempt for the first four years (but you pay a fee for this)

Like I said, unless things have changed recently, which they obviously have.

I'm not talking about cop cars, I never was. For some reason you think I'm talking about cops.