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2016.02.12
Reference response to "Incorporation of the inspection package"”
Read the whole the consultation response on Incorporation of the inspection package
There is broad political support for the Swedish ”Vision Zero” to reduce deaths and injuries in traffic. There is general political consensus that clear and strict rules for vehicle traffic are acceptable if they result in high traffic safety, reduced environmental impact and general socio-economic benefit.
In recent years, officials and politicians at the EU level have been working on proposals for new legislation in this area, which aims to raise inspection standards in Europe. On 29 October 2015, the Swedish Transport Agency submitted a report to the government, ”Incorporation of the 'inspection package'’ (Dnr TSG 2015-1382), with proposals on how the EU's new inspection directive (2014/45/EU) should be implemented in Sweden.
Today, Swedish passenger cars and light trucks must be inspected for the first time after three years. The second inspection must take place when the car is five years old and then the car must be inspected every year. Exactly when, during a given year, the vehicle must be inspected depends on the last digit in the car's registration number. The digit corresponds to a specific month, with the car owner being able to inspect the car up to two months before or after the specified month of registration. This means greater flexibility than the EU directive allows and therefore the final digit model must be abolished. Since this means a certain reduction in flexibility for vehicle owners, the Swedish Transport Agency wants to compensate for this by "sparing out" the intervals between each inspection.
Instead of the ”3-2-1 model”, the Swedish Transport Agency proposes that Sweden introduce the EU minimum level for inspection intervals. According to this model, the first inspection does not take place until the vehicle is four years old and thereafter only every two years regardless of the vehicle's age.
The inspection industry's overall assessment, supported by current research, is that a reduction in inspections will lead to increased climate-impacting exhaust emissions, lower road safety and poorer conditions for achieving the zero vision. In addition, it is also considered to lead to reduced accessibility to inspection stations, as a consequence of reduced inspections will mean fewer stations. This also risks leading to increased costs for the individual consumer. The industry's ambition is also to be able to contribute to the development of inspections, in order to be able to even better increase road safety and contribute to reduced environmental impact.
