Texas Vehicle Inspection

[The Annoyed Man]

I live in Tarrant county. According to the article, it seems like nothing is going to change for me.

That's the way I understand it. Dallas, Tarrant, and all counties touching these.

Yeah, per the article:

Texans living in the most-populated counties will still have to appear annually for an emissions test. The 17 counties that require emissions inspections include those surrounding the major metro areas, other than San Antonio: Harris, Fort Bend, Brazoria, Montgomery, Galveston, Williamson, Travis, Dallas, Tarrant, Denton, Collin, Rockwall, Kaufman, Ellis, Johnson, Parker, and El Paso.

Either way, we'll still be paying $7.50 to SOMEbody.

[RoyGBiv]

I live in Tarrant county. According to the article, it seems like nothing is going to change for me.

No more safety inspection. Only emissions.
In some respects that's no change, since you still have to go in for a test.
In other respects that's a big change since the inspection station can't rip you off for $20 to fix a light bulb or replace wiper blades.
In other respects, Tarrant County residents who fail to maintain the safety of their cars will be able to drive around on bald tires with bad breaks and no taillights, until the PD decides they are worth pulling over...

I see this as a mixed bag... Less government is good, but I think overall road safety will suffer a bit.

[powerboatr]

I live in Tarrant county. According to the article, it seems like nothing is going to change for me.

That's the way I understand it. Dallas, Tarrant, and all counties touching these.

Yeah, per the article:

Texans living in the most-populated counties will still have to appear annually for an emissions test. The 17 counties that require emissions inspections include those surrounding the major metro areas, other than San Antonio: Harris, Fort Bend, Brazoria, Montgomery, Galveston, Williamson, Travis, Dallas, Tarrant, Denton, Collin, Rockwall, Kaufman, Ellis, Johnson, Parker, and El Paso.

Either way, we'll still be paying $7.50 to SOMEbody.

emissions inspections are imo another huge waste of effort. but any time people of rockwall get inconvenienced...i secretly applaud
i grew up there in the 70s till early 80s
now its so overpopulated and filled with so many rude arrogant folks

[JRG]

What's interesting about all this motor vehicle emissions testing only is that with my Ford diesel pickup the previous testing has only been for safety stuff. Texas has never done emissions testing on my diesel. There's a lot of diesel trucks in Texas, I can't imagine doing emissions testing on all of them.

Joe

[oohrah]

I see this as a mixed bag... Less government is good, but I think overall road safety will suffer a bit.

It's apparently not a problem in 38 other states.

[oohrah]

What's interesting about all this motor vehicle emissions testing only is that with my Ford diesel pickup the previous testing has only been for safety stuff. Texas has never done emissions testing on my diesel. There's a lot of diesel trucks in Texas, I can't imagine doing emissions testing on all of them.

Joe

Diesels and motorcycles are exempt from emissions testing in Texas.

[der Teufel]

I see this as a mixed bag... Less government is good, but I think overall road safety will suffer a bit.

It's apparently not a problem in 38 other states.

The main problem I see with this is folks who have non-functioning tail lights or brake lights. They typically don't know their lights aren't working. Pretty much the same for those who have one headlight out.

[LDB415]

It's a problem in 38 other states, and everywhere, it just isn't a MSM key issue. I see multiple vehicles with failed lights every time I go anywhere. And some of them assuredly have other safety issue failures that can't be seen the way non-working head/tail/turn/brake bulbs can. It's a stupid decision. Feel free to be wrong and disagree.

[mayor]

...Feel free to be wrong and disagree.

[oohrah]

It's a problem in 38 other states, and everywhere, it just isn't a MSM key issue. I see multiple vehicles with failed lights every time I go anywhere. And some of them assuredly have other safety issue failures that can't be seen the way non-working head/tail/turn/brake bulbs can. It's a stupid decision. Feel free to be wrong and disagree.

When I was stationed in CA in the 70s, and being from TX, I was quite surprised to learned they had no vehicle safety inspection. Also, Maryland and some other states where I was stationed. Since Texas was in the minority here, there's obviously no right or wrong. There are other ways of handling it. I've been stopped for having a headlight out. In my opinion, law enforcement will welcome this, as it gives them yet another lame excuse to pull people over,

[Ruark]

We get our regular inspections at a little backyard garage down the road. $7.50. I was wondering, where does that $7.50 go? Does he get a certain percent, and the rest to the state, or what?

[surprise_i'm_armed]

but any time people of rockwall get inconvenienced...i secretly applaud
i grew up there in the 70s till early 80s
now its so overpopulated and filled with so many rude arrogant folks

Maybe they are suffering from geographic envy......they live in Texas, but in the tiniest landmass county of 254 counties. :-)

*******************************************************************************************************************************

Are Texas cops really going to start issuing tickets for equipment violations?

Heck, all day long I see many vehicles whose tags expired 6, 12, 18, 24 months ago. The cops should start hassling those people.

I pay for my tags and insurance. Why should so many motorists be allowed to drive without a current registration?

What's really ironic is that some of these people are driving very high dollar rides, yet they can't even get those rides registered on time?
I wonder if they only get 5 gallons of gas at a time? All hat, no cattle.

SIA

[srothstein]

I am not sure why people think officers did not write equipment violations before. I have been writing them since I started in Texas law enforcement in 87. The charge was operating a vehicle not in inspection ready condition.

[Rafe]

I am not sure why people think officers did not write equipment violations before. I have been writing them since I started in Texas law enforcement in 87. The charge was operating a vehicle not in inspection ready condition.

And I can personally attest that in some--if not many--urban areas traffic cameras are bloomin' everywhere and are being monitored. Had an instance where a garaged vehicle didn't have its registration renewed. It needed some pretty hefty repairs. Had it towed, finally, and repairs done. But in order for it to pass inspection to get it registered, I had to drive it a minimum of 50 miles after the repair work and the car's computer reset in order to get it inspected. Headed to the nearest freeway and made it all of about a mile and a half from the repair shop when I was lit up for expired registration. Officer was super professional and immediately understood the circumstances ('course, I had the repair invoice on the seat next to me), but he told me that's how I got flagged: a traffic camera at an intersection caught the expired sticker.

[RoyGBiv]

And I can personally attest that in some--if not many--urban areas traffic cameras are bloomin' everywhere and are being monitored. Had an instance where a garaged vehicle didn't have its registration renewed. It needed some pretty hefty repairs. Had it towed, finally, and repairs done. But in order for it to pass inspection to get it registered, I had to drive it a minimum of 50 miles after the repair work and the car's computer reset in order to get it inspected. Headed to the nearest freeway and made it all of about a mile and a half from the repair shop when I was lit up for expired registration. Officer was super professional and immediately understood the circumstances ('course, I had the repair invoice on the seat next to me), but he told me that's how I got flagged: a traffic camera at an intersection caught the expired sticker.

Surveillance state...