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