End the car inspection scam! Support HB649 (2025) – New Hampshire legislation

Car inspections are a scam!  Help us get rid of them this year!

The New Hampshire Legislature is set to eliminate mandatory car inspections once and for all!  That means no more regressive $40–50 fee on top of your registration, no more dealing with crooked mechanics holding your car hostage on bogus repair claims, and no more traffic stops for an expired sticker!

The bill is HB649, sponsored by Rep. Michael Granger.  You can read it here and check on its status using GenCourtMobile.  Currently, the bill is in the House Transportation Committee, with a hearing on Tuesday, February 11 at 1:00 p.m.  And check out this great op-ed by Rep. John Sellers in Granite Grok!

Read on to find out how you can help out and testifying in person.  But first…

Why do we want to get rid of car inspections?

• Very few states impose this on their citizens.  Only a handful of states (15 13 11 at last count) require their motorists to deal with safety and emissions inspections.  Many states have neither.  States without inspections show no evidence of increased car accidents due to defective equipment on vehicles.  In the last decade, several states have even eliminated their inspections—and they have shown no decrease in road safety as a result.

• Car inspections are a regressive tax.  You pay the same fee for an inspection ($40–50) whether you drive a Corolla or a Corvette.  Older cars are more likely to fail inspections, and these motorists are the least likely to be able to afford the inspection and the resulting repair bills.

• An opportunity for fraud and abuse.  Who doesn’t have a story of a crooked mechanic holding your car hostage on bogus repair claims?  Who hasn’t been forced to do expensive repairs because the only alternative was driving with an expired sticker?

• Arbitrary, capricious, and unjust.  Car inspections are conducted by private mechanics.  There are standards they are expected to follow (Saf-C 3200), but no two mechanics interpret the rules the same.  Once you take your car in for inspection, you are completely at the mercy of that mechanic’s opinion.  There is no right to get a “second opinion” if you don’t trust him.  There is no legal appeals process if a mechanic refuses to pass your car.

Here (PDF) is some excellent testimony from Brian Chase, a retired N.H. State Police sergeant and expert in accident investigation and reconstruction.  Some highlights—

• “My professional career of thousands of forensic vehicle inspections has revealed no more than four vehicles which realized component failure—all of which were registered in states mandating a safety inspection program.”

• “There currently exist merely eleven (11) states in the United States which mandate annual vehicle inspections, with New Hampshire being one of the most stringent.”

• “State motor vehicle safety inspection programs have no effect on highway safety and serve solely as a profit means to inspection stations/auto dealers who demand repairs that are unnecessary.”

• “Although inspection station/dealer owners and representatives fight to ensure remarkable income from state inspections, the fact is that statistically state safety inspection programs play no role in reducing fatal crashes.”

• “There is no EPA mandate for the state of New Hampshire for the emissions program in place.”

• “Inspection and Emissions programs are costly, inefficient, inaccurate, and financially detrimental to New Hampshire motorists—especially those low income and elderly residents.”

How can I help out?

If you would like to help out, sign up here!  We’ll be in touch!

The bill is being heard by the Transportation Committee.  Contact the representatives on this committee, plus your own reps, and let them know you support this bill and want to see it pass!  Email them, call them, or write them a letter to voice your support.  In-person calls are more effective than emails and a personal letter is the most impactful.  But if you can’t do that, at least email them!  Our legislators are all volunteers and they do read their emails!

Here is how you can email all committee members at once.  If the link does not work, copy and paste the following—

thomas.walsh@gc.nh.gov, charles.foote@gc.nh.gov, charlie.stclair@gc.nh.gov, daniel.veilleux@gc.nh.gov, dru.fox@gc.nh.gov, erik.johnson@gc.nh.gov, george.sykes@gc.nh.gov, greghillnh@gmail.com, henry.giasson@gc.nh.gov, joseph.hamblen@gc.nh.gov, karel.crawford@gc.nh.gov, marc.plamondon@gc.nh.gov, matthew.coker@gc.nh.gov, matthew.pitaro@gc.nh.gov, seth.miller@gc.nh.gov, ted.gorski@gc.nh.gov

And here is contact info for each of the committee members individually—

Email tips—

• Subject.  In the subject line, state the bill number (HB649) and that you support the bill.  A subject line as simple as “Vote YES on HB649” or “Please support HB649” will suffice.  If you are a constituent (you live in the rep’s district), include that in the subject!

• Length.  State up front that you support the bill.  Again state you are a constituent if you are one.  Your email does not need to be long or detailed.  It just needs to get the point across—you want your rep to vote YES on HB649.

• A personal story.  However, if you have a personal story of how car inspections have negatively impacted your life—please do include that in your email!  Our lawmakers need to know how badly these mandatory car inspections hurt their constituents!

• BCC tip.  If you want to contact the entire committee in one email, put all their addresses in the BCC line.  When reps are emailed all at once, some can be hesitant to “reply all” due to concerns over holding an improper meeting under N.H.’s right-to-know law (RSA 91-A).  BCCing all the reps at once avoids this.

Can I testify in person?

Yes!  The Transportation Committee will be holding a public hearing on the bill on Tuesday, February 11 at 1:00 p.m. in room #203 of the Legislative Office Building (behind the State House).  Please show up to testify!

Here is the Facebook event.

One of our supporters on the committee, Rep. Coker, also sponsored a bill which extends the grace period for an OBD II (check engine light) failure to 180 days.  The bill is HB212 and has its hearing at 11:20 a.m. the same day.  Show up for that one too if you can!

If you can’t testify in person, please submit electronic testimony.  Many people on both sides are doing so, so let’s overwhelm the opposition with support!  The form is a bit convoluted to use, so see these instructions.

Testimony tips—

• Sign in.  If you plan to speak, there will be a set of pink cards in the committee room.  Fill one out and pass it to someone on the committee.  That reserves you a speaking slot.  If you do not wish to speak, you can also fill out a sheet to register your support for the bill.

• A personal story.  How have car inspections negatively impacted you or your family?  Reps are much more responsive to stories about bad laws negatively impacting their constituents, than they are to facts, statistics, and graphs.  One impactful story can change a lawmaker’s mind while a pile of boring numbers may not.  They need to know how badly these mandatory car inspections hurt their constituents!  So if you have a story, please share it!

• Length.  Keep your testimony to three minutes.  Longer testimony runs the risk of the committee members losing interest in what you’re saying.

• Opening and closing.  When you start, be sure to state your name, the town you live in, and that you support the bill.  When you are finished, thank the committee for the opportunity to testify.  If your testimony was interesting, they may even have questions for you!

• Dress appropriately.  Our representatives will take you a lot more seriously if you dress well.  A suit & tie, a jacket, or at least business casual dress is appropriate.

• Other decorum notes.  Show up on time.  Keep your cell phone muted.  If you need to have a side conversation, quietly exit the committee room and return when you’re done.

• Don’t be intimidated!  However, with all this in mind, remember:  New Hampshire’s legislature is one of the largest in the world and our representatives are essentially volunteers.  They want to hear from their constituents.  At first it may feel like you’re in court or testifying in front of Congress, but don’t worry.  Give your testimony, tell your story, and your representatives will be happy that you participated in our democratic process.    ▰