Many states require yearly inspections already.
> Fifteen states have a periodic (annual or biennial) safety inspection program, while Maryland requires a safety inspection and Alabama requires a VIN inspection on sale or transfer of vehicles which were previously registered in another state. An additional 16 states require periodic emissions inspections.
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_inspection_in_the_Unit...
Virginia: https://vsp.virginia.gov/safety-and-enforcement/vehicle-safe...
Massachusetts: https://www.mavehiclecheck.com/motorists-basicinfo#Safety
Those are the only two states I've lived in. I don't get why so much of the country doesn't do these; it seems the Northeast of the US almost all require periodic safety inspections and the western US does not.
If I had a hunch, income plays a part. Flyover states are poor, that means older and more beat up cars. Older cars (out of warranty let's say) are more costly to fix. States have to balance "people need a car to make money" with "people need money to drive safe cars".
This implies we need an inspection regime in America. We’ve counted on servicing to catch unsafe cars. I hadn’t thought of that as something that changed.