Summary: Most Texas drivers will no longer be required to have their cars pass an annual safety exam. But wait! Parker County car owners need NOT celebrate. Signed by the Governor on 13 June 2023 and effective starting 01 January, 2025, House Bill 3297 of the Texas 88th Legislative Session removes the need for annual TX Vehicle Safety Inspections. However, as usual, there are always strings attached to every government action.
Latest Update:Friday, 16 June, 2023
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Gone! TX Vehicle Safety Inspections... but not quite for Parker Co.
Most Texas drivers will no longer be required to have their cars pass an annual safety exam. But wait. Parker County car owners need NOT celebrate.
Signed by the Governor on 13 June 2023 and effective starting 01 January, 2025, House Bill 3297 of the Texas 88th Legislative Session removes the need for annual TX Vehicle Safety Inspections.
However, as usual, there are always strings attached to every government action.
The new legislation institutes a new $7.50 “Inspection Program Replacement Fee” on all cars in addition to the annual registration cost. "Drivers will still be paying the annual $7.50 when they register their vehicles. The money will go toward the Texas mobility fund, general revenue fund and the clean air account." [1]
And the seventeen (17) of the 254 Texas counties that require emissions inspections will still mandate annual tests regardless of the bill becoming law. These are Brazoria, Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, El Paso, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Johnson, Kaufman, Montgomery, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant, Travis and Williamson counties.
So, for Parker County Residents not much will change -- except, in addition to the inspection fee to the inspection station, there will be a $7.50 addition to the annual registration fee.
Sources
[1] Cars registered in Texas after 2025 will no longer need to pass a safety inspection, but owners will still pay the fee, The Texas Tribune, Excerpts.
Most Texas drivers will no longer be required to have their cars pass an annual safety exam after state lawmakers removed the rule from Texas code.
Texas is one of 13 states that mandate annual inspections for cars. That will change in about 18 months now that the Texas Legislature has given final approval to House Bill 3297.
Supporters of the bill called the safety inspections time consuming and inconvenient. Opponents of the bill say it could set Texas drivers, and future Texans, on a dangerous path.
The Legislature repealed provisions in state law that mandate annual vehicle inspections. However, the $7.50 fee remains intact under a new name: the inspection program replacement fee.
For drivers with new cars — either the current model or preceding model year that has not been previously registered in Texas or another state — there will instead be an initial fee of $16.75 to cover two years.
The 17 Texas counties that require emissions inspections will still mandate annual tests regardless of the bill becoming law. These are Brazoria, Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, El Paso, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Johnson, Kaufman, Montgomery, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant, Travis and Williamson counties.
• Gov. Abbott signs bill eliminating mandatory vehicle inspections in Texas, KXAN, 14 June 2023, "What counties require emission inspections" map
• Vehicle Safety Inspections Could End... If Abbott Agrees, Texas Scorecard, 21 May 2023
• Texas Department of Public Safety > Inspection Criteria for the Annual
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