Fewer tests for China’s car owners
Print Edition
FROM September, owners of new cars will no longer have to have their cars inspected for roadworthiness every two years in the first six-year period, the Ministry of Public Security announced yesterday.
However, inspections after a car is six years old remain as at present — annual checks up to the age of 15 years, six-monthly checks after that and checks every three months if the vehicle is still on the road after 20 years.
Currently, inspections are administered by the government but the sector is being thrown open to the private sector who can apply for licenses to run test centers.
Policemen and quality inspectors will be forbidden from operating inspection stations to prevent insider dealing, Xinhua news agency said, citing Wei Chuanzhong, deputy director of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.
Another change is that from December 31, drivers will be able to have their cars checked in any city in a provincial region. Eventually, the regulation will be relaxed to allow drivers to have vehicles checked at any test center on the Chinese mainland.
The changes have been long called for by drivers and the ministry’s announcement was widely welcomed online.
Many saw the moves as an attempt to end corruption in vehicle testing and reduce the expense. Some comments expressed gratitude that the government had been listening to their complaints and had finally taken action.
By the end of 2013, there were around 250 million vehicles on the road on China’s mainland, and every year an estimated 15 million new cars will join them.
However, major cities, including Shanghai, have a severe lack of inspection centers.
Drivers have been complaining for some time about the problems of booking a test. Some say they have to take a day off work to attend and wait for hours before an inspector often just gives the vehicle a cursory glance before issuing the relevant document. The system is so inefficient, it has been claimed that many drivers turn to middlemen who bribe inspectors to get the car through the test quickly.
“The system is widely blamed not only because of its trivial formalities but also because of the possibility that traffic officials can take bribes,” the People’s Daily said in a commentary. “It is not a realistic idea to cancel inspections, but reform should and must be carried out,” it added.
Vehicle inspection is a procedure mandated by national governments in many countries, in which a vehicle is inspected to ensure that it conforms to regulations governing safety and emissions.
In the United States, each state has its own regulations but generally vehicles are inspected every year or every two years.
In the UK, there are annual tests after a car has been on the road for more than three years.
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