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Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Kristen Michal has sent out for coordination the new traffic act bill that will lead to a more flexible technical inspection procedure. The draft act will change how vehicles are submitted for regular, repeat, and extraordinary inspections and exempt vehicles used only on small islands from regular inspection.
The new law will allow vehicles with only minor technical problems that do not qualify as dangerous to remain in use for two months after the inspection, provided the vehicle is not used for commercial transport. The law currently only allows drivers to take vehicles that do not pass inspection to a parking lot or to be serviced.
This allows users of vehicles to look for suitable workshops or order parts without having to stop using their vehicle in the meantime. Vehicles ordered to undergo extraordinary inspection can be used for a period of 30 days, provided they are deemed safe for traffic, under the new law.
Changes also concern the procedure of submitting vehicles for inspection. Vehicles currently have to be submitted for inspection based on the last digit of the license plate. Even if users take vehicles in for inspection a few months early, the next inspection will nevertheless be scheduled based on the digit. March corresponds to number 1, November to number 9, and December to 0.
The new law will allow users to choose when to submit vehicles, while the inspection period will be calculated based on when vehicles were last inspected. This makes inspection more convenient for people who have bought vehicles from a foreign country. Imported vehicles have to undergo inspection when they are registered in Estonia, whereas the license plate digit system often means users will have to undergo inspection again in just a few months' time.
The new system will also benefit those who do not use vehicles in winter months but currently have to take them in for inspection regardless. Passenger cars up to ten years old will still have to be submitted for inspection once every two years, and cars older than ten years once a year. Validity of inspection can be checked on the Road Administration's website.
The inspection requirement will be lifted for vehicles used exclusively on small islands. Vehicles will still have to meet technical requirements, and the police will have the right to check compliance. Traffic density is much more modest on small islands, which is why chances of having an accident due to technical problems are greatly reduced compared to areas with high traffic density. Speeds are also considerably lower on small islands. Lack of technical inspection points is another argument in favor of the change. People who want to take their vehicles to the mainland or major islands will first have to visit a technical inspection point.
The ministry put together the bill in cooperation with the Estonian Technical Inspectors Association and the Road Administration.
Owner of tehnoülevaatus.ee portal Andres Peerna said that for the first time in a long while we see sensible proposals in Estonia's punishments-oriented and over-regulated society. «The changes should reduce stress levels of owners of vehicles. Right now a technical inspection is like a school examination people are afraid to fail,» he said. «We see a lot of minor nonconformities that while in need of fixing do not mean the vehicle should be deemed unusable.»
Peerna said that the matter of when to submit vehicles for inspection has been an important factor for people who want to take their vehicles abroad for longer periods of time but would have to come in for inspection in three months for example. «The new system will make it possible to submit vehicles when it suits users, whereas the inspection period depends on the date of submission,» he explained.
Head of Maitene inspection Mait Millert is baffled by the news as it constitutes the first positive change in a long time. «In truth NGO Estonian Technical Inspectors Association (TÜL) has only made harmful decisions. That kind of an organization of self-serving swindlers should be if not disbanded then at least renamed as inspectors cannot be a part of it,» Millert said.
«Officials think they are being advised by people with professional knowledge, while in reality they are businessmen who do their all to squeeze inspectors for everything they have.»
«I can write at least five pages on that organization and developments in the field. The people do not know what is really happening in technical inspection – it is genocide, believe you me,» Millert said.