iPads to help expedite car inspections

Car owners across Hawaii looking to get their vehicles inspected for safety and registration will encounter a new system later this week, state transportation officials announced Monday.

Starting Friday, vehicle inspectors will use iPads, provided by a contractor hired by the state Department of Transportation, to relay safety inspection results immediately to the DOT instead of mailing in the filled-out forms on a monthly basis, officials say.

The program aims to make the process more secure, as well as to ensure that the Department of Motor Vehicles no longer gets the results weeks after the fact, proponents say.

However, the process will also raise inspection prices for automobiles and trucks to $19.19 plus tax, and $13.24 for motorcycle and trailer inspections. That’s about $4.50 more than what inspectors can currently charge. It would be the first time since the 1980s that Hawaii has raised what inspectors can charge, according to the DOT.

The program will further require that vehicle inspection sites have some kind of high-speed Internet access. Some auto repair shops say they don’t make much money on the state-mandated vehicle inspections — but it’s a good way to draw in new regular customers.

Under the charge increases, the state will collect $1.70 for administration from each vehicle inspection. Parsons Environment and Infrastructure Group Inc., the contractor handling the electronic filing system and providing the iPads, will collect $1.69.

The company is a subsidiary of California-based Parsons Transportation Group Inc., a manager handling the $1.7 billion Honolulu Airport overhaul.