Last week I was at the intersection of Pines Rd. and Westport Ave. in west Shreveport right in front of the Wal-Mart.  The Townsquare Media studios are just up the road from there, so I was on my way home from work.  If you've ever tried to turn left from Westport onto northbound Pines, you know that the turn lane signal is green for about 10 seconds.  Cars routinely run the red light, so I'm amazed I haven't seen a wreck in the 4 months I've been here.

On this particular day, the length of the green light, or lack thereof, wasn't the issue. It was the totally demolished car in front of me.  I'm not kidding--this car looked like it had been through one of those car smashers at a junkyard.  The back of the car was totally gone, and there was no rear window.  When the light turned green, the car turned onto Pines and then entered the eastbound on-ramp to I-20.  It was so out of alignment, that the front end was going one way and the rear end another.  I have no idea how the driver was keeping it on the road.

Under current state law, a vehicle inspection is good for two years, so if the aforementioned car was inspected last month, it could legally drive down the road for two more years!  What's the point?

That's exactly what Stonewall Representative Larry Bagley wants to know.  He says that inspection stickers are simply a cash grab by the government, and they're not about safety anymore.  That's why he's put a proposal before the House Transportation Committee to do away with state inspections on personal vehicles. They would still be required for school buses and commercial vehicles, and for personal vehicles in the five parishes where an emissions test is mandated by federal law.

Of course, not everyone agrees with Bagley; that's why it's being debated in Baton Rouge.

 

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