photo courtesy of Louisiana State Police
A House bill that would eliminate vehicle inspection stickers is nearing final passage, despite strong opposition from the businesses that conduct the inspections. Janice Aucion of Morgan City says she’s been inspecting vehicles for 26 years and told the Louisiana Senate Transportation Committee that inspection stations keep unsafe vehicles off the road.
“I’ve seen cars where, holes in the floorboard, you can actually see the road from underneath them. So there are things like, your seatbelt is not working, latching properly. There are things that we check, that you just can’t see on a car going down the road, that’s not obvious,” Aucion explained.
The bill author’s, Stonewall Representative Larry Bagley, says it’s inconvenient for drivers to have to get a vehicle inspection sticker every year or two. He’s seeking to replace the inspection sticker with a $6 QR code that drivers would pay through the mail instead of going to an inspection station.
Davey Quinn of Hammond says passage of Bagley’s bill will result in more uninsured motorists, vehicles with tinted windows that are darker than they should be and vehicles that not fit for the road.
“Mr. Bagley, this is a feel-good bill. It’s going to ‘feel good’ to get this passed. It’s going to make him popular. He’s not putting the state first. He’s not putting the people first,” Quinn said.
Office of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Bryan Adams says the state does not need inspection stations to help find uninsured motorists.
“I’ll say that we know, within 15 days, if a vehicle does not have insurance. So, the thought of that we don’t know, we know immediately. So I just wanted to make sure that you all understood that,” Adams said.
Bagley downplayed the role inspection stations have in preventing unsafe and uninsured drivers from getting behind the wheel.
“You all know that when a policeman walks up to a car, they have a reader, and they can read if you have insurance and that sort of thing. So there’s not really a safety issue here,” Bagley said.
The bill heads to the Senate floor. If the upper chamber approves, the full House will have to agree to the Senate amendments before it goes to the governor’s desk. Governor Landry supports the bill.
Comments