NH State Inspection For Vehicles

[TheProfessor]

Originally Posted by Chubby

. . . what about the person who buys a brand new car and has to pay an additional $50 to get it out of the showroom and another $50 a few months later on their birthday month ?

If one can afford a new $65,000 Volvo. $50.00 is just a tip at a nice local restaurant. Or half a carafe of wine at same restaurant.

[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by TheProfessor

If one can afford a new $65,000 Volvo. $50.00 is just a tip at a nice local restaurant. Or half a carafe of wine at same restaurant.

Ummm...do you realize how small the group of people who own $65k cars and leave $50 tips on the regular is?

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[pondguy]

https://www.wmur.com/article/new-ham...51525/64785093

[John Mercier]

It came out of committee with a 3-3, no recommendation, and got placed on the regular calendar.

[ITD]

There are a lot of people who will drive a jalopy car with no brakes, broken springs, rotted out frames, worn out bearings, bad tires, bad shocks, big holes in sheet metal, the list goes on and on. Most either don't want to spend the money or can't afford to spend the money for repairs. I really don't want to share the road with these cars.

A car inspection in the state ranges from "$20 to $50" if you pay more than that then you probably are paying for things that needed to be repaired or replaced, or you need to find a new station.

Sorry folks, as much of a pain as the inspections are, I'm fine with them. If everyone were responsible and would not drive a deficient car, then I would agree with eliminating the inspections, but trust me, there more people than you would imagine who don't care. I've known quite a few.

[John Mercier]

The ones that can't afford it are what they are trying to figure out.

[tis]

We followed a truck yesterday with so much smoke coming out of it, we couldn't see in front of us. Overall I don't feel the road will be unsafe without car inspections. The cars here don't look any better to me than in Florida. I don't see all the junks in Fl. that some of you are talking about.

[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by tis

We followed a truck yesterday with so much smoke coming out of it, we couldn't see in front of us. Overall I don't feel the road will be unsafe without car inspections. The cars here don't look any better to me than in Florida. I don't see all the junks in Fl. that some of you are talking about.

Every single time I've been to Florida, I've noticed wayyyy more beaters than I ever see in New England.

In fact, last week when I wrote the comment about how few people drive $65k cars and tip $50, my family and I spent the whole ride from Lowell, MA to our camp looking at what people were driving, and we came up with two things: 1. A tiny, tiny percentage of the passenger (not including 18-wheelers, construction trucks etc.) vehicles were $65k+ and 2. There are almost no "old" cars on the road.

Stats show this as the average age of cars in NH is 10.3 vs. the national average, 12.2. And here's a map that shows Florida has a higher average age, as well.

The question, though, is safety—older cars definitely means higher maintenance requirements to maintain safety, but does it mean people don't do that maintenance?

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[TiltonBB]

Originally Posted by tis

We followed a truck yesterday with so much smoke coming out of it, we couldn't see in front of us. Overall I don't feel the road will be unsafe without car inspections. The cars here don't look any better to me than in Florida. I don't see all the junks in Fl. that some of you are talking about.

I don't notice much of a difference in condition between cars in Florida and cars in New Hampshire. Florida does not have state mandated inspections and doesn't require front plates either. I have never seen statistics to support the necessity or show the safety benefit of either.

Police officers and DOT inspectors can and do write citations for excessive smoke or any other safety violations they observe. That does happen and reduces the amount of unsafe vehicles on the road. Heavy diesel trucks do not get emissions testing during a state inspection.

[tis]

Originally Posted by TiltonBB

I don't notice much of a difference in condition between cars in Florida and cars in New Hampshire. Florida does not have state mandated inspections and doesn't require front plates either. I have never seen statistics to support the necessity or show the safety benefit of either.

Police officers and DOT inspectors can and do write citations for excessive smoke or any other safety violations they observe. That does happen and reduces the amount of unsafe vehicles on the road. Heavy diesel trucks do not get emissions testing during a state inspection.

Thank you. Exactly the way I see it. And most violations that they check for on an inspection become obvious if they are not working.

[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by John Mercier

The ones that can't afford it are what they are trying to figure out.

Afford what, the inspection fee? At most, it's $4/month. If someone can't swing that, they almost certainly are driving a vehicle that's not adequately maintained.

Or are you talking about the costs associated with keeping automobiles at the level required to pass inspection?

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[John Mercier]

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

Afford what, the inspection fee? At most, it's $4/month. If someone can't swing that, they almost certainly are driving a vehicle that's not adequately maintained.

Or are you talking about the costs associated with keeping automobiles at the level required to pass inspection?

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Repairs.
The testimony before the committees is now online, and even in a text format.

Pretty transparent.

So far the costing issue this year has centered around housing, food, and transportation.

Transportation seemed to have the least areas that they could do anything at the State level.
Locally, many options exist... but those may not work for longer distances.

For housing, Belmont got ahead of the curve during out town meeting, and open residential properties to manufactured housing. That will now become a State law that municipalities will have until next June to comply with.
And they removed municipalities ability to expand the building code.

For food, they have several bills in. But again, most of this is currently local like transportation issues.

[John Mercier]

Appears the inspection bill is headed back to committee.

[pondguy]

No more State Inspections starting in 2026.

[John Mercier]

It was removed in HB2, and vehicle registration fees were increased as an offset.

[fatlazyless]

To offset the 3.5-million dollar NH state loss per year from eliminating yearly NH car inspection stickers starting in 2026, your driver license and vehicle registration fees are going up.

Driver's license fees: increasing from $10 to $20.

Motor vehicle registration application fees: increasing from $25 to $35

Vanity license plate fees: increasing from $40 to $60.

Commercial truck registration fees: increasing significantly with a 50% increase.

In essence, New Hampshire is leveraging increases in registration and other fees as a way to manage the financial implications of eliminating mandatory car inspections.
.................

All info above comes from a Google search on "New Hampshire raises registration fees to offset losses from eliminating yearly car inspections."

So, what you save by eliminating your yearly NH safety inspection will be offset by what you pay for your NH license and registration.

Without the yearly car inspections, you will no longer be driving that golden N.H. safe road. You will be driving a more dangerous road.

[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by John Mercier

It was removed in HB2, and vehicle registration fees were increased as an offset.

I didn't see that mentioned anywhere in the articles I read. If true, this change would shift costs from people with cheaper/older cars to those with more expensive/newer ones rather than reducing overall "taxes" (flat inspection fee for all vs. scaled fees depending on value).

I wonder if anyone will be paying attention to the impact—accidents as a result of missed/avoided maintenance/repairs—though I guess it probably doesn't matter much as it seems there's no real data from when inspections were in place to begin with...

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[tis]

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

I didn't see that mentioned anywhere in the articles I read. If true, this change would shift costs from people with cheaper/older cars to those with more expensive/newer ones rather than reducing overall "taxes" (flat inspection fee for all vs. scaled fees depending on value).

I wonder if anyone will be paying attention to the impact—accidents as a result of missed/avoided maintenance/repairs—though I guess it probably doesn't matter much as it seems there's no real data from when inspections were in place to begin with...

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It WAS passed as of next January.

[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by tis

It WAS passed as of next January.

The "if true" referred to the increase in registration fees, which I hadn't seen mentioned in the articles I read. (And if the increases were planned OR in exchange for getting rid of the registration process.)

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[TheTimeTraveler]

I guess emissions have never really been an issue at all. Why have we had to do the emissions up until now ?

Safety (and rust) are other issues. It will now be up to the State and local Police to cite vehicles that appear to be unsafe (for those owners who don't take care of their vehicles such as tires, exhaust, etc.).

Florida dropped their inspections 25 years ago and there are a lot of cars on the road today that really shouldn't be. It will be interesting to see how this works out in New Hampshire.


.

[Biggd]

Originally Posted by TheTimeTraveler

I guess emissions have never really been an issue at all. Why have we have we had to do the emissions up until now ?

Safety (and rust) are other issues. It's now up to the State and local Police to cite vehicles that appear to be unsafe (for those owners who don't take care of their vehicles such as tires, exhaust, etc.).

Florida dropped their inspections 25 years ago and there are a lot of cars on the road today that really shouldn't be. It will be interesting to see how this works out in New Hampshire.

Emissions were always an issue but not anymore. Newer vehicles run so much cleaner now and hopefully it stays that way. Believe what you want but it wouldn't have happened without government regulations. The few that are on the road that won't pass an emission test now won't make much difference.
I'm a retired mechanic of over 50 years, I've seen firsthand how regulations have led to cleaner running and more fuel-efficient vehicles, which has benefited everyone.

[fatlazyless]

This June 27 Union Leader report ...... http://www.yahoo.com/news/deal-end-v...035900163.html ...... says it eliminates vehicle safety inspections entirely for cars, trucks, and motorcycles, and weakens the frequency of school bus inspections.

Tires and brake jobs have become quite expensive so eliminating the yearly inspections will make it more likely for cars, trucks and motorcycles to be driven with worn out tires and brake pads or brake shoes for big trucks.

This seems to be a wack-a-doozie crazy move by N.H. to eliminate yearly vehicle inspections that will make driving the N.H. roads less safe and more dangerous.

It does not mention anything that fees for registering cars, motorcycles, trucks, vanity plates and driver licenses will be increased to offset the 3.5 million dollars/year state highway revenue lost by eliminating the inspection stickers.

Cars, tires, brakes and car repairs have become very expensive but eliminating the yearly vehicle inspections is not the way that N.H. should go. It will be the only northeast state .... http://www.newsweek.com/maps-states-...s-2025-2006489 ..... without a yearly car inspection.

[John Mercier]

234 Motor Vehicles; Certificates of Title and Registration of Vehicles; Fees to be Collected. Amend RSA 261:141, III to read as follows:

III. Prorated fees:

(a) For agricultural vehicles-[$3.60] $12.

(b) For each agricultural tractor-$[1.80] $12.

(c) For air compressors-[$6] $11.

(d) For cement mixers-[$6] $11.

(e) For saw rigs or log splitters-[$6] $11.

(If the equipment cited in RSA 261:141, III(c)-(e), is towed exclusively within the limits of a single city or town, the state registration fee shall not be collected.)

(f) For antique motorcycles-[$2.40] $12.

(g) For all motor vehicles other than those in RSA 261:141, I:

0-3000 lbs. [$31.20 ($2.60 per month)] $42 ($3.50 per month)

3001-5000 lbs. [$43.20 ($3.60 per month)] $48 ($4 per month)

5001-8000 lbs. [$55.20 ($4.60 per month)] $66 ($5.50 per month)

8001-73,280 lbs. [$ .96] $1.06 per hundred lbs. gross weight.

(h) Truck-tractors to be used in conjunction with a semi-trailer, gross weight shall include the weight of such tractors, the weight of the heaviest semi-trailer to be used therewith, and the weight of the maximum load to be carried thereby: up to 73,280 pounds [$.96] $1.06 per 100 pounds gross weight, over 73,280 pounds-[$1.44] $1.58 shall be charged for each 100 pounds gross weight or portion thereof in excess of 73,280 pounds.

(i) Each additional semi-trailer used in conjunction with such truck-tractor [$24.00] $26.40

(j) For semi-trailers or automobile utility trailers (the weight of the trailer shall include the maximum load to be carried thereby):

0-1000 lbs. [$ 3.00] $3.30

1001-1500 lbs. [6.00] $6.60

1501-3000 lbs. [12.00] $13.20

3001-5000 lbs. [24.00] $26.40

5001-8000 lbs. [36.00] $39.60

8001-up [.60] $0.66 per hundred lbs. gross weight.