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Neil Trindade couldn’t wait to get the piles of inspection stickers and paperwork out of his repair shop, Neil’s Laconia Garage, after New Hampshire lawmakers voted to do away with mandatory vehicle examinations.
After January, drivers in New Hampshire will no longer need to get safety inspections each year — much to the cheering of some and the chagrin of others.
Not so fast, says one state lawmaker.
Rep. Peter Leishman, a Peterborough Democrat, plans to introduce a bill in 2026 that would bring back mandatory annual safety inspections, starting in 2027, for all cars older than three years. Emissions testing, which New Hampshire also repealed, would stay eliminated.
An emissions assessment company sued New Hampshire in federal court, attempting to block that part of the repeal from going into effect. New Hampshire is asking the federal government to waive the mandated emission requirements. The lawsuit claims the state would violate the Clean Air Act unless it gets that approval first.
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When Trindade heard about the attempt to reinstate inspections, it put a damper on his day. He’d viewed the end of those requirements as a “rare victory” for personal freedom and hoped it could lead to a restored reputation for mechanics like himself.
“I am happy we will be able to use our skills and common sense to help those who can’t afford new cars keep their old ones going without the hypocritical and impractical rules of the government hanging over our heads,” Trindade said in an email.
Republicans who long viewed auto inspections as unnecessary added the legislation to the state budget as a way to appease their Libertarian-leaning members. The budget ended up passing by one vote.
Leishman’s bill could face an uphill battle, as Republicans hold a strong majority in both the House and Senate, but Leishman interpreted the close budget vote as an opportunity for some wiggle room.
He said he’s heard from both sides. Some drivers feel the state should have some form of regular safety checks and still plan to get them. Others, of the “Live Free or Die” mindset, don’t want the government telling them what to do.
“I think there’ll be a pretty lively debate,” Leishman said. “It’s very close, and we’ll see what happens.”
A few other Democrats have signed onto the bill.
In New Hampshire, 1.2 million cars received safety inspections last year, with a roughly 86% pass rate, Division of Motor Vehicles Director John Marasco told a Senate committee earlier this year. Nearly 173,500 vehicles failed their initial inspection.
Thirteen other states require safety inspections, including Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont. A 2015 study from the U.S. Government Accountability Office found no significant impact of inspections when it came to crashes related to vehicle failure.
Jodie Docos, owner of The Car Doctors in Concord, would’ve liked to see improvements to the program instead of an outright elimination. The emissions portion is “a little tough on consumers,” she said, because very small but expensive problems could cost thousands of dollars to repair.
Docos still thinks safety inspections are important to make sure the most basic functions of a car — brakes, tires, steering — are working.
“Stuff that could actually be a catastrophic event on the road if they were to ever fail,” Docos said. “Basic safety inspections, I think, are important.”
In Trindade’s view, however, once safety inspection requirements end on Jan. 31, there’s no going back. He thinks if people actually see the law in effect and see that drivers aren’t “dying left and right” without regular safety checks, the new law will be here to stay.
“Once New Hampshire gets a taste of no inspections,” he said, “they’ll be in support of no inspection programs.”
Charlotte Matherly is the statehouse reporter, covering all things government and politics with a focus on how decisions made at the New Hampshire State House impact people's lives. She also writes about… More by Charlotte Matherly
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