Originally Posted by Jim_Chow

In CA, you have to get smogged on a dyno every other year. In AZ, it's every year, but if the car is '96 or later, they just check your OBDII for bad codes and your gas cap seal. Pre '96 is dyno. Neither require safety inspections. One time, while waiting in line at the smog station, one car ahead of me had a radiator leaking like a sieve. The guy had to put fluid in the every few minutes to prevent it from draining dry. I've seen (mostly in CA) cars w/ no hoods, broken or non-existent head/tail lights, missing body panels, even no license plates (and the guy was using the sidewalk as a passing lane!! [This was in S. Central LA]). When I lived in central NYS, they required safety inspections (lights, brakes, etc), but since I kept my car registered in CA (was a student), I was exempt. They also (once a year) set up road blocks on every street leaving/entering town and checked every car's registration.