• Cars have safety inspections so accidents aren't caused by mechanical failures.Accidente image by quicolopez from Fotolia.com
  
  Safety inspections are done on all vehicles to ensure that they are safe to drive on the road and won't fail, creating dangerous driving situations which could lead to accidents. This helps to curb the number of cars which have faulty brakes, broken windshields or other hazardous damages or malfunctions that could result in, or cause, accidents. Safety inspections differ somewhat from state to state, but there are basic universal requirements that apply.
  
  

Texas Safety Inspections

• In the state of Texas, cars must be inspected once every year for safety and emissions, based on the date which is on the last safety inspection sticker. Your car must be inspected for safety within three days of the date of that sticker or you risk being fined for driving a car which isn't cleared by the state for safety. This is rolled in with the vehicle registration program as well. State inspectors check everything from headlamps and brake lights to windshield wipers and windshields. In Texas, to pass inspection you must have working windshield wipers and electrical systems throughout the car, meaning headlights and taillights that both work.
  
  

Massachusetts Safety Inspections

• Massachusetts requires a vehicle safety inspection program every year with over 1,500 inspection locations around the state. Vehicles manufactured after the year of 1995 must also pass an annual emissions test to get their safety inspection sticker. It is one of the longest running inspection programs in the country, having operated for over 60 years. Mufflers and brakes are checked closely in the state of Massachusetts, as salt which is spread on the roads during the winter to break up ice can lead to corrosion on the metal on the undercarriage of the car, making them unsafe or emitting excessive amounts of pollutants over time.
  
  

New York Safety Inspections

• Like other states, New York requires safety inspections every year, along with an emissions test on every vehicle registered within the state. In New York, cars must have working electrical systems, which include headlights and tail lights, as well as functioning windshield wipers, working brakes and mufflers without holes in them, and they must pass emissions tests. These safety inspection stations are located at DMVs and at private garages and gas stations who have been certified by the state to become an inspection station.