Drive Clean is Introducing OBD-Based Testing January 1, 2013

Beginning  January 1, 2013, Ontario ’s Drive Clean vehicle emissions testing program, will begin using new testing.  Called on-board diagnostics, or OBD, it reads your cars’s computer history to see if your vehicle meets emission standards.  The new test is 20 % more effective at identifying emission problems because it reads the emission information stored in each car’s built-in computer.

Although new to Ontario, OBD testing is in service in more than 33 provinces and states in North America. It is faster and more accurate than the old tailpipe test. It is also better at identifying any needed repairs.   

Drive Clean tests are mandatory for the 2.1 million drivers who live in the corridor from Windsor to Ottawa. They are required when vehicles:

* reach seven model-years old

* are sold to non-family members. 

 The price of the test $35, remains the same.

 By making sure vehicles are running as cleanly as they were designed to do, Drive Clean plays an important role in keeping Ontario ’s air clean. Cars and trucks are responsible for nearly one-fifth of all Ontario-generated smog-causing pollution.  Every year, Drive Clean removes more than one-third of this pollution. This is of real health benefit to us all, and particularly to anyone with respiratory challenges.