Texas bill passes to end safety inspections after 2025, but owners will still pay the fee.

[detachable arm]

Originally Posted by Azure110

Illegal window tint is going to be rampant now. Usually that is where it is caught, during the safety inspection.

Tint laws are supposed to protect police officers during traffic stops.

[Azure110]

Originally Posted by detachable arm

Tint laws are supposed to protect police officers during traffic stops.

I am aware of the law. Again, just saying there is no checking of tint if safety inspections cease to exist. It will be up to the police officer solely now to check tint if deemed too dark.

[Floorist]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

Florida doesn't have safety inspections, Nor does Georgia or even Illinois. All three have similar per-capita deaths on the roadways as Texas as well as large population centers comparable to Texas major metro's in size. Only 15 states including Texas even require Safety Inspections.

Also, Safety inspections are not going away for counties that require emissions testing, which includes most urban areas...

The folks out there that are an endangerment on the road are not cars falling to pieces but rather drivers who shouldn't be behind the wheel to begin with.

National statistics show that the major cause of accidents is distracted driving, mostly cell phone use. More die from that than even drunk driving. Drunk driving is illegal, why isn't using a phone while driving?

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by Floorist

National statistics show that the major cause of accidents is distracted driving, mostly cell phone use. More die from that than even drunk driving. Drunk driving is illegal, why isn't using a phone while driving?

It technically is, but impractical to fully enforce.

[Mr. Clutch]

Originally Posted by Azure110

I am aware of the law. Again, just saying there is no checking of tint if safety inspections cease to exist. It will be up to the police officer solely now to check tint if deemed too dark.

I see illegal window tint all the time as is. The tint shops will sell it to you and many inspection shops won't fail someone over it as they want to keep getting those customers business.

I can't say how often police pull folks over for tint violations, but as I see illegal tint all the time around here, I doubt its much of a priority. Funny story, back when I first moved to the DC area a decade or so ago I got pulled over in Virginia for illegal tint as my car still had Texas plates and Virginia's tint laws are (or were) stricter than Texas laws. By the way, this was at night in heavy traffic, and the cop saw me from a parking lot and maneuvered through all the traffic to pull me over.

I can't imagine anything like that happening in Texas, at least not in the metros. Maybe in smaller towns.

[wxf848]

Originally Posted by ilovepizza1975

Getting rid of inspections without getting rid of the fee is idiotic.

To clarify, the fee of $7 that goes to the inspection station will no longer be collected. The rest is a little complicated. Until several years ago, inspection stations paid a fee to the state for each sticker they issued and that was part of what the customer paid. Since the inspection stickers went away, that portion of the inspection fee has been collected with the registration fee, and the station collected only the portion they would keep. That portion of the fee is $5.50 and the new bill will raise set the replacement fee at $7.50.


In total, you will save the $7 cost of inspection but your registration renewal will cost $2 more, if I'm reading this correctly.

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by detachable arm

What states are those? And do they compare in size and magnitude to Texas? Similar sized urban areas, similar road structure, etc? For example: Just because a lack of seat belt laws works for New Hampshire doesn’t mean it will work for Texas, Florida, California, etc.

And I’ve known honest shops who did quick inspections, who cranked them out fast, accurately and legally. They had some wipers and bulbs for sale but didn’t deal with the bigger stuff. So now those jobs have been eliminated by the government, and the money confiscated by the government. I’ll remember this one next time I vote.

California doesn't have safety inspections, just periodic emissions inspections.