Today's News by Jack Nerad for Driving Today

Fraud Comment Prompts Furor

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

A recent comment by a California Air Resources Board (CARB) official that the state’s nationally recognized Smog Check Program is rife with “widespread fraud” has prompted a sharp rebuke from the state’s auto repair industry. 

Six statewide trade organizations have called on CARB to issue a retraction over what they term “misleading statements made to the media.”

The organizations involved issued the following joint statement: “The automotive service and repair industry representing 33,000 registered automotive repair businesses in California, including those that perform smog-related repairs, are highly trained and ethical in their care and service of our state’s 26 million registered vehicles. These businesses and their employees are the solution -- not the problem -- to proper maintenance and reduced emissions from our state’s fleet of vehicles by keeping California’s cars well serviced and maintained, which leads to lower tailpipe emissions and contributes to the state’s overall climate change goals.

“The unfortunate comments made by CARB officials alleging ‘widespread fraud’ in California’s Smog Check Program callously disregards the character and contributions of these employers and their employees to the health and well-being of California, including their efforts to reduce pollution and improve the state’s air quality.”

According to the California Bureau of Automotive Repair, approximately 200 Smog Check facilities are suspected of being engaged in routine illegal conduct statewide. “While these facilities only account for 3 percent of the 7,253 licensed Smog Check facilities,” the statement said, “it is still too much and will not to be tolerated by the remaining 97 percent. However, it is difficult for the industry to believe that these numbers could or should be characterized by governmental officials as evidence of ‘widespread fraud.’”

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