Drivers Spending Too Much On Car Emissions Tests: Study
Posted June 8, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Drivers could save millions of dollars by having their car emissions tested less often. A study by the University of Guelph said it could slash Ontario’s Drive Clean Program from $131 million to $26 million. Although it would cause emissions to rise by about 30 per cent, the report suggests charging drivers a fee to fund public transit to compensate.
Authors of the report found that money being spent by drivers on the Drive Clean Program would be better used to help curb pollution. The program targets vehicles in the so-called “smog zone” of southern Ontario, which is the area of the province with the highest population density and greatest number of cars.
Drivers of cars over a certain age pay $35 every two years to have their vehicle tested to ensure it’s in line with provincial standards on vehicle emissions. If not, repairs are mandatory to get the vehicle up to snuff.
A spokesman for the Drive Clean Program, which is run through Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment doesn’t think increasing the level of air pollution to save money is the right way to go. “I don’t think we would want to do anything that would increase emissions,” said Charles Ross. “What price do you put on bad air?” He added that the stringent program encourages motorists to keep their cars more finely tuned.
The study says testing is more effective if it begins when a vehicle is six or seven-years-old instead of at five years because the failure rate for newer cars is very low.
