North Carolinians Watch Your Safety Inspection Laws! (Asheville, Star: vehicle registration, houses)

[griffin]

I just noticed this law change concerning safety inspections on an car repair industry website: NC H 679 Safety and Emission Inspection Changes. This is a bill that is summarized as follows:

Establishes that the registration of a vehicle shall not be renewed unless it has a current safety or emissions inspection; establishes that registration plates that are not renewed shall be surrendered within 120 days of expiration; relates to electronic inspection authorization.

I do hope there is time to fight this. What you should know is that this bill is designed to force you to have more inspections, and it specifically benefits car dealers by making it more difficult to buy and sell cars from and between private individuals. What it means is that when you buy an car from a private individual you immediately get hammered with safety inspection and emissions if they haven't been done recently, usually here in Utah it is two months. It is a rip off provision that car dealers are usually behind, because they know the more difficult it is for private individual to buy and sell their cars, the more likely they will have to go to a dealer to buy or trade in. Usually they laws are written, if you look carefully, to give dealers 6 months to 11 months for inspections on cars they have. Check it out and good luck, if this law gets passed you'll be hit right in the wallet everytime you want to change cars.

[SunnyKayak]

The good of this bill is it protects the buyer from buying a car that will not pass inspections or have unsafe emissions whether the car from out of state or a county that does not require it.

No where in the bill states that you will have to do it more frequent . That statement is misleading.
If you sell your car the same year you bought is the only scenario I see this can happen.
They are treating it like when you register a car it needs to be done within allocated days from the day of purchase
This bill helps the consumer in from buying cars that will not pass inspections.
They can require the seller to fix the issue under the Lemon Law if needed since they will have only a certain amount of days to have it inspected after purchase.

The bill in question http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2007/B...PDF/H679v1.pdf

[Asheville Native]

Revenue stream for the state.

"Electronic Inspection Authorization" Sounds rather Orwellian

[griffin]

and it crosses out all provisions for windshield stickers, and states a new registration or re-registration must have a valid safety inspection and emissions. So why get rid of the stikers/decals. That must mean you must get a new safety inspection and emissions every time you register a car, and that it is now tied to the license plates and not the decal. I know something about this cause they did this in the early 80's in Utah, got rid of the stickers and replaced it with this. The car dealers wrote themselves a special exemption to the law, and fought the public when a legislator tried to give the public the same thing. You sure were quick to delete my posts, are you connected with the vehicle safety inspection program? You state it is for consumer protection, but all the unbiased research, and there is a lot of it if you do a google search on vehicle safety inspections, show safety inspections do not decrease accident rates or make cars safer. They are meant to make money for mechanics, car dealers, the state, vendors of safety inspection equipment, and others. Only 18 states still have these mandatory vehicle safety inspection programs left, and 3 have bills before their legislatures to repeal them. This consumer protection argument is an old one to justify this program, but I would watch very carefully when legislators monkey with it, they are usually up to no good. I found info on this law on a website that specilizes in pushing or fighting legislation that affects the car repair industry, and of course they have no problems with this law, they like it, they know it will make them more $. One of my own legislators once told me candidly, that legislators know safety inspections are a boondoggle, but you'll never get rid of them because so many special interests make money from them. Well, three states right now are trying to prove him wrong, and its quite a fight. I expect you will try to delete my post. The public shouldn't know about these things.

[Asheville Native]

North Carolina, that state the has never seen a tax, fee, fine, or charge the didn't embrace, bordering on extortion.

[Asheville Native]

Originally Posted by SunnyKayak

The good of this bill is it protects the buyer from buying a car that will not pass inspections or have unsafe emissions whether the car from out of state or a county that does not require it.

We don't need a 'nanny' state. People have to take responsibility for their own purchase decisions. The purpose of government is to provide the basic infrastructure and services (police, fire, sanitation, etc) and get the heck out of the way.

If a dealership or repair shop is dependent on 'support' from legislatures, then the public would be better served by no protection of the state, and allow the shop to sink or swim based on its own merits.

[VaNC]

Looks like this bill passed both houses and was signed into law last year, so it would require another bill to fight it at this point.

I am with SunnyKayak...this bill makes a lot of sense to me.

[mm34b]

Yep, it's a done deal. The Governor signed it last August 30th with an effective date of October 1, 2008.

Starting with October, windshield inspection stickers will no longer be issued. You'll only get a piece of paper to carry as personal proof of inspection compliance.

Safety/Emission Inspection Changes

S.L. 2007-503 (HB 679) establishes a new electronic safety and emissions vehicle
inspection process. Specifically, the act:

�� Authorizes electronic safety and emissions inspections, and eliminates the
requirement for an inspection sticker.

�� Provides that inspections expire at midnight of the last day of the month designated
by the vehicle registration sticker of the following year.

�� Requires a vehicle to have a current safety or emissions inspection prior to renewal
of registration.

�� Requires registration plates that are not renewed to be surrendered within 120 days
of expiration.

�� Requires applicants for a license as a safety or emissions inspection station to have
equipment and software to transfer information on inspections to the Division of
Motor Vehicles by electronic means.

�� Requires, during initial implementation of the electronic inspection process, that the
vendor selected by the Division of Motor Vehicles provide the equipment and
software at no cost to a station that holds a license on October 1, 2008.

�� Requires an applicant for a safety inspection mechanic license to have training in use
of the system.

�� Requires sellers of new and used vehicles to provide a receipt certifying compliance
with the electronic inspection process.

�� Authorizes out-of-State emissions inspection if the inspection meets federal
standards.

�� Increases the safety inspection fee from $8.25 to $12.75.

�� Requires the Division of Motor Vehicles to report to the Joint Legislative
Transportation Oversight Committee by May 1, 2008, on its progress in implementing
this act.

[Asheville Native]

No sticker with the date? i.e. no visual reminder every time you walk up to your car, equals more fines for expired "electronic inspection authorization" certificates.

[Stripes17]

Originally Posted by Asheville Native

No sticker with the date? i.e. no visual reminder every time you walk up to your car, equals more fines for expired "electronic inspection authorization" certificates.

Let alone those of us who get shafted because our inspection date doesn't match the month of the registration date. Leave to the gov't to take a program that isn't perfect and make it a travesty.