April 24, 2025 • 39 mins
The New Hampshire State House of Representatives passed legislation to eliminate annual vehicle safety inspections. The bill is now in the Senate awaiting a vote. NH and MA are part of only 14 states that require a safety inspection every year. Do you think a requirement is necessary? Could MA move to eliminate annual safety inspections as well? NH Deputy Speaker of the House, Rep. Steven Smith says there’s no real evidence that inspections are making the roads safer. Rep. Smith joined us to discuss.
*The NH Automobile Dealers Association (against this movement) has been invited to join in tonight’s conversation but has not committed at this time*
Listen to WBZ NewsRadio on the NEW iHeart Radio app and be sure to set WBZ NewsRadio as your #1 preset!
*The NH Automobile Dealers Association (against this movement) has been invited to join in tonight’s conversation but has not committed at this time*
Listen to WBZ NewsRadio on the NEW iHeart Radio app and be sure to set WBZ NewsRadio as your #1 preset!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's Nightside with Dan Ray on WBZY, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Home. All right, welcome back everyone, Thanks very much, Dan Walkins.
We came upon an interesting story yesterday dealing with our friends,
our neighbors to the north, the state of New Hampshire.
The New Hampshire State House of Representatives has recently overwhelmingly
decided that they passed a piece of legislation which would
(00:26):
eliminate the annual motor vehicle safety inspections. I didn't realize,
because we live here in Massachusetts and all of us
have been used to motor vehicle inspections since since the
dawn of time, that there's only fourteen states in the country,
of which Massachusetts and New Hampshire are both one of
those fourteen who require a safety inspection every year. With
(00:49):
us is the New Hampshire Deputy Speaker of the House
of Representatives, Representative Steven Smith. Representative Smith, welcome to Nightside.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
How are you great? Thank you for having me, well, thanks.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
For thanks for joining us tonight. You know, New Hampshire is,
as you know, well know, the live free or die state.
Massachusetts is anything, but we still remain Taxachusetts. So the
fact that we have car inspections that cost us I
think thirty nine dollars every year doesn't surprise me. But
(01:23):
I was kind of surprised that New Hampshire has inspections.
But you folks want to change that. Tell us why.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
It is probably the most hated law in the land,
especially the way we do it. Your registration and your
inspection are tied to your month of birth. So happy birthday.
Before you celebrate, go give you town clerk a couple
hundred dollars to register your car and then go see
if you have a big repair bell that's going to
(01:51):
be due by the end of the month. People just
hate it and that they want it gone.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Now, how much is there a benefit to it? I
don't want to play Devil's advocate, but if I'm sitting
at a red light with my family in the car
and some knucklehead is speeding down towards the red light
and hits his brakes and he has and checked his
breaks in about seven years, obviously you could be adversely
(02:18):
impacted by that. What do they do? Do they really
do a decent inspection or is it simply perfunctory.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Oh no, they do an inspection. The what you bring
up is a really good point. But in states particularly
that had it and got rid of it, you know,
we look for the data where everybody died after that happened,
and it's just not there. And the most odious part
of the program is called OBD onboard diagnostics. That's where
(02:49):
your car that is completely safe, that runs great, that
gets you everywhere you need to go, they plug it
in and it throws some code that you don't know
about or understand, and now you have some big problems.
People just hate that.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
They're ben they've done that. My car is eleven years old,
so sure. Now I happen to have a guy who's
a great guy. I'm not gonna say what his name
is in the radio, but it's a it's a pretty
low key process. But again it's what so what is
the charge for the inspection up there? You know? The
inspection down here is thirty nine dollars flat, So it's
(03:24):
kind of a regressive tax. Whether you're you're driving you know,
some sort of a Ferrari or or you're driving an
eleven year old Volvo, you're gonna pay the same thing
for the inspection, the auto excess.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
You know what I drive? Huh, how did you know
what I drive.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Well, that's what I drive.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Mine's a little older twenty twelve. I just upgraded from
my two thousand and three Volvo.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Yeah, well I did the same thing. I've been a
Vovo guy all along, but I'm I'm not buying a
new Vovo because I think that Volvos are not as
good as they used to be. They're no longer made
I think by the Swedish company and said, hey, man,
I'm hearing some bad stuff. But yeah, I've had Voval
since eighty six.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
And yeah, yeah, we don't send him statewide. My guy
was like forty bucks forever, and he finally raised it
to fifty. I mean because if you go through everything,
it can take about an hour, and that's still less
than the hourly shop rate. Someplaces charge more. And right now,
there's see a couple of car dealers that have signs
(04:27):
out by the road free inspections, no appointment necessary, come
on in. I guess I'm not going to comment on that,
but I don't think I need to.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Well, well, wait, I'm a little confused here. I'm not
that I'm not that dense, but uh, we had invited
someone from the car dealer the car associated the Auto
Automotive Automobile Dealers Association, which is, I guess, on the
opposite side of the street from you folks here to
join the conversation. But we haven't heard back from them.
(05:01):
So what is the deal that they're they're advertising free inspections?
I mean, obviously, is this to make people more friendly
and trying to convince people to to to solicit. You've
got to get it through the state Senate before you
get into the governor's desk. As I understand the procedure,
what's the importusion of that. I'm not particularly dense, but
(05:24):
I just want to I don't understand what I think
I know what they're doing, but tell me.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
I don't know what they're doing. But I mean, their
job is to tell you that your current car is
dunking you need to buy a new one in their
offering state inspections.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Okay, I get it now, I get it.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:43):
Yeah, so they may tell you.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
They may tell you, for example, that your chabin is
out of out of alignment, right I used to, but
remember this representative, there's no such thing as the chaban,
you know. Yes, yeah, let me say, like you got
a problem with your jave and how much will that cost.
It's about a three thousand dollars deal. We'll take the
(06:06):
car for a few hours and we'll get it in line.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Yeah, and you know, I don't want to beat up
the shops because most of them are great, they are reputable.
But I mean, the fact is, if you've driven your
car for a year on our roads, I can find
something wrong with it. Now, that doesn't mean it's a
safety violation. It might be you really ought to look
at this and take care of this soon. But I
(06:33):
wouldn't not give it a sticker and take literally take
the car off the road because of it.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Yeah, well that's what I think. Of course, if you
don't make it mandatory, the good citizens will take the
car in because they're good citizens once a year. The
people won't take it in. They're the ones that will
cause the problem. So let me ask you without you know,
obviously you are a remember the Great House Chamber. And
(07:00):
by the way, you think your roads are bad up there,
take a ride here in Massachusetts Representative Okay. I have
had many conversations with former Governor Sununu, who's a great
guy and a great friend, and he as recently as
a month ago was regaling me with the numbers of
how inexpensively your roads are maintained. We spend like four
(07:24):
times per mile on our roads here in Massachusetts, and
they are in far worse shape than anything I've ever
seen in New Hampshire. Trust me, we are the pothole
capital of the world right here in Massachusetts. They have
been known to swallow cars whole. The guard just disappears.
So what's going to happen in the Senate side? You
(07:46):
got to better vote. You did a good job corralling
your your vote, your Republican and some Democrats up there.
What's what's what's going to happen in the Senate with
this piece of legislation.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
I don't have any idea. It's I mean, the bill's
got an incredible support and well, I'm not gonna lie.
When I got up to do the closing on the
House floor, I really thought I was going down in flames,
and then I saw the vote. Wow, that was big.
So the bills, the bills got momentum. Maybe they will
(08:19):
walk it back from a full repeal. I don't know.
But we have been trying to reform this program for
so many years, and we just can't get reasonable changes through.
I went as far as to at least let people
decide when they want to pay the bills and divorce
the inspection from the registration month. Maybe you want to
(08:40):
wait until you get your tax refunds, so maybe June
works for you. So when June rolls around, get your
car inspected, and now your sticker is good for a year.
We have a full court press opposing that it was crazy.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
The House vote, as you know, was two twelve to
so that's a pretty good, pretty good vote.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
I'll have done that bipartisan, right, That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
You still have the majority, but you must have picked
up a good number of Democratic votes. What is the
first of all? I'm in prior years. I kind of
imagine Chris Sinuna would oppose this. What's Kelly Aot saying?
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Have an ask? Honestly, we're waiting for the part where
we get whatever we're going to get back from the Senate.
They can simply pass it and send it to her.
I doubt that's going to happen because they probably like
to get their fingerprints on it. So if there's some amendment,
then the House will have to concur non concur which
(09:39):
would kill it, or non concur request to committee a
conference to hash out our differences, and then whatever comes
out of that product would go to the governor. I
hope they send it back to us with some amendment
that we can live with, and then we can just
send it to her and that would have a lot
more power. You know, the legislature overwhelming voted for the spill,
(10:01):
agreed on a change together. That landing on the Governor's
desk is a powerful thing.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Okay, well, Representative, I appreciate you joining us tonight and
explaining it again. We had invited someone, my producer had
attempted to get someone on the other side of the
issue from the New Hampshire Automobile Dealers Association. Are they
the group that really is opposed to this? Are they
the leading the charge in the other direction?
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Okay, so we at least invited the right side of
the other side of the argument. I'm not going to
say that.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Yeah, And honestly, for many years I worked with them
to defend the program. But after the stubborn resistance to
reasonable reforms when real problems come up, I've just had
my fill and I'm done, and it's time for it
to go.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Well, first of all, congratulations and by the way, the
New Hampshire Legislature is the best legislature in the country
as far as I'm concerned.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
No, I'm serious. I know that you folks do this. Uh.
I think the paycheck every the annual pay I think
it's one hundred dollars or something like that. I mean,
it's uh compared to Massachusetts. We have people who you know,
who become multi millionaires by by being members of our legislature.
Here in Massachusetts. It's a whole different experience, but keeping.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
The benefits instead.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Oh yes, of course, of course. Do you do you
guys have the prettyem mileage up there or.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Do you would you get a mileage allowance?
Speaker 2 (11:33):
You do? Okay?
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Well, yeah, whatever the federal rate is, I think at
the half a buck a mile or something like that.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Yeah, yeah, okay, Well, that's that's more than justified. If
if you want, you want to stick with middle nine thirty,
we'll grab a couple of phone calls if you like,
see what they have to say. Okay, great, My guest
is Representative Steven Smith. Uh, your title, you are not
the the the speaker of the House up there, you're
(12:00):
idol is the House Deputy Speaker? Are you the only
House Deputy Speaker or are there several House Deputy Speakers?
Speaker 3 (12:08):
Nope, it's just me. When those speaker is out of state,
I take over his duties when he's not presiding in
the House Chamber, I do. Okay, I have some of
the duties as well.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
So in the House, in effect, you're the number two
guy in the House. And if you've been in the
legislature how many years now?
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Oh, fifteen, I got elected in two thousand and ten.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Okay, great, And someday my suspicion is you will be
Speaker of the House of Representatives in New Hampshire if
you want it. If you'd like to talk with Representative
Steven Smith six one seven, two, five four ten thirty
six one seven nine three one ten thirty, my question,
real simple is what do you think of this idea?
(12:49):
I think it's an interesting argument. It's one of those
arguments that is not one hundred percent that there's some
a little there's some pretty good arguments on both sides.
Representative Smith has done a great job for sting his
side and the side of the majority of the members
of the House up there. Back on night Side right
after this quick break.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on w BEAZ,
Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
My guest is State Representative Stephen Smith. He is a
member of the House of Representatives and he also serves
in the Republican leadership side. He is the House Deputy Speaker,
which means he's the second in command. Let's get to
the phones. We're going to go to WILLI is in Hudson,
New Hampshire. Will you're a New Hampshire resident. What do
you think about this idea? You're with the Representative Smith,
(13:36):
Go right ahead.
Speaker 5 (13:38):
I am yes, Thank you, Dan, Representative Smith. I think
it's a great idea. Kind of like you mentioned, it
becomes a bit onerous every month when it's your birthday
they have to do this. I actually a transplant from Massachusetts,
where I know at least there they do it on
the anniversary of whenever you purchased the car or register
(14:00):
of the car, which is a little easier than trying
to do it based on a birthday. I guess the
other question I would have somewhat related would be I
also have purchased cars from out of state that have
had window tint. And I know in New Hampshire we
(14:20):
only allow tint on. We don't allow it on the
front glass of the passenger or driver side. So would
that also go away with this bill? As far as
from a safety perspective.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
That is a great question because most of the inspection
stuff is an administrative rules, not statute, which is another problem.
The tint stuff is actually in the statute. Now, if
the tint is factory, you're good because in an hamsher
law only applies to aftermarket tent on the front windows.
There was a process where if you had a skin
(14:54):
condition or something, you could get a note from your
doctor and get a medical waiver to allow that in
any event. But that's a good question, and I'll have
to look it up.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
We'll appreciate the question. Thank you. Do we lose him?
I'm John, Okay, no problem. Let me go to Bernie
also in New Hampshire. Bernie, youre next on Night's side
with Representative Steve Smith at the Great State of New Hampshire.
Go ahead, Bernie. We lost Bernie too. Okay, we're oh
for two there. Let's go to Steve in Merrimack, New Hampshire. Steve,
(15:26):
you went next to them. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
Hell, and Representative Smith, you know, I disagree with this
bill absolutely completely because if you drive around, you know,
the southern part of the state, you see people that
have head lights out, brake lights out, tail lights out.
I even say I got my window down and say,
hey man, you got your uh, you know, your brake
(15:49):
light or your tail light out, you know, because they're
not aware of it. In this economy, people are not
going to do the required maintenance on their car, including
replacing ball tires, which would you know, you know about
hydro planning. You're just opening up the door for people
to defer the maintenance and cause accidents.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
And okay, let's get Representative Smith's response to that. You're
a gentleman. You said it very very effectively representative of
your response.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Well, for unsafe conditions and even equipment stuff you can
already see if they call it a dtag, a deficiency
tag during a traffic stop, we're required to go fix
that thing, and you get out of paying money by
having a mechanic certify the repair and bring it down
to your police station. So for the big stuff like that,
(16:43):
we're still going to have enforcement.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
You do know that was it forty or fifty years
ago that it was twice a year for the inspection
in New Hampshire. I'm sure you're familiar with that, right, yes, yeah,
So they went from twice to once. The non exist.
I think you're opening up the door to Pandora's box
on us, and I think it's just going to be.
(17:07):
You know, somebody's gonna get hurt, and it's just going
to be because somebody just doesn't want to do you know,
any inspection on the car. The salt on the roads
in this state are really bad. It causes break lines.
To us. I've actually in my driving career, I've actually
lost breaks three times. Three times I drove. I drove
all the way from Bedford to Concord without breaks one time. No,
(17:30):
I would never do it again, but it was quite dangerous.
And you know, once the fluid goes out, the break
flood goes out, the only thing you got left is
your parking breaking. It was in down shifting. It's pretty dangerous.
So I'm just at Steve.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
I appreciate thank you very much. I appreciate it. We
got one one positive, one negative. Thanks Steve. We're going
to try to get Bernie in here. Before the break
Bernie in New Hampshire. We lost you there, but your back.
Go ahead, Brunie. You're Almos State representative.
Speaker 6 (17:57):
Steve Smith, go ahead, Hey, I we're doing tonight, Dan.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
Do a great Bruni representative. Go ahead.
Speaker 6 (18:05):
Hey, thank you for your time, Steve. I appreciate it.
And what you're saying makes a lot of sense. I
have eighteen year old twins.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
I have a car. My wife has a car.
Speaker 6 (18:15):
And when we bought tis for the twins when they
turned sixteen, so I bought them in my name. So
on my birthday, I got to pay all the taxes,
go up to the town hall and the state tax
and then go and then go and uh pay that
that money. Then you go and you have to go
all get them all inspected the same time. And it
(18:37):
does become a little a little burdensome. And and thank
you for thinking of the people of New Hampshire and
the constituents and and that's a great, great thing that
you're trying, a good thing you're trying to do. And
I get the other side too. You know, we bought
our kids decent cars. I bought my daughter a twenty
(18:57):
fourteen jettter and my son are twenty fourteen fort fusion.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
They were nice.
Speaker 6 (19:02):
Cars and they I had them looked at, and you know,
it's nice to know that they were in safe CAUs
And sometimes, like you said, I've lived in I'm a
transplanter too, And are you know getting your car inspector
in New Hampshire just this toughen mass and it costs
more money. And I appreciate your effort.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Thanks Bernie, appreciate the call representative. Go right ahead if
you'd like to comment to when Bernie had to say.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
Oh, no, he's right. I mean that stanks having to
get all those cars done at the same time. And
you know they even fought and attempt by us to
be able to spread that out and the other caller,
so the breaks went. All that stuff happened despite the
fact that we have yearly inspections. Do you know they
don't have safety inspections in New Jersey.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
So there's only fourteen states. And I noticed I think
that it was interesting. Texas and Utah was sort of
the only states that I would think as being west
of the Mississippi. Everywhere else in New Hampshire is after all,
the live free or die state, and so it seemed
to me that live free or die is a little bit.
(20:13):
Do you still have to have auto insurance in New
Hampshire or can you still just buy a bond up there?
Speaker 3 (20:18):
You do not need the insurance until you need the insurance,
so you can register the car and drive without getting insurance.
If you cross the state line you could be guilty
of a felony. So again that's just inside New Hampshire.
Don't anybody think I just said if you're from New
Hampshire you can drive everywhere without insurance. I live on
the Vermont border. I can't cross the border without having
(20:39):
car insurance. But if you get an accident and you
can't pay the damages, yeah, you're required to file I
think it's called an SR twenty two get insurance, and
you can actually have your registration and license suspended for
not taking care of the damage if you were a cause.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
So in effect, if you, as someone was only going
to drive in the state of New Hampshire, you can
in effect be theoretically what's called self insured exactly. Okay,
And I don't know if that means you have to
buy a bond or not, but the bottom line is,
if you do get into an accident of which you're
the fault, and you're responsible for the for the damages.
(21:19):
If you can't, yeah, we're.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Gonna We're gonna make sure you pay them.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Yeah, gotcha. Well, New Hampshire it's you know what, New
Hampshire's just a different sort of place, a little different
from Massachusetts, close geographically, but philosophically, quite quite a part representive.
Thanks very much of your time tonight. I really do
appreciate it, and best of luck, look forward to meeting
you someday up there in New Hampshire. My suspicion is that,
uh you you may end up in a in a
(21:43):
higher position of public service. I hope the Republicans up
there can get a couple of these congressional seats back.
I'm stunned that in New Hampshire you hold the governor's seat,
but you have four federal officials, all Democrats, two senators
and two members of so I hope you're thinking about
something like that because you represent yourself, and you represent
(22:08):
your party, and you represent your state very well. I'm
very impressed. Thank you so much for your time tonight.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
Thank you very much for having me all right, and.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
My pleasure anytime come on back soon. When we get
back right after the news, I'm going to ask you
whether you live in New Hampshire or not. Are you
happy having your car inspected if you're live in one
of the fourteen states where cars have to be inspected
on a regular basis, whether it's annually or every couple
of years, or do you think you'd love to live
(22:38):
in a state like New Hampshire where they are at
least contemplating get rid of auto inspections every year a
little bit more convenient. But at the same time, do
you feel a little safer that everybody has had their
car inspections? This is an ultimate question of freedom versus
responsibility seven two, five, four, ten thirty six one, seven,
(23:02):
nine three, one, ten thirty. Come on right back on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on WAZ Boston's
news radio.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
All right, thank you very much, Kyle, As we want
to thank state representative and the Deputy Speaker in the
House of Representatives in New Hampshire, Steve Smith. Uh. He
made a pretty strong argument for getting rid of automobile inspections.
Now they would still inspect commercial vehicles. But I want
to ask you, I don't care where you live. If
(23:36):
you live in a state, and it's only fourteen states,
most of them up here in the Northeast. By the way,
I noticed a couple. One was Texas and one was Utah.
Kind of different type states where they do have mandatory
automobile inspections. I think, all you know in Massachusetts, you
got to keep your eye on that inspection sticker. I
think I'm a May inspection sticker, and sometimes you forget
(23:58):
about it. In all five minus, you got to get
the car inspected. You don't want to get pulled over
for having it an inspection sticker out of date. I
happen to go get my car taken care of at
a great place in Brighton, and I hope that John
McKenzie doesn't isn't offended by But it's Mackenzie Brothers in Brighton.
(24:22):
They have done all the work for years and Channel
four vehicles. They're just great guys. I feel that they
give a good look at the car and they make
sure that what is necessary and to be working. They're
concerned about the safety of me and my family. I
don't feel I'm getting ripped off by them in any way,
(24:43):
shape or form. They're just great people at Mackenzie's and
if anybody's over there, it's funny you walk in and
someday you're there and you know they'll be, you know,
some one of the Bruins players there. Whatever. I mean,
they have a pretty good clientele. They're not easy to
find in Brighton, but they do great work. By the way,
on a personal basis, they just are. They're wonderful people,
(25:06):
really good people. The whole group. John and his top
assist in his right hand man, Tom does a great
job as well. So I'd like to hear from you
on this one. I know there's some inconvenience with getting
your car inspected and a cost. It's about thirty nine dollars.
It seems to go up every year. God knows, maybe
it is going to go up more. It's tough to schedule,
(25:29):
to be honest with you, because some days if you
don't set it up in advance, although John McKenzie is
always very good to me and somehow works me in
pretty quickly. But if you don't, you can go to
an inspection place. I would never take my car to
an inspection location that I was unfamiliar with because I
(25:53):
want to make sure if I'm going to get an inspection,
get a real inspection, and have somebody who has a
personal interest in you and your vehicle. But I'd like
to know from you. Would you be willing to see
inspections go away or maybe make them voluntary. I would
think that if we were to make them voluntary, the
people who would not volunteer to have their cars inspected
(26:16):
are the ones who would need their cars to be inspected.
It is a regressive obligation. Most people who can afford
an inspection, which I would include myself from that. I'm
not down on my last forty dollars or thirty nine dollars.
Can we can afford and it's for our own safety.
(26:37):
But I'd love to hear from you wherever you are,
and particularly if you're hear in New England. We have
tough driving conditions. You want your car to be in
good shape. You want the lights to work. Most of
us can figure out if our horn works and our
lights work, but there are other things that they can
find that are important. So join the conversation. Six one, seven, two, five,
four ten thirty six one seven, nine, ten thirty. I
(27:01):
wonder what they do in Idaho. Well, here's Laurie. Laurie
will be able to tell us what they do in Idaho.
You do not have car inspections in Idaho? Correct, No, we.
Speaker 7 (27:10):
Do not, nor did we in Montana, which kind of
freaked me out. And my job just about hit the
floor when I heard you think the night that they
were looking at getting rid of it, because obviously I
grew up with it and just just the thing, it
didn't really bother me that much. But the thing that
drives me crazy is the exhaust You know, I hate
the lack of emissions tests because I hate sim behind
some car belching disgusting exhausts.
Speaker 4 (27:32):
And that's well.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
The other thing is, I can't tell you how many times,
particularly this time of year, when the when you start
to roll your windows down or whatever, people are out
and you can't the guy who's who's driving the car,
muffler's not working, there's no muffler, and you say, where's
the cop when you need him? Exactly pull the guy over.
Speaker 7 (27:53):
No, remember my car, they would have been there.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
So So did you say that Montana does have inspection?
Speaker 7 (28:00):
I know it didn't know I did not either. That's
when I first get out there. What do you mean
there's no safety inspections, and these rattle trapped things that
have them shouldn't even be on the road.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Yeah. So well, even though you were in New Hampshire
right at heart, this is one that you feel is necessary.
The only state in your neck of the woods that
I could see I looked at a map, it was Utah.
The Mormons have their cars inspected.
Speaker 7 (28:29):
I don't know, they like breathing clean air.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Maybe well, maybe you know there is a that's a
state that relies on ski resorts a lot. Matter of fact,
I talked to a friend of mine this afternoon who
is skiing at a Utah ski resort. Yeah. Yeah, still
getting some snow. Didn't they have a big snowstore in
Colorado a couple of days ago. I mean it's probably
(28:56):
melted quickly.
Speaker 7 (28:58):
Yeah, but no, that's we got snow on the mountaintops here.
Speaker 4 (29:01):
Still.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
So, how are the roads in Idaho? I mean, I'm
assuming that you got to you know, we have frost
heaves in Massachusetts and all of that, But I assume
that you got some rough roads in Idaho.
Speaker 7 (29:13):
Oh yeah, yeah, the ones that aren't the state roads
and the National War growths can be in really rough shape.
And yeah in the winter, they're not fun.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
How many times have you, you know, blown a tire
going through a pothole out there or have you avoided
that problem so far?
Speaker 7 (29:31):
I knock on wood, I have never blown a tire
on a pothole.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Good, good, Okay, Well, I don't.
Speaker 7 (29:36):
Know how I imagine it. I just I'm always looking
for my guests. But but I've got I've got a
big truck right now, so it's not such a big thing.
But yeah, yeah, okay, but yeah, I'm kind of for
the inspections. I don't know, it didn't it didn't really
bother me. And the other thing that always made me
is gizars are stories attest to our birthday and everywhere
I go, people well, I expect this is not there
(29:57):
that month, and I'm like, it's not in June, that's
your birthday.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
No, fine, yeah, well it's whatever you get and they
won't extend it. So for example, last year, I was
I think March thirty first, I was right up against
the deadline, and you know, you're hoping that they might
slap a June inspection stick up. Nope, nope, nope, nope.
I think even if you bring it in on like
(30:20):
June second, and if you avoided the long arm of
the law, they revert and they gave it that you're
not able to steal a month.
Speaker 7 (30:28):
You eat that month.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Yep, Nope, nope, nope, nope, they do not they do
not do that. Lauri, great to talk to you. Red
Sox lost today four to three. Crochet I got a
little bit in the first few winnings. It was an
afternoon baseball game. Was delightful. I was able to watch
a little afternoon baseball.
Speaker 7 (30:44):
Good morning baseball for me. And that's three hours I
can't get back in my life.
Speaker 5 (30:48):
But that's okay, that's right.
Speaker 7 (30:51):
They made it close in the end.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
They did, they did, but they they just had some
opportunities and Seattle could have blown it open, really blown
it open, but they did.
Speaker 8 (31:00):
That's true.
Speaker 7 (31:01):
So there was how long did how long did Crochet?
Speaker 8 (31:04):
Pitch?
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Five five innings? Gave up four runs and runs They
lit him up. They lit him up a little bit.
It was not his best performance, but hey, yeah, you're
not going to throw a shout at any one every week. Yeah,
and again, not an impressive lineup. The best Seattle hit hitter, Rodriguez, uh,
he handled him. Very well. It was like the eight
and the nine guys in the lineupoint never heard of
(31:27):
who lit him up a little bit. So that's baseball
for you. Well, yeah, in his best still early where
one game over five hundred and fourteen and thirteen. We'll
keep it, We'll keep counting. Thanks Laurie, talk to you soon, Okay,
have a good bye, Thank you, thank you. Okay. One
line at six months seven four thirty and two lines
at six month seven nine three, one ten thirty got
(31:48):
Brandon and Wakefield, Marian and Bridgewater. We're asking you if
you could wave a magic wand and you could eliminate
automobile inspections and truck inspections, you know, privately held vehicles,
not the commercial vehicles. Would you do so? So far
we've had different responses, but so far nothing of a consensus.
(32:09):
Back on Nightside right after this.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Night Side with Dan Ray Ibs Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
Hoorile, let's keep roll. I'm going to go to Brandon
and Wakefield. Brandon, what do you think about the idea
to eliminate automobile annual checks checkups? What's your thought?
Speaker 7 (32:30):
Hey?
Speaker 8 (32:30):
Dan, how's it going great?
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Brandon? Thanks for checking in your your idea on getting
rid of annual automobile checkups.
Speaker 8 (32:41):
So we spend a lot of money, right, so you
buy a brand new car, right twenty twenty four, every
year we have to get it inspected. I really think
every five years or every ten years, then you need
the inspection. So if your car is five years old,
no inspection needed. Maybe if it's you have to get
(33:01):
an inspection every five years. If it's fifteen years old,
then every year.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
Oh that's an interesting Okay, that's yeah, based upon the
age of the car. Okay, I like that.
Speaker 8 (33:13):
Yeah, you know you have to bring new car that
you're gonna get inspected. Like you go in and then
somebody that's not mechanically inclined or or somebody that doesn't
know about automobiles, they're going to go in to a
mechanic shop, They're going to go for their inspection. They're
gonna say, oh, you really need this, and potentially they
could take advantage of that person.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
That's really that's a really good point. You know, it
might be that maybe for the first three years that
you have a new car, there's no inspection needed, but
maybe by year four or five, Yeah, you have to
have one and then maybe it's every two or three
years for a while. But no, I agree with you. Now,
I'm sure a lot of the automotive dealers will not
be happy with that. But that's an interesting that's kind
(33:56):
of a compromise. I like you, thanking Brandon.
Speaker 8 (34:00):
Yeah, it's because, like, I'm not gonna lie. I don't
think I've got an inspection to sticker in probably a
couple of years.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
Are driving. How do you drive? Well? How do you
drive in Massachusetts without one?
Speaker 8 (34:14):
Nobody looks at it?
Speaker 2 (34:18):
Okay, good luck, Brandon. I mean that seriously. I you
sound like a smart guy. I just be careful. You know.
Speaker 8 (34:30):
I'm not you know, I'm an honest guy. And it
was funny.
Speaker 4 (34:34):
I was.
Speaker 8 (34:34):
I was actually heading home from Penway. I went to
the game, and I was driving home. I was listening
to you guys, and I looked over. I'm like, and
I have my car is a twenty twenty two.
Speaker 2 (34:46):
Okay, Well, good for you, Good for you. I promise
I'm not gonna say anything. No one, no one knows
who you are.
Speaker 8 (34:52):
Don't tell anybody.
Speaker 4 (34:53):
No.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
We have to the cloak of We put the cloak
of silence on the last part of the interview. Brandon, thanks,
I love it.
Speaker 8 (35:00):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (35:01):
How are your seats at the ball game today?
Speaker 8 (35:04):
It was awesome. We actually sat down on the field box.
It was great. I love it down there. You're you're
right there with the crowd, so nice. I love what what?
Speaker 2 (35:14):
What did crocheted? He didn't have his stuff today?
Speaker 8 (35:18):
I know it was disappointing, but look, a couple of
times almost it looked like his spikes might have caught
on the mound.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
A couple of times he seemed to stumble a little bit,
and that can obviously be a problem. So yeah, he'll
get him next time. I got him next time.
Speaker 8 (35:33):
The best part was at the end of the game today,
all the kids were able to run around the field
because it was a one one thirty five game and
the kids had a blast. You could see him all
running around. It was awesome.
Speaker 2 (35:48):
That's what they should be able to do. Brandon, first time.
Speaker 8 (35:50):
Caller tonight, I don't know, second time.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
Second time, we'll call more off. And I enjoyed it
really a whole lot. And you had a great day.
You're lucky. You're a lucky guy. Thanks, Brandon. We'll talk
so all right, all right, thank you? Let me go
to Marianne Bridgewater, Marianne to inspect or not to inspect.
That is the question.
Speaker 8 (36:11):
How are you okay?
Speaker 9 (36:13):
I'm fine? Thanks Dan? So Dan, you know I'm cracking
up over here because this guy Brandon two years, three
years without a sticker. I go one month without a sticker.
I'm packed down by the Federal courthouse near Mass General.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (36:30):
Don't you think I get a ticket? Not because I'm
packed illegally because my inspection sticker expired. Oh no, I
mean like it doesn't matter. I'll get pulled over in Bridgewater.
F I'm like three days late. Please So Brandon, God
(36:51):
bless you. But anyway, potholes in Idaho, I put my
fabrand new. I'm gonna tell you I know exactly where
the potholes are because I have replaced nine tires in
six years. And I'm gonna tell yah, I sit there
and about how people avoid these and I have little
(37:11):
profile tires, So you know what it's my fault. And
as far as inspection stick is, I think we should
have him every two years, you know. And I'm gonna
tell you in the hands.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
I'm with you on that. Yeah, nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 9 (37:27):
Rhode Island has it every two years. My mom, who's well,
she's ninety five now, but at the time she was
eighty nine. She had her car and shoed and inspected
every year, and she lived in Salem, New Hampshire. And
I can tell you I drove it and I said, now,
time's wrong at your front end. She says, no, no, no,
it's on your mind. She says, I hadn't inspected. And
(37:49):
she went to the same guy every year. W it
was because of WBZ. I found out about the accident,
but they didn't announce her name, but I called the house.
I knew where she was heading. She blocked off twenty
eight North going to Windham to bring her dog. Her
tyrod went. Now that's what we inspect here in mass
(38:11):
when they you know, when they lift the tyrant, they
whiggle it around and stuff something called a tyrod. Well,
I can tell you that it was during heavy community
and Salem at the time, and it was on wt
announced it that the roads were blocked off. Tyrod went
on my mother's car. She went across the highway and
(38:33):
the oncoming traffic, you know those big meadow like there.
I don't know what they called electrical boxes down by
where the bridges are, or control boxes or something. Her
call landed in between two of them. If it wasn't
for the bystanders that my mother would have died. And
the dog, one woman took my mom's little you know,
(38:56):
she had an Italian greyhound. My mother ended up getting going,
ended up getting med flighted mass General me. But I
mean she's alive, she was fine.
Speaker 2 (39:07):
You know.
Speaker 9 (39:08):
The thing was, is that what goods you have an inspection?
If you miss a tirod.
Speaker 2 (39:13):
That's that's that's a bad inspection. Marian, I've got a
little problem. I got the news coming at me. I'm so,
is your mom still with us? I hope is your
mom still?
Speaker 9 (39:22):
Yeah, she is. She's ninety five, but she doesn't drive anymore.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
That's okay, none of us will at that point. Marian.
Thank you so much, love your calls. You too. We'll
talk soon to those of you on the line. Stay there.
I want to talk to Joan in Alaska, Angelo and
Newton and Galen new Hampshire. Joan and Alaska will take
you first, coming back on night side right after the
ten o'clock news
It's Nightside with Dan Ray on WBZY, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Home. All right, welcome back everyone, Thanks very much, Dan Walkins.
We came upon an interesting story yesterday dealing with our friends,
our neighbors to the north, the state of New Hampshire.
The New Hampshire State House of Representatives has recently overwhelmingly
decided that they passed a piece of legislation which would
(00:26):
eliminate the annual motor vehicle safety inspections. I didn't realize,
because we live here in Massachusetts and all of us
have been used to motor vehicle inspections since since the
dawn of time, that there's only fourteen states in the country,
of which Massachusetts and New Hampshire are both one of
those fourteen who require a safety inspection every year. With
(00:49):
us is the New Hampshire Deputy Speaker of the House
of Representatives, Representative Steven Smith. Representative Smith, welcome to Nightside.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
How are you great? Thank you for having me, well, thanks.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
For thanks for joining us tonight. You know, New Hampshire is,
as you know, well know, the live free or die state.
Massachusetts is anything, but we still remain Taxachusetts. So the
fact that we have car inspections that cost us I
think thirty nine dollars every year doesn't surprise me. But
(01:23):
I was kind of surprised that New Hampshire has inspections.
But you folks want to change that. Tell us why.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
It is probably the most hated law in the land,
especially the way we do it. Your registration and your
inspection are tied to your month of birth. So happy birthday.
Before you celebrate, go give you town clerk a couple
hundred dollars to register your car and then go see
if you have a big repair bell that's going to
(01:51):
be due by the end of the month. People just
hate it and that they want it gone.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Now, how much is there a benefit to it? I
don't want to play Devil's advocate, but if I'm sitting
at a red light with my family in the car
and some knucklehead is speeding down towards the red light
and hits his brakes and he has and checked his
breaks in about seven years, obviously you could be adversely
(02:18):
impacted by that. What do they do? Do they really
do a decent inspection or is it simply perfunctory.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Oh no, they do an inspection. The what you bring
up is a really good point. But in states particularly
that had it and got rid of it, you know,
we look for the data where everybody died after that happened,
and it's just not there. And the most odious part
of the program is called OBD onboard diagnostics. That's where
(02:49):
your car that is completely safe, that runs great, that
gets you everywhere you need to go, they plug it
in and it throws some code that you don't know
about or understand, and now you have some big problems.
People just hate that.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
They're ben they've done that. My car is eleven years old,
so sure. Now I happen to have a guy who's
a great guy. I'm not gonna say what his name
is in the radio, but it's a it's a pretty
low key process. But again it's what so what is
the charge for the inspection up there? You know? The
inspection down here is thirty nine dollars flat, So it's
(03:24):
kind of a regressive tax. Whether you're you're driving you know,
some sort of a Ferrari or or you're driving an
eleven year old Volvo, you're gonna pay the same thing
for the inspection, the auto excess.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
You know what I drive? Huh, how did you know
what I drive.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Well, that's what I drive.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Mine's a little older twenty twelve. I just upgraded from
my two thousand and three Volvo.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Yeah, well I did the same thing. I've been a
Vovo guy all along, but I'm I'm not buying a
new Vovo because I think that Volvos are not as
good as they used to be. They're no longer made
I think by the Swedish company and said, hey, man,
I'm hearing some bad stuff. But yeah, I've had Voval
since eighty six.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
And yeah, yeah, we don't send him statewide. My guy
was like forty bucks forever, and he finally raised it
to fifty. I mean because if you go through everything,
it can take about an hour, and that's still less
than the hourly shop rate. Someplaces charge more. And right now,
there's see a couple of car dealers that have signs
(04:27):
out by the road free inspections, no appointment necessary, come
on in. I guess I'm not going to comment on that,
but I don't think I need to.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Well, well, wait, I'm a little confused here. I'm not
that I'm not that dense, but uh, we had invited
someone from the car dealer the car associated the Auto
Automotive Automobile Dealers Association, which is, I guess, on the
opposite side of the street from you folks here to
join the conversation. But we haven't heard back from them.
(05:01):
So what is the deal that they're they're advertising free inspections?
I mean, obviously, is this to make people more friendly
and trying to convince people to to to solicit. You've
got to get it through the state Senate before you
get into the governor's desk. As I understand the procedure,
what's the importusion of that. I'm not particularly dense, but
(05:24):
I just want to I don't understand what I think
I know what they're doing, but tell me.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
I don't know what they're doing. But I mean, their
job is to tell you that your current car is
dunking you need to buy a new one in their
offering state inspections.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Okay, I get it now, I get it.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:43):
Yeah, so they may tell you.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
They may tell you, for example, that your chabin is
out of out of alignment, right I used to, but
remember this representative, there's no such thing as the chaban,
you know. Yes, yeah, let me say, like you got
a problem with your jave and how much will that cost.
It's about a three thousand dollars deal. We'll take the
(06:06):
car for a few hours and we'll get it in line.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Yeah, and you know, I don't want to beat up
the shops because most of them are great, they are reputable.
But I mean, the fact is, if you've driven your
car for a year on our roads, I can find
something wrong with it. Now, that doesn't mean it's a
safety violation. It might be you really ought to look
at this and take care of this soon. But I
(06:33):
wouldn't not give it a sticker and take literally take
the car off the road because of it.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Yeah, well that's what I think. Of course, if you
don't make it mandatory, the good citizens will take the
car in because they're good citizens once a year. The
people won't take it in. They're the ones that will
cause the problem. So let me ask you without you know,
obviously you are a remember the Great House Chamber. And
(07:00):
by the way, you think your roads are bad up there,
take a ride here in Massachusetts Representative Okay. I have
had many conversations with former Governor Sununu, who's a great
guy and a great friend, and he as recently as
a month ago was regaling me with the numbers of
how inexpensively your roads are maintained. We spend like four
(07:24):
times per mile on our roads here in Massachusetts, and
they are in far worse shape than anything I've ever
seen in New Hampshire. Trust me, we are the pothole
capital of the world right here in Massachusetts. They have
been known to swallow cars whole. The guard just disappears.
So what's going to happen in the Senate side? You
(07:46):
got to better vote. You did a good job corralling
your your vote, your Republican and some Democrats up there.
What's what's what's going to happen in the Senate with
this piece of legislation.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
I don't have any idea. It's I mean, the bill's
got an incredible support and well, I'm not gonna lie.
When I got up to do the closing on the
House floor, I really thought I was going down in flames,
and then I saw the vote. Wow, that was big.
So the bills, the bills got momentum. Maybe they will
(08:19):
walk it back from a full repeal. I don't know.
But we have been trying to reform this program for
so many years, and we just can't get reasonable changes through.
I went as far as to at least let people
decide when they want to pay the bills and divorce
the inspection from the registration month. Maybe you want to
(08:40):
wait until you get your tax refunds, so maybe June
works for you. So when June rolls around, get your
car inspected, and now your sticker is good for a year.
We have a full court press opposing that it was crazy.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
The House vote, as you know, was two twelve to
so that's a pretty good, pretty good vote.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
I'll have done that bipartisan, right, That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
You still have the majority, but you must have picked
up a good number of Democratic votes. What is the
first of all? I'm in prior years. I kind of
imagine Chris Sinuna would oppose this. What's Kelly Aot saying?
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Have an ask? Honestly, we're waiting for the part where
we get whatever we're going to get back from the Senate.
They can simply pass it and send it to her.
I doubt that's going to happen because they probably like
to get their fingerprints on it. So if there's some amendment,
then the House will have to concur non concur which
(09:39):
would kill it, or non concur request to committee a
conference to hash out our differences, and then whatever comes
out of that product would go to the governor. I
hope they send it back to us with some amendment
that we can live with, and then we can just
send it to her and that would have a lot
more power. You know, the legislature overwhelming voted for the spill,
(10:01):
agreed on a change together. That landing on the Governor's
desk is a powerful thing.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Okay, well, Representative, I appreciate you joining us tonight and
explaining it again. We had invited someone, my producer had
attempted to get someone on the other side of the
issue from the New Hampshire Automobile Dealers Association. Are they
the group that really is opposed to this? Are they
the leading the charge in the other direction?
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Okay, so we at least invited the right side of
the other side of the argument. I'm not going to
say that.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Yeah, And honestly, for many years I worked with them
to defend the program. But after the stubborn resistance to
reasonable reforms when real problems come up, I've just had
my fill and I'm done, and it's time for it
to go.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Well, first of all, congratulations and by the way, the
New Hampshire Legislature is the best legislature in the country
as far as I'm concerned.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
No, I'm serious. I know that you folks do this. Uh.
I think the paycheck every the annual pay I think
it's one hundred dollars or something like that. I mean,
it's uh compared to Massachusetts. We have people who you know,
who become multi millionaires by by being members of our legislature.
Here in Massachusetts. It's a whole different experience, but keeping.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
The benefits instead.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Oh yes, of course, of course. Do you do you
guys have the prettyem mileage up there or.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Do you would you get a mileage allowance?
Speaker 2 (11:33):
You do? Okay?
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Well, yeah, whatever the federal rate is, I think at
the half a buck a mile or something like that.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Yeah, yeah, okay, Well, that's that's more than justified. If
if you want, you want to stick with middle nine thirty,
we'll grab a couple of phone calls if you like,
see what they have to say. Okay, great, My guest
is Representative Steven Smith. Uh, your title, you are not
the the the speaker of the House up there, you're
(12:00):
idol is the House Deputy Speaker? Are you the only
House Deputy Speaker or are there several House Deputy Speakers?
Speaker 3 (12:08):
Nope, it's just me. When those speaker is out of state,
I take over his duties when he's not presiding in
the House Chamber, I do. Okay, I have some of
the duties as well.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
So in the House, in effect, you're the number two
guy in the House. And if you've been in the
legislature how many years now?
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Oh, fifteen, I got elected in two thousand and ten.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Okay, great, And someday my suspicion is you will be
Speaker of the House of Representatives in New Hampshire if
you want it. If you'd like to talk with Representative
Steven Smith six one seven, two, five four ten thirty
six one seven nine three one ten thirty, my question,
real simple is what do you think of this idea?
(12:49):
I think it's an interesting argument. It's one of those
arguments that is not one hundred percent that there's some
a little there's some pretty good arguments on both sides.
Representative Smith has done a great job for sting his
side and the side of the majority of the members
of the House up there. Back on night Side right
after this quick break.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on w BEAZ,
Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
My guest is State Representative Stephen Smith. He is a
member of the House of Representatives and he also serves
in the Republican leadership side. He is the House Deputy Speaker,
which means he's the second in command. Let's get to
the phones. We're going to go to WILLI is in Hudson,
New Hampshire. Will you're a New Hampshire resident. What do
you think about this idea? You're with the Representative Smith,
(13:36):
Go right ahead.
Speaker 5 (13:38):
I am yes, Thank you, Dan, Representative Smith. I think
it's a great idea. Kind of like you mentioned, it
becomes a bit onerous every month when it's your birthday
they have to do this. I actually a transplant from Massachusetts,
where I know at least there they do it on
the anniversary of whenever you purchased the car or register
(14:00):
of the car, which is a little easier than trying
to do it based on a birthday. I guess the
other question I would have somewhat related would be I
also have purchased cars from out of state that have
had window tint. And I know in New Hampshire we
(14:20):
only allow tint on. We don't allow it on the
front glass of the passenger or driver side. So would
that also go away with this bill? As far as
from a safety perspective.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
That is a great question because most of the inspection
stuff is an administrative rules, not statute, which is another problem.
The tint stuff is actually in the statute. Now, if
the tint is factory, you're good because in an hamsher
law only applies to aftermarket tent on the front windows.
There was a process where if you had a skin
(14:54):
condition or something, you could get a note from your
doctor and get a medical waiver to allow that in
any event. But that's a good question, and I'll have
to look it up.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
We'll appreciate the question. Thank you. Do we lose him?
I'm John, Okay, no problem. Let me go to Bernie
also in New Hampshire. Bernie, youre next on Night's side
with Representative Steve Smith at the Great State of New Hampshire.
Go ahead, Bernie. We lost Bernie too. Okay, we're oh
for two there. Let's go to Steve in Merrimack, New Hampshire. Steve,
(15:26):
you went next to them. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
Hell, and Representative Smith, you know, I disagree with this
bill absolutely completely because if you drive around, you know,
the southern part of the state, you see people that
have head lights out, brake lights out, tail lights out.
I even say I got my window down and say,
hey man, you got your uh, you know, your brake
(15:49):
light or your tail light out, you know, because they're
not aware of it. In this economy, people are not
going to do the required maintenance on their car, including
replacing ball tires, which would you know, you know about
hydro planning. You're just opening up the door for people
to defer the maintenance and cause accidents.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
And okay, let's get Representative Smith's response to that. You're
a gentleman. You said it very very effectively representative of
your response.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Well, for unsafe conditions and even equipment stuff you can
already see if they call it a dtag, a deficiency
tag during a traffic stop, we're required to go fix
that thing, and you get out of paying money by
having a mechanic certify the repair and bring it down
to your police station. So for the big stuff like that,
(16:43):
we're still going to have enforcement.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
You do know that was it forty or fifty years
ago that it was twice a year for the inspection
in New Hampshire. I'm sure you're familiar with that, right, yes, yeah,
So they went from twice to once. The non exist.
I think you're opening up the door to Pandora's box
on us, and I think it's just going to be.
(17:07):
You know, somebody's gonna get hurt, and it's just going
to be because somebody just doesn't want to do you know,
any inspection on the car. The salt on the roads
in this state are really bad. It causes break lines.
To us. I've actually in my driving career, I've actually
lost breaks three times. Three times I drove. I drove
all the way from Bedford to Concord without breaks one time. No,
(17:30):
I would never do it again, but it was quite dangerous.
And you know, once the fluid goes out, the break
flood goes out, the only thing you got left is
your parking breaking. It was in down shifting. It's pretty dangerous.
So I'm just at Steve.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
I appreciate thank you very much. I appreciate it. We
got one one positive, one negative. Thanks Steve. We're going
to try to get Bernie in here. Before the break
Bernie in New Hampshire. We lost you there, but your back.
Go ahead, Brunie. You're Almos State representative.
Speaker 6 (17:57):
Steve Smith, go ahead, Hey, I we're doing tonight, Dan.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
Do a great Bruni representative. Go ahead.
Speaker 6 (18:05):
Hey, thank you for your time, Steve. I appreciate it.
And what you're saying makes a lot of sense. I
have eighteen year old twins.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
I have a car. My wife has a car.
Speaker 6 (18:15):
And when we bought tis for the twins when they
turned sixteen, so I bought them in my name. So
on my birthday, I got to pay all the taxes,
go up to the town hall and the state tax
and then go and then go and uh pay that
that money. Then you go and you have to go
all get them all inspected the same time. And it
(18:37):
does become a little a little burdensome. And and thank
you for thinking of the people of New Hampshire and
the constituents and and that's a great, great thing that
you're trying, a good thing you're trying to do. And
I get the other side too. You know, we bought
our kids decent cars. I bought my daughter a twenty
(18:57):
fourteen jettter and my son are twenty fourteen fort fusion.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
They were nice.
Speaker 6 (19:02):
Cars and they I had them looked at, and you know,
it's nice to know that they were in safe CAUs
And sometimes, like you said, I've lived in I'm a
transplanter too, And are you know getting your car inspector
in New Hampshire just this toughen mass and it costs
more money. And I appreciate your effort.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Thanks Bernie, appreciate the call representative. Go right ahead if
you'd like to comment to when Bernie had to say.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
Oh, no, he's right. I mean that stanks having to
get all those cars done at the same time. And
you know they even fought and attempt by us to
be able to spread that out and the other caller,
so the breaks went. All that stuff happened despite the
fact that we have yearly inspections. Do you know they
don't have safety inspections in New Jersey.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
So there's only fourteen states. And I noticed I think
that it was interesting. Texas and Utah was sort of
the only states that I would think as being west
of the Mississippi. Everywhere else in New Hampshire is after all,
the live free or die state, and so it seemed
to me that live free or die is a little bit.
(20:13):
Do you still have to have auto insurance in New
Hampshire or can you still just buy a bond up there?
Speaker 3 (20:18):
You do not need the insurance until you need the insurance,
so you can register the car and drive without getting insurance.
If you cross the state line you could be guilty
of a felony. So again that's just inside New Hampshire.
Don't anybody think I just said if you're from New
Hampshire you can drive everywhere without insurance. I live on
the Vermont border. I can't cross the border without having
(20:39):
car insurance. But if you get an accident and you
can't pay the damages, yeah, you're required to file I
think it's called an SR twenty two get insurance, and
you can actually have your registration and license suspended for
not taking care of the damage if you were a cause.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
So in effect, if you, as someone was only going
to drive in the state of New Hampshire, you can
in effect be theoretically what's called self insured exactly. Okay,
And I don't know if that means you have to
buy a bond or not, but the bottom line is,
if you do get into an accident of which you're
the fault, and you're responsible for the for the damages.
(21:19):
If you can't, yeah, we're.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Gonna We're gonna make sure you pay them.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Yeah, gotcha. Well, New Hampshire it's you know what, New
Hampshire's just a different sort of place, a little different
from Massachusetts, close geographically, but philosophically, quite quite a part representive.
Thanks very much of your time tonight. I really do
appreciate it, and best of luck, look forward to meeting
you someday up there in New Hampshire. My suspicion is that,
uh you you may end up in a in a
(21:43):
higher position of public service. I hope the Republicans up
there can get a couple of these congressional seats back.
I'm stunned that in New Hampshire you hold the governor's seat,
but you have four federal officials, all Democrats, two senators
and two members of so I hope you're thinking about
something like that because you represent yourself, and you represent
(22:08):
your party, and you represent your state very well. I'm
very impressed. Thank you so much for your time tonight.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
Thank you very much for having me all right, and.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
My pleasure anytime come on back soon. When we get
back right after the news, I'm going to ask you
whether you live in New Hampshire or not. Are you
happy having your car inspected if you're live in one
of the fourteen states where cars have to be inspected
on a regular basis, whether it's annually or every couple
of years, or do you think you'd love to live
(22:38):
in a state like New Hampshire where they are at
least contemplating get rid of auto inspections every year a
little bit more convenient. But at the same time, do
you feel a little safer that everybody has had their
car inspections? This is an ultimate question of freedom versus
responsibility seven two, five, four, ten thirty six one, seven,
(23:02):
nine three, one, ten thirty. Come on right back on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on WAZ Boston's
news radio.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
All right, thank you very much, Kyle, As we want
to thank state representative and the Deputy Speaker in the
House of Representatives in New Hampshire, Steve Smith. Uh. He
made a pretty strong argument for getting rid of automobile inspections.
Now they would still inspect commercial vehicles. But I want
to ask you, I don't care where you live. If
(23:36):
you live in a state, and it's only fourteen states,
most of them up here in the Northeast. By the way,
I noticed a couple. One was Texas and one was Utah.
Kind of different type states where they do have mandatory
automobile inspections. I think, all you know in Massachusetts, you
got to keep your eye on that inspection sticker. I
think I'm a May inspection sticker, and sometimes you forget
(23:58):
about it. In all five minus, you got to get
the car inspected. You don't want to get pulled over
for having it an inspection sticker out of date. I
happen to go get my car taken care of at
a great place in Brighton, and I hope that John
McKenzie doesn't isn't offended by But it's Mackenzie Brothers in Brighton.
(24:22):
They have done all the work for years and Channel
four vehicles. They're just great guys. I feel that they
give a good look at the car and they make
sure that what is necessary and to be working. They're
concerned about the safety of me and my family. I
don't feel I'm getting ripped off by them in any way,
(24:43):
shape or form. They're just great people at Mackenzie's and
if anybody's over there, it's funny you walk in and
someday you're there and you know they'll be, you know,
some one of the Bruins players there. Whatever. I mean,
they have a pretty good clientele. They're not easy to
find in Brighton, but they do great work. By the way,
on a personal basis, they just are. They're wonderful people,
(25:06):
really good people. The whole group. John and his top
assist in his right hand man, Tom does a great
job as well. So I'd like to hear from you
on this one. I know there's some inconvenience with getting
your car inspected and a cost. It's about thirty nine dollars.
It seems to go up every year. God knows, maybe
it is going to go up more. It's tough to schedule,
(25:29):
to be honest with you, because some days if you
don't set it up in advance, although John McKenzie is
always very good to me and somehow works me in
pretty quickly. But if you don't, you can go to
an inspection place. I would never take my car to
an inspection location that I was unfamiliar with because I
(25:53):
want to make sure if I'm going to get an inspection,
get a real inspection, and have somebody who has a
personal interest in you and your vehicle. But I'd like
to know from you. Would you be willing to see
inspections go away or maybe make them voluntary. I would
think that if we were to make them voluntary, the
people who would not volunteer to have their cars inspected
(26:16):
are the ones who would need their cars to be inspected.
It is a regressive obligation. Most people who can afford
an inspection, which I would include myself from that. I'm
not down on my last forty dollars or thirty nine dollars.
Can we can afford and it's for our own safety.
(26:37):
But I'd love to hear from you wherever you are,
and particularly if you're hear in New England. We have
tough driving conditions. You want your car to be in
good shape. You want the lights to work. Most of
us can figure out if our horn works and our
lights work, but there are other things that they can
find that are important. So join the conversation. Six one, seven, two, five,
four ten thirty six one seven, nine, ten thirty. I
(27:01):
wonder what they do in Idaho. Well, here's Laurie. Laurie
will be able to tell us what they do in Idaho.
You do not have car inspections in Idaho? Correct, No, we.
Speaker 7 (27:10):
Do not, nor did we in Montana, which kind of
freaked me out. And my job just about hit the
floor when I heard you think the night that they
were looking at getting rid of it, because obviously I
grew up with it and just just the thing, it
didn't really bother me that much. But the thing that
drives me crazy is the exhaust You know, I hate
the lack of emissions tests because I hate sim behind
some car belching disgusting exhausts.
Speaker 4 (27:32):
And that's well.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
The other thing is, I can't tell you how many times,
particularly this time of year, when the when you start
to roll your windows down or whatever, people are out
and you can't the guy who's who's driving the car,
muffler's not working, there's no muffler, and you say, where's
the cop when you need him? Exactly pull the guy over.
Speaker 7 (27:53):
No, remember my car, they would have been there.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
So So did you say that Montana does have inspection?
Speaker 7 (28:00):
I know it didn't know I did not either. That's
when I first get out there. What do you mean
there's no safety inspections, and these rattle trapped things that
have them shouldn't even be on the road.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Yeah. So well, even though you were in New Hampshire
right at heart, this is one that you feel is necessary.
The only state in your neck of the woods that
I could see I looked at a map, it was Utah.
The Mormons have their cars inspected.
Speaker 7 (28:29):
I don't know, they like breathing clean air.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Maybe well, maybe you know there is a that's a
state that relies on ski resorts a lot. Matter of fact,
I talked to a friend of mine this afternoon who
is skiing at a Utah ski resort. Yeah. Yeah, still
getting some snow. Didn't they have a big snowstore in
Colorado a couple of days ago. I mean it's probably
(28:56):
melted quickly.
Speaker 7 (28:58):
Yeah, but no, that's we got snow on the mountaintops here.
Speaker 4 (29:01):
Still.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
So, how are the roads in Idaho? I mean, I'm
assuming that you got to you know, we have frost
heaves in Massachusetts and all of that, But I assume
that you got some rough roads in Idaho.
Speaker 7 (29:13):
Oh yeah, yeah, the ones that aren't the state roads
and the National War growths can be in really rough shape.
And yeah in the winter, they're not fun.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
How many times have you, you know, blown a tire
going through a pothole out there or have you avoided
that problem so far?
Speaker 7 (29:31):
I knock on wood, I have never blown a tire
on a pothole.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Good, good, Okay, Well, I don't.
Speaker 7 (29:36):
Know how I imagine it. I just I'm always looking
for my guests. But but I've got I've got a
big truck right now, so it's not such a big thing.
But yeah, yeah, okay, but yeah, I'm kind of for
the inspections. I don't know, it didn't it didn't really
bother me. And the other thing that always made me
is gizars are stories attest to our birthday and everywhere
I go, people well, I expect this is not there
(29:57):
that month, and I'm like, it's not in June, that's
your birthday.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
No, fine, yeah, well it's whatever you get and they
won't extend it. So for example, last year, I was
I think March thirty first, I was right up against
the deadline, and you know, you're hoping that they might
slap a June inspection stick up. Nope, nope, nope, nope.
I think even if you bring it in on like
(30:20):
June second, and if you avoided the long arm of
the law, they revert and they gave it that you're
not able to steal a month.
Speaker 7 (30:28):
You eat that month.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Yep, Nope, nope, nope, nope, they do not they do
not do that. Lauri, great to talk to you. Red
Sox lost today four to three. Crochet I got a
little bit in the first few winnings. It was an
afternoon baseball game. Was delightful. I was able to watch
a little afternoon baseball.
Speaker 7 (30:44):
Good morning baseball for me. And that's three hours I
can't get back in my life.
Speaker 5 (30:48):
But that's okay, that's right.
Speaker 7 (30:51):
They made it close in the end.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
They did, they did, but they they just had some
opportunities and Seattle could have blown it open, really blown
it open, but they did.
Speaker 8 (31:00):
That's true.
Speaker 7 (31:01):
So there was how long did how long did Crochet?
Speaker 8 (31:04):
Pitch?
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Five five innings? Gave up four runs and runs They
lit him up. They lit him up a little bit.
It was not his best performance, but hey, yeah, you're
not going to throw a shout at any one every week. Yeah,
and again, not an impressive lineup. The best Seattle hit hitter, Rodriguez, uh,
he handled him. Very well. It was like the eight
and the nine guys in the lineupoint never heard of
(31:27):
who lit him up a little bit. So that's baseball
for you. Well, yeah, in his best still early where
one game over five hundred and fourteen and thirteen. We'll
keep it, We'll keep counting. Thanks Laurie, talk to you soon, Okay,
have a good bye, Thank you, thank you. Okay. One
line at six months seven four thirty and two lines
at six month seven nine three, one ten thirty got
(31:48):
Brandon and Wakefield, Marian and Bridgewater. We're asking you if
you could wave a magic wand and you could eliminate
automobile inspections and truck inspections, you know, privately held vehicles,
not the commercial vehicles. Would you do so? So far
we've had different responses, but so far nothing of a consensus.
(32:09):
Back on Nightside right after this.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Night Side with Dan Ray Ibs Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
Hoorile, let's keep roll. I'm going to go to Brandon
and Wakefield. Brandon, what do you think about the idea
to eliminate automobile annual checks checkups? What's your thought?
Speaker 7 (32:30):
Hey?
Speaker 8 (32:30):
Dan, how's it going great?
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Brandon? Thanks for checking in your your idea on getting
rid of annual automobile checkups.
Speaker 8 (32:41):
So we spend a lot of money, right, so you
buy a brand new car, right twenty twenty four, every
year we have to get it inspected. I really think
every five years or every ten years, then you need
the inspection. So if your car is five years old,
no inspection needed. Maybe if it's you have to get
(33:01):
an inspection every five years. If it's fifteen years old,
then every year.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
Oh that's an interesting Okay, that's yeah, based upon the
age of the car. Okay, I like that.
Speaker 8 (33:13):
Yeah, you know you have to bring new car that
you're gonna get inspected. Like you go in and then
somebody that's not mechanically inclined or or somebody that doesn't
know about automobiles, they're going to go in to a
mechanic shop, They're going to go for their inspection. They're
gonna say, oh, you really need this, and potentially they
could take advantage of that person.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
That's really that's a really good point. You know, it
might be that maybe for the first three years that
you have a new car, there's no inspection needed, but
maybe by year four or five, Yeah, you have to
have one and then maybe it's every two or three
years for a while. But no, I agree with you. Now,
I'm sure a lot of the automotive dealers will not
be happy with that. But that's an interesting that's kind
(33:56):
of a compromise. I like you, thanking Brandon.
Speaker 8 (34:00):
Yeah, it's because, like, I'm not gonna lie. I don't
think I've got an inspection to sticker in probably a
couple of years.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
Are driving. How do you drive? Well? How do you
drive in Massachusetts without one?
Speaker 8 (34:14):
Nobody looks at it?
Speaker 2 (34:18):
Okay, good luck, Brandon. I mean that seriously. I you
sound like a smart guy. I just be careful. You know.
Speaker 8 (34:30):
I'm not you know, I'm an honest guy. And it
was funny.
Speaker 4 (34:34):
I was.
Speaker 8 (34:34):
I was actually heading home from Penway. I went to
the game, and I was driving home. I was listening
to you guys, and I looked over. I'm like, and
I have my car is a twenty twenty two.
Speaker 2 (34:46):
Okay, Well, good for you, Good for you. I promise
I'm not gonna say anything. No one, no one knows
who you are.
Speaker 8 (34:52):
Don't tell anybody.
Speaker 4 (34:53):
No.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
We have to the cloak of We put the cloak
of silence on the last part of the interview. Brandon, thanks,
I love it.
Speaker 8 (35:00):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (35:01):
How are your seats at the ball game today?
Speaker 8 (35:04):
It was awesome. We actually sat down on the field box.
It was great. I love it down there. You're you're
right there with the crowd, so nice. I love what what?
Speaker 2 (35:14):
What did crocheted? He didn't have his stuff today?
Speaker 8 (35:18):
I know it was disappointing, but look, a couple of
times almost it looked like his spikes might have caught
on the mound.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
A couple of times he seemed to stumble a little bit,
and that can obviously be a problem. So yeah, he'll
get him next time. I got him next time.
Speaker 8 (35:33):
The best part was at the end of the game today,
all the kids were able to run around the field
because it was a one one thirty five game and
the kids had a blast. You could see him all
running around. It was awesome.
Speaker 2 (35:48):
That's what they should be able to do. Brandon, first time.
Speaker 8 (35:50):
Caller tonight, I don't know, second time.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
Second time, we'll call more off. And I enjoyed it
really a whole lot. And you had a great day.
You're lucky. You're a lucky guy. Thanks, Brandon. We'll talk
so all right, all right, thank you? Let me go
to Marianne Bridgewater, Marianne to inspect or not to inspect.
That is the question.
Speaker 8 (36:11):
How are you okay?
Speaker 9 (36:13):
I'm fine? Thanks Dan? So Dan, you know I'm cracking
up over here because this guy Brandon two years, three
years without a sticker. I go one month without a sticker.
I'm packed down by the Federal courthouse near Mass General.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (36:30):
Don't you think I get a ticket? Not because I'm
packed illegally because my inspection sticker expired. Oh no, I
mean like it doesn't matter. I'll get pulled over in Bridgewater.
F I'm like three days late. Please So Brandon, God
(36:51):
bless you. But anyway, potholes in Idaho, I put my
fabrand new. I'm gonna tell you I know exactly where
the potholes are because I have replaced nine tires in
six years. And I'm gonna tell yah, I sit there
and about how people avoid these and I have little
(37:11):
profile tires, So you know what it's my fault. And
as far as inspection stick is, I think we should
have him every two years, you know. And I'm gonna
tell you in the hands.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
I'm with you on that. Yeah, nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 9 (37:27):
Rhode Island has it every two years. My mom, who's well,
she's ninety five now, but at the time she was
eighty nine. She had her car and shoed and inspected
every year, and she lived in Salem, New Hampshire. And
I can tell you I drove it and I said, now,
time's wrong at your front end. She says, no, no, no,
it's on your mind. She says, I hadn't inspected. And
(37:49):
she went to the same guy every year. W it
was because of WBZ. I found out about the accident,
but they didn't announce her name, but I called the house.
I knew where she was heading. She blocked off twenty
eight North going to Windham to bring her dog. Her
tyrod went. Now that's what we inspect here in mass
(38:11):
when they you know, when they lift the tyrant, they
whiggle it around and stuff something called a tyrod. Well,
I can tell you that it was during heavy community
and Salem at the time, and it was on wt
announced it that the roads were blocked off. Tyrod went
on my mother's car. She went across the highway and
(38:33):
the oncoming traffic, you know those big meadow like there.
I don't know what they called electrical boxes down by
where the bridges are, or control boxes or something. Her
call landed in between two of them. If it wasn't
for the bystanders that my mother would have died. And
the dog, one woman took my mom's little you know,
(38:56):
she had an Italian greyhound. My mother ended up getting going,
ended up getting med flighted mass General me. But I
mean she's alive, she was fine.
Speaker 2 (39:07):
You know.
Speaker 9 (39:08):
The thing was, is that what goods you have an inspection?
If you miss a tirod.
Speaker 2 (39:13):
That's that's that's a bad inspection. Marian, I've got a
little problem. I got the news coming at me. I'm so,
is your mom still with us? I hope is your
mom still?
Speaker 9 (39:22):
Yeah, she is. She's ninety five, but she doesn't drive anymore.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
That's okay, none of us will at that point. Marian.
Thank you so much, love your calls. You too. We'll
talk soon to those of you on the line. Stay there.
I want to talk to Joan in Alaska, Angelo and
Newton and Galen new Hampshire. Joan and Alaska will take
you first, coming back on night side right after the
ten o'clock news
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Decisions, Decisions
Welcome to "Decisions, Decisions," the podcast where boundaries are pushed, and conversations get candid! Join your favorite hosts, Mandii B and WeezyWTF, as they dive deep into the world of non-traditional relationships and explore the often-taboo topics surrounding dating, sex, and love. Every Monday, Mandii and Weezy invite you to unlearn the outdated narratives dictated by traditional patriarchal norms. With a blend of humor, vulnerability, and authenticity, they share their personal journeys navigating their 30s, tackling the complexities of modern relationships, and engaging in thought-provoking discussions that challenge societal expectations. From groundbreaking interviews with diverse guests to relatable stories that resonate with your experiences, "Decisions, Decisions" is your go-to source for open dialogue about what it truly means to love and connect in today's world. Get ready to reshape your understanding of relationships and embrace the freedom of authentic connections—tune in and join the conversation!