A bill pending in the N.H. Legislature began with a constituent asking a lawmaker why the state requires safety inspections on new cars.

State Rep. Matthew Coker, D-Meredith, couldn’t find a good answer, so he introduced a measure that would allow motorists to skip inspections on their brand-new cars for at least two years after purchase.

“People frankly don’t trust the government, and when we compel them to do something, I think we need to have a very valid reason to do it,” Coker said at a hearing last week in the N.H. House Transportation Committee on his House Bill 1391.

Current New Hampshire law requires most cars, new or not, to be inspected by a mechanic every year, including brakes, tires, steering and exhaust. It costs about $50.

Coker said some states do not have inspection programs and noted that federal statistics indicate that vehicle malfunctions seldom cause traffic accidents.

“We know vehicles can go a couple years without getting inspected,” he said. “I want to reduce the burden on New Hampshire citizens. Let’s take the safest, most benign step we can take and then look at the data.”

He said the bill would save motorists not only the cost of inspections on new cars, but also the time and inconvenience of having someone perform the examination.

Previous attempts to ease New Hampshire’s inspection requirements have failed in recent years in the state Legislature amid strong opposition from repair shops and automobile dealers.

In an interview Monday, Coker had an explanation for this opposition.

“It’s a profit center for them,” he said. “Who wouldn’t want a system where people are legally mandated to drop in to your business every year?”

He said he has heard anecdotes about unscrupulous mechanics telling motorists that their cars need repairs when they are in fact in good working condition.

Critics of the inspection system also say that many maintenance and equipment issues are picked up by mechanics anyway when motorists bring their cars in for oil changes. Police can also require repairs if they see a car with obvious problems such as broken lights.

State Sen. Donovan Fenton, D-Keene, vice president of Fenton Family Dealerships in Swanzey, opposes the bill.

He said most, but not all, new cars pass safety inspections.

“Remember these cars travel from Japan on a boat, and then are on a trailer before it gets to you, so you have to inspect it,” he said.

An inspection would also pick up any safety recall that applies to the car, and other potential defects such as alignment problems that could cause expensive repairs later if the problem is not remedied early, he said.

Also, if the bill were to pass, a vehicle could undergo many months of wear and tear to parts requiring regular maintenance such as tires and brakes, Fenton said, adding that New Hampshire’s snowy and icy roads can be tough on vehicles.

He also noted that inspections protect not only motorists with faulty vehicles, but others on the road who could be endangered by these vehicles.

According to a fiscal analysis on the bill, 82,713 new vehicles were inspected last year. State Police testimony to the committee indicated about 110 of these failed inspection in 2023.

The N.H. House Transportation Committee is scheduled to make a recommendation on HB 1391 this week and send it to the full House for further consideration. The measure has bipartisan sponsorship.

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