New January 1 law will spell the end of inspections for some drivers – but others will still need to pass key test

With the implementation of a new rule on January 1, thousands of drivers will no longer have to pay for yearly inspections.

For the majority of automobiles, lawmakers have abolished the practice, but they have added a new fee to compensate.

Texas drivers will be relieved to hear that state-mandated inspections are about to be eliminated.

House Bill 3291, which was enacted by the state legislature back in 2023, did away with the requirement for non-commercial vehicle testing.

This implies that the yearly inspections for vehicles, motorcycles, most trucks, and motorhomes will no longer be required.

These were once required by the state’s Department of Public Safety and guaranteed that every vehicle complied with a set of fundamental requirements.

Driving without a completed inspection was a crime that carried heavy fines and the possibility of having your car seized. It cost $7.50 annually.

However, it will no longer be necessary as of next year.

However, drivers may not be happy to learn that the $7.50 will remain in place.

To compensate for the lost revenue, that sum will instead be added to the annual registration cost, which is still mandated by law.

For a limited number of drivers, testing will still be required in some way.

First and foremost, the yearly safety inspection will still be required of owners of commercial vehicles, such as big trucks and cargo vehicles.

Second, in 17 of its counties, the state still requires drivers to undergo emissions testing.

A complete list of the impacted counties is provided below, although it also includes the regions surrounding large cities like Dallas, Houston, and Austin.

You must have your car tested for emissions if it is “primarily operated in” one of these counties.

The most polluting cars are kept off the road by these fundamental emission requirements.

In actuality, this makes owning big diesel cars—especially in these places—much more difficult.

Therefore, even with the legislative change, hundreds of thousands of drivers will still be subject to mandatory checks in 2025.

It follows more than 240 cars being towed in the early days of a new parking ordinance in Chicago.

After the crackdown, owners had to fight $235 fines to get their cars back.

“As a teacher, I had to get up really early, and my car was towed,” Chicago resident Keileh Callahan told WBBM-TV.

Since I’ve only been here three months, I was unaware.

“I learned my lesson.”