The Ontario government puts its hands in my pocket yet again. Every two years I must have my cars tested to make sure that they run in a clean fashion. Wonderful, fantastic, pass the granola I love clean air (what is the font for sarcasm). My van which is barely 5 years old has been tested TWICE already. How a new van’s emissions can get out of whack, I don’t know, but I have had to test it.
My Honda has been tested 3 times now since I bought it 3 years ago. The first set of tests took a few tries to pass. The second test passed with no problem, and today it failed. I am again going to have to go to my mechanic to get him to do whatever magic he needs to do to get my car to pass.
So what is my beef with this whole system? Well, the fact that I must subsidize the clean air is one thing (if it is so darn important to the government, maybe they should either give me a tax break on the test or pay for it themselves and then FINE anyone who fails it). Making people pay to find out their car is working fine seems a little wrong to me. If we need clean air (which I agree we should have), then let’s make this universal and easily obtainable for everyone.
Who is this test penalizing?
Folks, who lease or get new cars every 4 years? Nope, their cars will pass no problem, this is penalizing folks who keep their cars a long time, because they can’t afford (or in my case are too cheap) to buy new ones. Seems to be yet another tax on the working poor, but then again, that is only my opinion. Do I want to see smoke-belching “beaters” out there? No, but there has got to be a better system possible.
If I somehow implied that my rants were logical, well thought out and the answer to all issues, my apologies. I was looking for a cathartic explosion, and had it.
I think your argument about “everyone” having to pay for my clean air test is on shakey ground however. If I don’t have kids why do I pay school taxes? If I don’t own a car, why do I have to pay for road improvements in my property taxes? Why must I subsidize other people’s day care, when my kids stay at home with my wife? Plenty of arguments like that.
The government’s solutions sometimes seem “uneven” in their application. If they want clean air, make the tests a government program, free of charge. Charge a minimal fine if you have to get retested, and you have cleaner air, which is a small price to pay, isn’t it?
If taxes paid for the clean air tests, then everyone would be paying to have your car tested, even those that do not have cars. Why is that fair?
If fines paid for the clean air tests, well, according to the drive clean statistics only 13.1% of cars fail, which means your $40 test would need to be replaced with a $305.34 fine ($40/.131) to be revenue neutral. So since you’ve saved $105.34 (two cars, five tests total) under your own proposed solution, what exactly are you complaining about again?