The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the National Street Rod Association and/or StreetScene Magazine. What to Expect During an NSRA Safety Inspection
B eing a veteran of many Safety Inspections and inter- acting with car owners over the years inspired me to go over a few reminders for other vehicle owners and describe the way I go through Safety Inspections. I’ve developed a particular way my inspections are performed, help- ing me memorize the inspection form so I don’t have to keep refer- ring to it during the inspection, letting me focus on the task at hand. However, not all inspec- tions happen in the same order. We first start off by asking the owner to fill out the top part of the Inspection Form and indicate where they need to sign. While they are doing this, it gives us time to inspect underneath the car. We look at brake lines, fuel lines, exhaust, scrub line, and chassis fasteners and prefer this is done while the owner is not inside the car. If you are working
with another team member or two, keep an eye out where everyone is located before starting the car. During this time, we also have the owner raise the hood so we can inspect the engine bay. Once the bottom side and engine bay inspections are com- plete the owner is asked to take a seat in the driver’s seat. We check the headlights (high and low beam), right and left turn signals, license plate light, and ask the lights be turned off before stepping on the brake pedal to check brake lights. The driver is asked to set the parking brake and with the car running place their foot on the brake, shift into Drive and slowly let off the brake to ensure the park- ing brake will hold. If it doesn’t, we ask them to see if they have anoth- er notch on the parking brake. This step is not required for standard transmissions. With parking brake still set, foot on the brake pedal
and vehicle still in Drive, we have them turn off the ignition and bump the key to check the auto- matic transmission lockout. Then the same check but shifted into Reverse. If the vehicle is a standard transmission, I will just have them slip the clutch a bit to ensure the parking brake will hold. During this time, we ask the owner to start the car and turn the wheels all the way to the right and left to make sure the brake lines aren’t stretching too far or being kinked. During the inspection we look inside the car for speed indicator, rear view mirror and shift pattern, which are all required. We also have them blow the horn and turn the wipers on to see at least one sweep of the driver’s side wiper. The last things we check for the owner are a fire extinguisher, seatbelts, third brake light, and dual reservoir master cylinder. These are the +4 items on our inspection sheet. None are required, but we do like to see them. Once the inspection is com- plete, we go over what we found with the vehicle owner. I will usu- ally wait till the end to go over anything that was found. If the vehicle passed all 23 items, we would place the Safety 23 sticker in the window of the car. If the vehicle only passed the first 16 items, we would use the smaller sticker. A safety team member must place the sticker on the car, or at least see the owner place it on the car. When one of the NSRA Safety Team members comes by and asks if they can inspect your vehicle, let them...it only takes a few minutes of your time. Don Searls South Central Division Safety Chief
82 APRIL 2026
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