'Texans are responsible, fiercely independent': Governor signs bill doing away with mandatory vehicle checks into law

A measure that does away with mandatory vehicle inspections in the Lone Star State is now law. 

Gov. Greg Abbott affixed his signature on Tuesday to House Bill (HB) 2397, which LegiScan described as eliminating “regular mandatory vehicle safety inspections for noncommercial vehicles.”

Austin NBC affiliate KXAN reported that HB 2397, however, exempts 17 of the state’s 254 counties. 

The counties that still require vehicles to undergo emissions inspections are Harris, Fort Bend, Brazoria, Montgomery, Galveston, Williamson, Travis, Dallas, Tarrant, Denton, Collin, Rockwall, Kaufman, Ellis, Johnson, Parker and El Paso, per the station. 

Motorists who’ll no longer have their vehicles inspected still must pay the rechristened $7.50 inspection program replacement fee.

HB 2397 was sponsored by State Rep. Cody Harris (R-Palestine) and State Sens. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) and Bob Hall (R-Edgewood), The Texas Tribune reported.

“These inspections are a waste of time for Texas citizens and a money-making Ponzi scheme used by some shady dealerships to upsell consumers with unnecessary repairs,” Harris said in a statement that was obtained by Houston ABC affiliate KTRK, the Austin-based online media outlet reported. “Texans are responsible, fiercely independent and I trust them to keep their cars and trucks safe while on the road.”

According to The Texas Tribune, the measure’s opponents argued that people’s lives would be at risk without mandatory inspections.

A Houston mechanic told Houston NPR affiliate Houston Public Media (HPM) that he’s afraid HB 2397 will result in many drivers experiencing problems on the road such as broken taillights and illegal window tinting, problems that his business has been resolving for more than 20 years.

“When you start doing that, it really does degrade a lot of the cars on the road for safety, and that’s what’s going to end up worrying me later down the line," Mike Yu, the proprietor of Midtown Auto Service and Repair, said, HPM reported. "It’s just going to be the Wild West eventually.”

The law will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025.

Until then, Texas is among a group of 13 states that subject their motorists to annual safety inspections.