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Sandra Yi ReportingIt may take less time the next time you take your car in for a safety inspection. The Utah Highway Patrol is implementing a new, online program that nearly 200 inspection facilities are using now.
The program takes all the paper work out of safety inspections and keeps car owners in check. Dennis Jensen does safety inspections at his auto repair shop. Jensen makes a note of what passes and what fails on a new, online program, developed by the Utah Highway Patrol. The UHP oversees safety inspections.
Dennis Jensen: "All the things that have passed are designated with a yellow P, and those areas that have problems are designated by a yellow F."
The program keeps track of all the vehicles that fail safety inspections. State Police say that targets an illegal practice.
Sgt. Greg Lundell, Utah Highway Patrol: "They'll actually go to another facility, not tell that facility that they've been previously rejected, and because it was on paper, they simply ask for a new inspection, pay the inspection fee, again hope the station will miss what was previously found or they find a friend and have them try and pass it instead."
Dennis Jensen: "We've had in the past at times somebody comes in and is upset we'd fail something on their car, and have gone other places and have never seen them back, so we know we didn't do the re-inspection, but somebody has."
But if the owner tried to take the failed car somewhere else, a pop-up would show up on the screen. It's an alert inspectors couldn't get on paper.
Sgt. Greg Lundell: "That station would never know that you were at another facility. Because of the paper and the way it goes, we can't track it easily. It's a nightmare."
Not anymore says Dennis Jensen, who's done away with paper certificates. For him safety inspections have never been more quick or easy.
Derek Jensen: "We would never go back to hand written. This is the way to go."
The program takes all the paper work out of safety inspections and keeps car owners in check. The program also forces inspectors to check window tinting on cars.
The UHP is trying to get all 1900 safety inspection facilities in the state online as soon as possible.
