New Hampshire eliminated annual passenger vehicle inspections last year. Beginning in February 2026, they are no longer mandatory. The journey from there to here is well documented on our pages, including the lawsuits, caterwauling, and fearmongering. The problem was the paradigm. People just assumed that the state’s interest in making you pay for an inspection and any required repairs improved public safety.
They don’t.
You could have looked at the hands-free law to see that the two have nothing to do with each other (government and public safety), and that the state’s unnecessary intervention there did nothing, at best, but likely made matters worse.
As for ending inspections, we took the fearmongers down easily. There is zero evidence that passenger vehicle inspections improve overall road or public safety, but there is evidence that they can cost drivers a lot of money in exchange for zero net benefit. Just ask Vermont?
“Vermont eases vehicle inspection rules in bid to save drivers money.”
Vermont lawmakers made changes this year to the state’s vehicle inspection system, aiming to make it more affordable for drivers while keeping roads safe.
Vermont is one of 17 states with annual or biannual inspections of registered cars and trucks. The state maintains that inspections can catch defects that make cars unsafe to drive, but inspections are not cheap, and they sometimes expose problems that cost thousands to fix.
In a bid to save drivers’ money? Indeed! And, of course, inspections can catch issues before they become problems, but there is no evidence that state-mandated inspections, whether the state profits from them or not, have any downstream benefit, or that issues that “just” pass and degrade into dangerous conditions will be addressed before the next inspection.
But regardless of how you frame it, there’s no measurable net benefit for the increased cost.
I shared that data previously, here.
New Hampshire is obviously a “no” now, and I’d be surprised if anything changes either way, because the truth is, when it comes to cars and driving, people are people no matter the state mandate. Take the hands-free law, for example. NHTSA data have long shown that the problem with distracted driving is the person, not the absence of disincentives. You can pass anti-texting laws, but the people most likely to create risk will keep doing it.
Education remains the best means of informing drivers about risk, and earlier is better. NH doesn’t require adults to wear seat belts either, the only state that does not require them, but 76% of them do anyway. And states that do require them have the same problems. Fatalities overwhelmingly result from alcohol and/or speed, with or without seatbelts, proving that even education can only do so much to overcome human nature.
In other words, the state’s promised use of force does not improve or guarantee improved public safety. The threat of harm or injury isn’t enough, so why would a ticket or fine be more of a deterrent? This applies to the vehicle’s condition, and a mandate doesn’t change that. It also ignores that the majority of drivers will bring their vehicles in for necessary maintenance (oil changes, tires, brakes, filters), and most shops will perform free multi-point inspections as part of the process.
A free inspection.
You get a status of all the key points that used to come with the mandated inspection, and the option to have the work done or scheduled. It is in their best interest to provide that service, and based on your relationship with the business, you can volunteer to engage in commerce.
It’s worked everywhere it’s been tried, so has New Hampshire’s recent abandonment of the statistically unnecessary mandatory inspection “inspired” Vermont to use a lighter touch? Or is this more likely for show? Vermont has become one of the most heavily taxed and financially unlivable states in the country in recent years. There’s very little evidence it can back away from that anytime soon, and since elections have consequences and voters keep electing democrat majorities, it can only get worse.
Sure, Gov Scott can veto any new tax hikes, but he’s been along for the ride, and the State can’t get better until it elects a Republican majority legislature. Until then, look what we did. You might save a few bucks on inspections, which we will take anyway from you to pay for rising property taxes.
Taxes that pay for declining outcomes just about everywhere because, just like mandated inspections, you end up paying more for nothing if you’re lucky.
