Texas Senate votes to end state vehicle inspections



Keep clicking to see photos taken from on the road in Texas. The Texas Senate voted in favor of dropping state inspections on May 4, 2017.

Keep clicking to see photos taken from on the road in Texas. The Texas Senate voted in favor of dropping state inspections on May 4, 2017. Photo: Yi-Chin Lee, Staff Photo: Yi-Chin Lee, Staff Image 1 of / 35 Caption Close Texas Senate votes to end state vehicle inspections 1 / 35 Back to Gallery

AUSTIN — The Texas Senate on Thursday voted to give those pesky annual state vehicle inspections the boot.

By a vote of 27-4, after lengthy debate, lawmakers approved Senate Bill 1588 that would drop the current mandate that all personal vehicles undergo annual state safety inspections.

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Commercial vehicles still would have to have them, and vehicles in 17 counties including those in the Houston metro that have air-quality restrictions would have to pass emissions tests.

"This is a tax cut that Texans will feel," said state Sen. Don Huffines, a Dallas Republican who authored the measure. "It will save Texans $130 million they're now having to pay for a procedure that has proven to have no discernible safety benefit to drivers."

For most drivers, the annual savings from the change -- if the House approves the bill — will be $7.

Huffines said that more than nine million man hours are spent on the inspections, which affect more than 50,000 Texans a day.

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The change, which would take effect in March 2018, changes a statewide policy imposed in 1951.

By the early 1970s, 31 state had mandatory vehicle inspections. After a federal mandate for those inspections ended in 1976, states began to repeal their requirements, as well.

Huffines said only 15 states, including Texas, now require annual vehicle inspections.

Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, was among those who opposed the measure. Amendments he proposed to retain vehicle inspections them failed.

"If this bill passes, I'm going to have trouble sleeping knowing that there will be thousands of dangerous vehicles on the road," Lucio told colleagues during an emotional but unsuccessful plea to defeat Huffines' bill.

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Sen. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, echoed the concerns.

"What happens if people can't maintain their cars at the level they should?" she asked. "I don't think that's good for everyday Texans ... because you're setting this up where even more people can get tickets."

Huffines dismissed the criticism, saying that other states that have repealed their mandatory inspection programs have seen no such problems emerge.

"I look at this as an unnecessary procedure that should be eliminated," said Huffines, a conservative Republican who favors limited government and less red tape.