As of January 1, 2025, vehicle owners in Texas are no longer required to undergo a safety inspection before registering their vehicle.
House Bill 3297, passed in the 88th Congress in 2023, would eliminate the vehicle safety inspection program for cars and trucks. (The Land Transport Authority says commercial vehicles will still need to undergo safety inspections.)
Texas will join 36 other U.S. states that do not require safety inspections. This change means that car and truck owners are personally responsible for ensuring that what they drive does not pose a danger inside or outside of their vehicle.
Texas Sen. Mays Middleton spoke for all of us in May 2023 when he said, “Vehicle inspections are expensive, time-consuming, and provide little benefit to public safety.”
Fee
Drivers will still be required to pay a $7.50 annual safety inspection fee as part of their registration fee under the new name “Inspection Program Replacement Fee.” Those who register a new vehicle will pay a $16.75 inspection program replacement fee to cover the first two years.
emissions
Safety inspections are a thing of the past, but emissions are not. Seventeen counties will continue to require emissions testing before registration.
The following 17 counties continue to require emissions inspection testing:
Houston-Galveston area: Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Montgomery counties Dallas-Fort Worth area: Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant counties Austin area: Travis County, Williamson county el paso county
Lazy information
In a statement, Sgt. “Even if your vehicle inspection is due to expire in the next few months, you still need to undergo a state inspection to renew your vehicle’s registration for another year,” said Rob Mallory of the Texas Highway Patrol. .
DMV officials also say you have five business days to get a new sticker after your current one expires. This refutes common urban myths such as “10 days to live,” “30 days to live,” and “6 months to live.”
But let’s say you’re a lazy person whose sticker expires in December (or even November if you’re really lazy) and you don’t renew your registration until January. Theoretically, you may not need to be tested. There is no intention to make safety inspections retroactive.
If you’re not lazy: Make sure your vehicle passes inspection within 90 days of renewal and include a copy of a passed Vehicle Inspection Report (VIR) if you can’t verify it electronically. Plus, a copy of your current insurance card.