Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

Heh. In Maryland, even the cars don't get recertified that way. What's called a "safety inspection" is actually a "pester people into buying from dealers instead of each other" inspection.

In Maryland, cars are only required to be inspected when they are sold, and sales between immediate family members are exempt. And a car can fail for having too much rust in a non-structural body panel. So there are cars on our roads that have not been inspected in a decade or two. I've been passed by a pickup truck with a body that looked like Swiss cheese from all the rust holes, and I've heard of someone driving a car where the rear springs were pushing against the trunk lid because the bottom of the car where they were supposed to connect had rusted completely through (if they'd opened the trunk, the rear end of the car would have fallen to the ground), and many similar stories of Maryland vehicles, mostly involving lack of brakes. The only other time a car in Maryland gets inspected is when a police officer notices something like a mis-aimed headlight and writes an "equipment repair order" -- some repairs require an inspection station to sign off, others (such as replacing a burnt out headlamp) can be checked by any cop. But the only EROs I've heard about have been for headlights, taillights, and license-plate lights. (Some other states, including Virginia, do have annual safety inspections, and I know that at least some states are much more reasonable about the safety focus of the inspection than Maryland is.) Maryland does have annual emissions inspections, but vehicles beyond a certain age are exempt, and they don't check any safety issues.

Recertify the drivers? Here? Good idea or not, we're a looooong way from that.

(Oh, but I do like the idea of making sure everyone gets tested in each kind of weather.)