Originally Posted by 
JDNSW
				
			 
			Yes. Having lived long term in both NSW and Victoria, there is no reason to believe vehicles' roadworthiness is significantly affected by annual inspections or their absence, and the statistics back this up.
Only a tiny percentage of accidents have vehicle defects as a significant factor, and of that tiny percentage the vast majority of them are tyre defects, either inflation or amount of tread. And inflation can change in a matter of hours, and tyres that have a legal amount of tread when inspected can be bald a month later - not long ago I was able to point out to the driver an illegal front tyre on a police car parked nose in in the main street of Dubbo.
The annual inspection provides a regular source of income for mechanics, and is a pain for drivers and owners, but there is no evidence to show that it enhances road safety.
Even if defective vehicles were a significant risk factor, the annual inspections would do almost nothing to improve this.
Probably the most effective regular 'inspection' would be an annual or biennial driving test, similar to that required for pilots (although there seems to be very little evidence, if any, to show that this reduces accident rates!), but this would be electorally untenable.
John