Texas (R) Senator Don Huffines proposed a legislative bill to remove the requirement for vehicles inspections across the state. Now, in the midst of the Texas legislation session, this bill also gained support from (R) Senator Charles Perry as well.
After previous legislation, Huffines helped pass a bill that would not require motorists to display their inspection sticker on their non-commercial vehicle. However, this new bill has a goal to remove the inspection all together for anyone who owns a car in Texas.
Huffines has stated that the yearly fees associated with this inspection is a waste of money.
“The whole process takes a matter of minutes,” Bolton’s Oil Change Assistant Manager Richard Garcia said. “You come in, we check all of the stuff that’s required and that’s pretty much it. If the vehicles passes it’s no problem, you’re in and out in ten minutes.”
“If there are problems, we let you know what’s going on,” Garcia added. “We fail you, we give you the form. You have 15 days from the day you inspect it to come back and get a free re-inspection.”
Garcia added that inspections also help detect if a car is legal.
Local residents in Lubbock agree with the Senator that they should not be legally obligated to pay these fees for every car inspection.
“I don’t think it should be a legal requirement,” Car Owner John McCollum said. “If they’re being neglectful and something does happen, it does endanger somebody, then you should get ticketed.”
A poll posted on the KLBK Facebook Page received opinions both for and against this bill. As of 9:30 p.m. Monday, 78% of participants voted in favor of this bill with 22% of participates voted against it.
However, other local residents in this area told KLBK and EverythingLubbock.com the fees are worth the cost for safety on the road.
“The seven dollar fee is minimal,” Garcia said. “You think about what it’s going to cost if someone is driving next to you with missing lug nuts, their tire falls off, or you have an accident. So there’s injuries or death. The window tint of some of these vehicles from out of state trying to register in Texas is 2%. You can’t even see out of the car at night. It’s unreal.”
“What can you put on the value of a life,” Car Owner David Newton said. “If a car blows a tire and you’re doing 80 miles an hour and it kills or injures you or a loved one, your kids, grandkids, is it worth it? It’s not. I’d rather pay whatever fee it is to get it inspected, make sure it’s safe to drive and go from there with it.”
Today, it is state law that motorists must have their car inspected annually by a professional in their area.