While Pennsylvania is just 1 of 14 states that still require annual vehicle inspections, a package of bills proposed by a state senator would abolish them, arguing that the requirement is “excessive” and “unnecessary.”
Within the commonwealth, we understand that annual vehicle inspections are an inconvenience to vehicle owners and an extra cost burden.
Well, Democratic state Sen. Marty Flynn of Lackawanna County, who sits on the Senate Transportation Committee, is proposing to abolish them.
He circulated co-sponsorship memos for a bill to eliminate annual vehicle inspections, leaving drivers to only need a vehicle inspected when it’s sold or the title is transferred, among other changes that include:
- digital driver’s licenses and license plates
- Sunday vehicle sales, and
- improving the driver education law
Regardless of the potential changes, vehicle emissions testing is a federal requirement and would remain in place.
Reasons to abolish the annual vehicle inspection
Citing a 2015 U.S. Government Accountability Office report, Flynn wrote that the value of annual inspections “was found hard to quantify, and their impact to reducing vehicle crash rates is even harder to predict. Put simply: vehicle safety inspection mandates do not equate (to) safer roadways.”
His memorandum states that inspections don’t financially benefit the state’s Motor License Fund, which “is in dire need of additional funding” as the only money going to PennDOT comes from the cost of windshield stickers.
To help the Motor License Fund, the bill would implement “new consumer protections” to make sure that vehicles are “roadworthy” before they are sold.
While the burden and cost of the annual vehicle inspections would disappear, the bill would increase annual vehicle registrations by $15, which would generate $120 million annually for the Motor License Fund.
However, this should still provide a “net savings” to vehicle owners.
The other licensing items the bills would affect include:
- Sunday vehicle sales
- Digital driver’s licenses and plates
- Require annual mileage data for vehicles with antique or classic registrations and require that the registrant have “an everyday driving vehicle” also registered with PennDOT
Handle all Licenses and Permits at once
We have been handling our clients’ licensing and permitting needs for over 30 years. From IRP Licensing to IFTA Licensing to Title Management, we do it all.
All commercial motor carriers that operate “qualified” motor vehicles must register in the IRP program to pay their registration fees. Many carriers also need to manage their vehicle titles and IFTA Licensing.
Do you need a Title Transfer, Vehicle Registration renewal or duplicate, license plates…?
If you think you need to visit the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), think again. We handle many of the same services as the DMV.
We offer several different services when it comes to titles including:
We also carry many types of plates for:
- Passenger Cars
- Trucks
- Motorcycles and Mopeds
- Trailers and Permanent Trailers
- Bus
- School Bus
- Intransit
- Omni Bus
- SME
- IMP
If you have any questions, call (717)627.4334 or email at info@cnslicensing.com.
