Vehicle safety checks?

[evil_demon_01]

I've wondered this for along time after looking through various threads over the years and wondering - How could your car get that dangerous?
I.E ball joints,tie rod ends breaking, structural rust.

Does your country / state have vehicle safety checks? - WOF, MOT?
How frequent are the checks?
How in depth are the checks?

In NZ we have a 6 monthly check - WOF (Warrant Of Fitness)
Which basically involves-

Visual structual integrity check - Accident damage or rust
Braking performance
Suspension/steering/brake components safety inspection (Any play in suspension/steering is an instant fail)
Lights/wipers/horn operational
Tyre safety check

Also any engine modifications which result in more than 20% power increase over stock means the vehicle must be certified.

[Losiracer2]

all they care about in Arizona are the emissions standards be tested every two years. I pay like 65 bucks for a two year tag.

[Rootznation]

safety check once a year here in hawaii. Plus reconstruction sticker if car is modded and even that has strick standards. tint cant be darker than 35% and a bunch of other stupid stuff . the real tuners dont listen though

[deevergote]

We have checks every 2 years here in NJ. They don't seem to care about real safety, though. I doubt the inspectors know what a ball joint even is! They have machines that test the shocks, they have a skidpad to test the brakes, they make sure all lights work, they test for emissions, they make sure the horn works, and they make sure there are no visible safety issues (such as a crack in the windshield... larger than 3" and it must be replaced). I believe they check tire condition as well. Anything more technical or time consuming than that, they don't check. Of course, NJ is a VERY populated state. We have more people, and more vehicles, per square mile than any other state in the country. We'd probably have more frequent inspections, but it's congested enough at the inspection stations to do it ever 2 years!

Of course, there are ways to get past such things. My H22 will likely fail emissions. I got the car inspected at a private shop that would see to it that it passes. It may pass legitimately, I don't know... but I don't want to be on record for failing!

Speaking of inspection, I have to do that next month...