Update: Texas ends vehicle safety inspections

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has signed House Bill (HB) 3297, eliminating the state's vehicle safety inspection program for non-commercial vehicles, despite opposition from the Automotive Service Association (ASA).

The legislature approved the bill on May 23 and the governor signed it on June 13.

According to the bill, effective Jan. 1, 2025, Texas will eliminate the mandate for annual safety inspections for non-commercial vehicles, while retaining safety inspections for commercial vehicles and providing for vehicle emissions inspections where applicable.

Texas is one of about a dozen states that still mandate vehicle safety inspections.

Texas vehicle owners pay a $7 inspection fee at a licensed inspection center, often an auto repair shop, for a safety audit of about 20 vehicle components, including tires, wheel assembly, brakes, lights, steering, wipers and seat belts.

Supporters of the legislation said the impact of inspections on road safety is not strong enough to justify the program's existence and that the requirement is burdensome for people living in rural areas where inspection stations are not easily accessible.

They also argue that advances in vehicle technology have made inspections obsolete, as onboard diagnostic systems more accurately assess and diagnose any issues that would have been previously addressed during an inspection.

Yet supporters of state vehicle inspections, including the ASA, said research shows regular testing of a vehicle's tires, brakes, windshield wipers, lights, seatbelts and other components plays a critical role in preventing injuries, deaths and loss of property.

The ASA said it is a long-time supporter of vehicle safety inspections and opposed the Texas bill, in addition to legislation that would have decreased the required frequency of inspections.

Yamile Calles, who handles state vehicle inspections at Starkey Service Center in Dallas, told Tire Business she was concerned about the elimination of the state inspections.

"There's too many violations that are causing safety concerns and that could cost lives if not approached or addressed during a simple inspection," she said.

The shop conducts about 300 state vehicle inspections a week on average and some of the most common violations are excessive tire wear and little or no brake fluid, she said.

She said the shop only earns about a dollar from the safety inspection fee, and vehicles that don't pass inspection have 30 days to address the issues, so they don't have to get the service done at her shop.

"But that is not the point of an inspection, to gain business. It's more to maintain the safety of the community," she said.

Ten other states, mostly in New England and the Eastern Seaboard, still require annual vehicle safety inspections. In addition, Missouri and Rhode Island require biennial inspections; Louisiana has optional biennial inspections; and Maryland requires a vehicle inspection prior to sale.

During the 1970s, when Congress tied federal highway funding to states having vehicle safety inspections, about 30-plus states created inspection programs, Bob Redding, ASA's Washington representative, said.

But then a subsequent Congress dispensed with the requirement and numerous states dropped their mandated inspections.

In the 1990s, there were about 22 states with inspections, but that number has been dwindling over the years, he said.

Currently two other states are considering vehicle inspection legislation: a North Carolina bill would change the mandated vehicle safety inspections from every year to every other year and a bill in Georgia would return annual vehicle safety inspections, Redding noted.

Redding said vehicle safety inspection programs that have a good working relationship with consumer groups, auto repair shops and state regulators have performed well.

He said vehicle inspections are more important now for newer vehicles equipped with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and eventually driverless vehicles.

There are a lot of parts that wear on a vehicle that owners tend to ignore — especially tires and brakes. Small fleets with absentee owners may not sufficiently inspect their cars, he added.

Vehicle owners who regularly visit an independent repair shops for maintenance, should be apprised of any failing systems and parts on their vehicles, he said.

But, as many shops will attest, vehicle owners tend to put off replacing tires, brakes and other worn parts when money is tight or they are too busy.

"When economy's tough, people don't spend the money to make some of these repairs that are critical for safety," Redding said.

But people will more likely address safety issues in order to pass a state-mandated inspection, he said.

"We need these programs. We don't need less of them, we need all the states to have them," Redding said.

The ASA is asking the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Congress to mandate inspection programs as part of their ADAS and autonomous vehicle regulatory process.

With more EVs and ADAS vehicles, Redding said it is important to have state safety inspection programs in place.

The growing complexity of newer vehicles means owners will be more dependent on getting their vehicles serviced by a professional vehicle repair shop.

The ASA said it is sharing a recent Carnegie Mellon University study with members of Congress to convince them of the effectiveness of mandated vehicle safety inspections.

"The studies show these programs save lives, prevent injuries and deaths and property damage. We think that's important," Redding said.

The study by Carnegie Mellon University's Mobility21 National University Transportation Center, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, found "strong evidence" that states with active vehicle safety inspection programs experienced lower road-fatality rates for passenger vehicles.

"Our results affirm — based on data from 50 states and the District of Columbia over a 44-year period — that I/M (inspection/maintenance) programs have a negative and causal relationship with roadway fatalities and that these programs are effective in their stated aim of mitigating roadway fatalities," according to the study.

The study focused on fatal accident data and determined that states with I/M programs had 2.8% fewer fatalities per 100,000 registered vehicles than states without programs.

"... we argue that legislative bodies must consider the reduction in fatalities as a statistically significant benefit resulting from inspections when debating the establishment or repeal of state safety I/M programs."