I told you upfront I was confused in a column I wrote recently about the state’s new car inspection law. In fact, I was so confused that I used the word “confused” twice in the very first paragraph.
I wasn’t hiding my confusion. But I certainly proved it.
Several readers jumped in to help me out.
Most explained that I left out a very important component in my confused explanation. I didn’t mention that the 17 highly populated counties still required to have an annual inspection are not going to get a full-car inspection. Starting next year, they are only to be tested for emissions to help the state comply with clean air standards.
This is what confused me: most types of non-commercial vehicles will no longer get a safety checkup like always. This applies to the entire state. But starting in 2025, those of us in populated counties still must bring our cars in for pollution tests once a year to get a registration sticker.
Bald tires, bad brakes, malfunctioning lighting, poor steering, windshield cracks, horns, mirrors, and seat belts are no longer the state’s concern. That’s between you and your car.
Readers helped me.
“The fact that rural counties are no longer required to have inspections is all about federal rules, not rural lawmakers,” Debbie Fillmore of Dallas wrote me.
“The urban and suburban counties are included in a federal ruling requiring Texas to improve our air quality or lose federal funding. In the rural counties,” she added, “the air quality meets the federal levels so less governance is required.”
Makes sense.
Harmon “HS” Hardy III of Farmers Branch clarified that safety inspections will no longer take place in any of the state’s 254 counties.
Ken Duble of Dallas told me, “The elimination of required safety inspections is bad public policy. But we could see the day soon when San Antonio and other areas join the emissions inspection list due to non-attainment [of air quality standards]. Ditto for the refinery region of Beaumont-Port Arthur-Orange. At least the latter area has the ocean breeze in its favor.”
Here are the 17 counties blessed with emissions testing only: Brazoria, Collin, Dallas, Denton, El Paso, Ellis, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Johnson, Kaufman, Montgomery, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant, Travis and Williamson.
Also, note that commercial vehicles must still be inspected.
And here’s one wacky part of the new law: drivers must still pay $7.50 a year in what is called “the inspection program replacement fee.”
You gotta love it. They eliminate the service but still charge us a ghost fee.
Want more? Read the new law here.
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* Helping a waitress who was harmed by an unscrupulous used car dealer
