Texas vehicle inspection stickers going away in 2015

[coachrick]

They need to do away with inspections all together. Its a bogus racket

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

They did that some years back in South Carolina...said they couldn't police it or manage it, so they dropped it! Not sure what's in place now.
Before that, when I was trying to get my very first car inspected, I took it to an Exxon Car Care Center, knowing they had a full service center vs just selling gas and oil changes. My Dad told me later the reason I didn't pass and had a list of things to correct was ...this station was a TRAINING center...the techs were aware that any vehicle could be taken aside and RE-inspected to check their work!!! So, they followed the book to the letter!!! I did finally repair everything on that 10 year-old Studebaker Lark VIII; but I sure learned a lesson!!

 

[cbigclarke]

SC, FL, Ga (except Atlanta), Al, has no inspection system that i know of.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

[benenglish]

I'm actually a fan of having an inspection every year. While it's a huge PITA and I used to hate it, working in Oklahoma for 6 months and noticing some of the wrecks on the road made me appreciate why we have an inspection system in Texas.

Just so long as it never gets out of hand. A buddy of mine told me about what they do in NY and it's pretty much stealing. Nearly impossible to pass a yearly inspection there without having some sort of maintenance done.

I like the states that compromise. At every traffic stop, the police do a walk-around, light check, etc. It's an "inspection sticker lite" once-over of the vehicle. They then write fix-it tickets for everything.

If you drive without causing any trouble, you can keep a wreck on the road. Otherwise, you have to get it fixed. The situation in NY (and lots of places in Texas, too) is a massive conflict of interest; the person doing the inspection also profits if they find things wrong. Of course they're going to find stuff wrong, even if nothing is wrong. Having the police do inspections at every traffic stop solves that problem.

Note: The above is out of date. My last experience with a state that worked like that was over 15 years ago so I don't know if anyone still follows that sort of procedure.

 

[benenglish]

The stocking part is it takes them an hour to do an oil change. The more shocking part is they apparently only have one tech to do oil changes and inspections. Pretty safe to say that's one place I'll never use.

Why pay middle-class wages to a couple of competent inspectors to hang around all day when you can simply inconvenience your customers? Most people won't pack up and leave once they've arrived so the bottom line is that inconveniencing customers by deliberately understaffing results in a more profitable business.

I'm not sure but I think this is a problem in pretty much every single business type that caters to the middle class we used to have.

 

[benenglish]

... Al, has no inspection system that i know of.

I like the states that compromise. At every traffic stop, the police do a walk-around...
... I don't know if anyone still follows that sort of procedure.

Hmm. My last experience with the sort of procedure I outlined was, indeed, in Alabama.

 

[Southpaw]

Why pay middle-class wages to a couple of competent inspectors to hang around all day when you can simply inconvenience your customers? Most people won't pack up and leave once they've arrived so the bottom line is that inconveniencing customers by deliberately understaffing results in a more profitable business.

I'm not sure but I think this is a problem in pretty much every single business type that caters to the middle class we used to have.

And How!!!!!!



We have always renewed our registrations online...I wonder if that will be going away since I will need to physically be there to show them a certificate. ??

 

[cbigclarke]

What will this do to the third party participants

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

[MCA]

They did that some years back in South Carolina...said they couldn't police it or manage it, so they dropped it! Not sure what's in place now. ...

SC has no inspection now. You can pay your tax/vehicle reg by mail once you are in the system and they send you a new two-digit year sticker for your plate (only rear plates in SC).

 

[Brains]

And How!!!!!!



We have always renewed our registrations online...I wonder if that will be going away since I will need to physically be there to show them a certificate. ??

My assumption, for what it's worth, is there will be data sharing between TX DPS who handles the inspections and the tax office/DMV who handles registrations.

 

[Southpaw]

My assumption, for what it's worth, is there will be data sharing between TX DPS who handles the inspections and the tax office/DMV who handles registrations.

So you think that the details will be shared from my local lube joint to DPS to tax office?


EDIT- Here is a little more I found out that answers my question.

http://blog.chron.com/texaspolitics...osed-for-vehicle-registration-and-inspection/

One sticker-system proposed for vehicle registration and inspection

Posted on May 6, 2013 | By Eva Ruth Moravec
A bill unanimously passed by the Texas Senate on Monday would require motorists to pass a vehicle inspection before obtaining their annual state registration.



Authored by Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, Senate Bill 1350 would also implement a “single certification system,” in which motorists are no longer required to have two separate stickers for registration and inspection. The bill, which now heads to the Texas House, is intended to minimize fraud.
According to the legislation, the Texas Department of Public Safety would be tasked with setting up an online portal that inspectors would use to file inspections by Jan. 1, 2014. Vehicle owners would be required to have their automobiles pass inspection within 90 days of their registration’s expiration.

County tax assessor-collectors would be tasked with verifying the vehicle’s inspection before issuing a registration sticker

 

[MCA]

They could always save another $1+ Million by getting rid of the big honking window stickers all together and use little postage stamp sized registration validation stickers on the rear plate like nearly every other state.

Perhaps the best argument for going to license plate validation stickers? The only places in the US that use window stickers are ... wait for it ... Texas, New York, and Washington DC.

 

[Vaquero]

Front plates suck.

 

[Skip]

^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^

"Character is doing the right thing even when no one is watching"

 

[rsayloriii]

They could always save another $1+ Million by getting rid of the big honking window stickers all together and use little postage stamp sized registration validation stickers on the rear plate like nearly every other state.

Perhaps the best argument for going to license plate validation stickers? The only places in the US that use window stickers are ... wait for it ... Texas, New York, and Washington DC.

They used to be stickers on the plates. The reason they went to the ones on the windshield was because the plate stickers were being stolen. Once the sticker was scraped off, it could be put on another plate and no one would know, if done carefully. The windshield stickers have the vehicle info and plate number on it, making it harder to "scrape and stick".

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

 

[cbigclarke]

Front plates suck.

You would know

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

[MCA]

Here's the plate from one of my cars from before we moved here last year. If you look closely at the "13" sticker (the validation sticker) perhaps you can make out that it also includes the registration number.

The stickers are also made of a tamper resistant material. Seems to me that if someone wanted to merely drive around with an unregistered vehicle and get away with it it would be just as easy to Photoshop a Google image of a registration window sticker. If you don't get stopped or take any toll roads odds are you'd probably get away with it.

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk

 

[BIGPAPIGREG]

So my bike which has no current inspection because it won't pass will now also lack a registration. Guess I'm gonna have to finally put a horn on it.

W

didn't think it needed one if it is a custom one of a kind build? Not sure on that.

 

[rsayloriii]

Tamper resistant isn't that "resistant". If you take a razor blade to it and slowly work it down, you can pull it off undamaged within seconds, 99% of the time.

As for the numbers on it, less likely to be checked vs. the window sticker as the cop will be at your window and it's quite easy to read in a glance.

Nothing is foolproof. Those are just the reasons why Texas went to the windshield stickers.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

 

[MCA]

Tamper resistant isn't that "resistant". If you take a razor blade to it and slowly work it down, you can pull it off undamaged within seconds, 99% of the time.

As for the numbers on it, less likely to be checked vs. the window sticker as the cop will be at your window and it's quite easy to read in a glance.

Nothing is foolproof. Those are just the reasons why Texas went to the windshield stickers.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

Not doubting any of this, just saying that one could counterfeit a window sticker fairly easily if you were so inclined. If the justification for getting rid of the inspection sticker was a couple million bucks then you could probably save close to the same amount again by switching to a plate sticker ... and that I doubt you're making a significant dent in people driving unregistered vehicles by using window stickers instead of the ones on the plate.

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk

 

[Vaquero]

We had plate stickers for years.
Still do on trailers.