Mandatory annual car inspections to be eliminated in New Hampshire with new law
Lawmakers in New Hampshire have voted to eliminate mandatory yearly car inspections in the state.
The bill now heads to Gov. Kelly Ayotte. who is expected to sign it into law.
Those who were favor of the bill said inspections are costly for people and drivers should determine when their car needs to be seen by a technician.
Deputy Speaker of the House Steven Smith, who spoke with WBZ-TV on the matter in April, said there's no real evidence that inspections are making the roads any safer. Instead, he believes the inspections are nothing more than a money grab for inspection station owners and the state, as drivers get caught paying for repairs that have nothing to do with safety.
"We have all these other states where everybody didn't die when they got rid of their inspection provisions," Smith told WBZ-TV at the time.
Some mechanics and the New Hampshire Automobile Dealers' Association were against the bill, saying car inspections save lives. The plan would be for police to keep an eye out for unsafe cars during their regular patrols but New Hampshire State Troopers have also testified against the bill saying they're already stretched too thin to also be looking for things an inspection would normally catch.
Only 14 states require a safety inspection every year, including Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont. There are only nine states that require statewide emissions testing. Some states only test emissions in the most congested counties.
The law will go into effect in January 2026.
