Texas is a step closer to eliminating car safety inspections. Here’s what’s next
Texas is on track to eliminate annual vehicle safety inspections, but the change likely wouldn’t happen until 2025.
A proposal to stop the checks on noncommercial vehicles passed out of the state Senate 20-11 on Sunday. Emissions inspections would still be required the Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and El Paso areas.
“Vehicle inspections are a costly and time consuming process that provide little benefit to public safety,” Rep. Mayes Middleton, a Galveston Republican who is carrying the bill in the Senate, told lawmakers.
The proposal passed out of the House in early May before going to the Senate. The bill was amended to delay the end of inspections to January 2025. It was also changed to require the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles to adopt rules for notifying drivers about vehicle recalls in registration notices.
Asked about the delay, Sen. Robert Nichols, a Jacksonville Republican who chairs the Senate Transportation Committee, said time is needed for courthouses, tax assessors and the Department of Motor Vehicles to update computer software.
The amendment must be accepted by the House before the bill heads to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk, where it can be signed into law or vetoed. Abbott’s office didn’t immediately return a request for comment on his plans for the bill, were it to arrive on his desk.
Most states do not require safety inspections, according to Kelly Blue Book.
Opponents of eliminating the annual safety check have raised concerns about unsafe vehicles on roads and the loss of jobs if the inspection requirement is eliminated. The state is giving up knowing that cars are safe — that tires aren’t bald and brake lights, headlights and windshield wipers work — in exchange for saving 30 minutes, said Sen. José Menéndez, a San Antonio Democrat.
“So that’s the exchange,” Menéndez said. “We’re going to say safety of the vehicles versus a little bit of convenience.”
Middleton said he disagreed that eliminating the tests would make roads less safe, and lawmakers during Sunday’s debate cited conflicting studies examining whether there is a link between road safety and inspections.
Menéndez proposed keeping the safety inspections in counties with more than 500,000 people, in non-attainment areas and in areas with emissions tests. He also offered a change that would have pushed the start date to January 2026. Both amendments failed.
Drivers would still have to update their registration annually.
Tarrant, Collin, Dallas, Ellis and Parker counties are among the 17 that require emissions tests.
The bill sets up a system to keep funding the Texas Mobility Fund, which helps finance construction for state highways. Vehicle owners would pay a $7.50 fee when they renew their registration and a $16.75 fee when they buy a new car, most of which goes to the fund.
The bill passed out of the Senate’s State Affairs Committee in May. A separate bill to remove the requirement didn’t get enough votes to advance from the Senate Transportation Committee in March.
