Maine Legislature Considers Killing State Inspections

Imagine not having your vehicle inspected every year.

Your yearly trip to the garage may be affected and it may be solely up to your discretion to have that blinker, headlight or muffler fixed.

Lawmakers in Augusta have begun a look into a variety of newly introduced bills that deal with yearly state inspection for non-commercial vehicles.  These bills would either limit our current yearly state inspections, or do away with them entirely.

Across America, only 16 states require state inspection, either annually or semi-annual.  Most states in the nation leave it up to the vehicles owner to keep it up to par.

According to a story published in the Sun Journal, 3% of the estimated 35,000 accidents per year in Maine that involve injury or death involve vehicles with some sort of defect. The article stated that the average car in Maine is 9.3 years old with 100, 131 miles on it.

Currently in this part of Maine, vehicle owners pay $12.50 to have their car or truck inspected, Maine would lose that revenue along with the federal funds that it receives for conducting emissions testing in Cumberland County.