Yearly auto inspections could soon be a thing of the past if TX Governor signs bill

College Station, Texas (KBTX) - Mandatory yearly inspection tests on your vehicles could soon be a thing of the past in Texas.

That’s if Governor Greg Abbott signs a bill that has passed both the house and senate.

Read Bill 3297 here.

At this point, Texas is only one of 13 states that still require annual safety inspections. The author of the bill, House Rep Cody Harris, said the vehicle inspections are costly and unnecessary. If it is done away with, the portion of the registration fee the state charges for inspection would be added to your yearly registration.

Some car shops in the state only conduct inspections and are worried about business and safety if Texas eliminates annual safety inspections. Quicker Sticker has a location in Bryan and College Station.

“Everyday we have to fail cars, we have to give bad people news, this has to be fixed, that has to be fixed,” said State Inspector Jordan Cantu.

Between the two Quicker Sticker locations, Cantu says they inspect around 57-thousand vehicles a year.

“We are definitely going to stay open, and we are going to be providing different services, but it is definitely going to take some adjustment to figure out exactly what we will be doing,” said Cantu.

He says they have been preparing for this possibility for a few years.

“For us we are just going to be expanding services and just kind of getting into different parts of the industry,” Cantu said. “A lot of us already have skills that we are branching out now.”

One job completed other than an inspection, they replaced the headlights and casings on a truck.

Cantu says there is still a lot of unknown, and they’ve had to have some difficult discussions.

He says he hopes the public will still look to them or other local small companies for safety and other needs.

“There’s a lot of people who come up before they take trips and just say, hey will you help me look over the car. Not everybody really knows how to maintain a car or what to be looking for,” said Cantu.

There are 17 counties in Texas require emissions testing. That testing would remain in effect. Those are in the Houston, Dallas, Austin and El Paso areas.

If governor Abbott signs the bill, it could go into effect in January of 2025.

Copyright 2023 KBTX. All rights reserved.