Vehicle inspection is the process of having ones vehicle inspected by a certified agency as mandated by local or state governments. A vehicle inspection involves the testing and inspection of different areas of the vehicle to make sure the vehicle is safe for the environment and safe to drive on the roadways. The employees of the inspection station will also check the car for properly working safety features such as the horn, the headlights, the break lights and the brakes themselves. If any of these are not working or are working improperly, the inspection will be marked as a failure and the driver will have to have the car inspected again shortly thereafter.
Before a vehicle can pass an inspection it must pass all of the required tests and safety regulations that are law within each individual state or uniformed law across the country. Those tests also include emissions tests. Emissions are what the vehicle emits from its exhaust pipe. If the emissions are too dangerous for the environment the car will not pass inspection and will need to have the problem looked at by a mechanic and then the car must be inspected again.
Vehicle inspections can occur once per year, once every two years and for brand new cars coming off the lot they are inspected four years after purchase. Not all states within the United States employ the use of vehicle inspection and a majority of the states that use to carry them have now discontinued their use. The United States government has left it up to the individual states to determine if they perform vehicle inspections, how often they perform them and what tests and safety requirements are involved in the inspections.
Here is the list of states that requires a periodic vehicle inspection:
Delaware (every year)
District of Columbia (every two years)
Hawaii (every year)
Louisiana (every year)
Maine (every year)
Massachusetts (safety and emissions annually)
Minnesota (annual)
Mississippi(safety inspection every year)
Missouri (every two years)
New Hampshire (every year)
New Jersey (safety and emissions testing every two years, brand new cars are exempt for the first four years provided the car remains with the same owner.)
New York (safety and emissions test every year)
North Carolina (every year)
Pennsylvania(every year for most vehicles)
Rhode Island (safety and emission inspection every two years)
Texas (every year)
Utah (every two years for the first eight years, then every year)
Vermont (every year)
Virginia (every year)
West Virginia (every year - safety)
Vehicle inspections, in most states, do not cost the driver anything out of pocket or through their car insurance company. The only thing that vehicle inspections cost drivers are their time. Some drivers might have to wait up to an hour or more in line for their car to be inspected. Most vehicle inspections are usually required to occur at the end of the month, which is when they expire, and most drivers wait until the latest possible date to have their car inspected which creates long lines and long wait periods.
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