THE AUTO INSPECTION HASSLE

It is interesting how things come together when you are out and about. The other day, I had to get my annual car inspection since I am unfortunate enough to live in the City of Memphis and have to pay more than my neighbors who live in unincorporated Shelby County. ($117.00 versus $87.00).

I got on line and looked at the camera photos from the three Memphis inspection stations. I looked at the one on White Station but you could not tell how long the wait was since the camera is mounted on the station and only shows the line that is backed up on the entrance driveway. You cannot see if the line extends out in to White Station and around the corner as it does from time to time. I finally decided to go on a Wednesday at 9:30 AM in the middle of the month since I am not working at a full time job as I am retired. I had to wait about 45 minutes which was better than normal. I feel for the working folks who do not have my options. (My suggestion is that a current waiting time be regularly posted on the website in addition to the photo which is worthless).

This is a problem for every Memphis vehicle owner that got me to thinking about this issue. The recent CA article about special treatment for friends of politicians makes all of us who wait in line and pay the full fee boil. First, why do the people in the County not have to have their cars inspected? Will the exhaust from their cars and trucks stop at the boundary line of Memphis and not foul our air? Also the question occurred to me about how many vehicles are registered in Shelby County (both in the City and in the County outside the City) and are they all paying their fees? I asked the Clerk (Debbie Stamson) for the number of autos registered in Memphis and Shelby County for 2008 and how many paid a fee. Simple question you would think.

Her first answer was as follows.

“As far as reviewing our records, all motor vehicle records contain personal information and are covered under the Federal and State of Tennessee Drivers Protection Act.”

My open records request was as follows.

1) I want to inspect your records and documents that show how many licensed vehicles have owner registrations at Memphis addresses and how many have addresses outside of Memphis but in Shelby County.The period should be for 2008. I do not need to see any restricted information but only the total numbers for the 2008 fiscal period.
2) I want to inspect your records and documents that show how many of the above vehicles have paid the registration fee in the same 2008 period.

I have other ideas about auto inspections but more later on those thoughts.