While I am understanding of the problem of "unnecessary repairs", when I was growing up in NY it was "customary" that your headlights always needed to be aligned at inspection time, and the "burden of costs" for repairs for many people, I simply don't want people driving around whose brakes are about to give out, tires ready to blow or have no traction due on wet or snowy roads, tie rods about to break, or suspension about to collapse due to rust.
Driving is a privilege and we all have a responsibility to do it safely. A part of that is keeping our vehicles in reasonable condition. Not doing so is a threat to everyone around you when you are driving. Not having money to maintain your vehicle is NOT a acceptable reason to let needed repairs skate.
While I get that there are abuses in the system, personally, I have never been a 'victim' of them for over 45 years. I hang on to my vehicles until they die. The cause of death of the last 3 was terminal rust. In my truck, the $$$steering assembly$$$ rusted out. So there were lots of repairs I had to make along the way, some really odd stuff like the support straps on my gas tank breaking due to age. But if I wanted a safe vehicle, I had to make the repair or get rid of the car. All my cars were effectively junked at the end of my ownership, one towed away and the other two driveable, but would not pass the next inspection due to rust damage. Believe me, they NEEDED to be off the road.
Some people might not have realized the problem or danger that that such cars represented or struggled to make some of the repairs I did. That's not an acceptable excuse.
Inspection helps to uncover such problems and requires people to deal with them. I believe we need to do that.
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