ST. GEORGE – If you thought holding out into the new year would save you from having to get a vehicle inspection in Utah, the State Tax Commission has some disappointing news for you.
While 2018 marks the end of mandatory safety inspections on passenger vehicles due to the passing of a law repealing the requirement for annual vehicle registration, the Utah State Tax Commission announced Tuesday that a safety inspection is still required for vehicles with registrations that expired in 2017.
Read more: New year brings an end to mandatory car safety inspections
“This means if a passenger vehicle registration expires in 2017 that would have required a safety inspection at that time, the inspection will still be required to register after that date – even in January,” said Charlie Roberts, of the Utah Division of Motor Vehicles.
“We use registration expiration dates to implement new motor vehicle laws” Roberts said. “This is consistent with the implementation of other tax laws.”
Mandatory vehicle safety inspections, which run around $15, came to be seen as an unnecessary and burdensome step in getting a vehicle registered year after year.
Lawmakers who supported the bill repealing the mandatory inspections said data from other states that did away with the inspections didn’t see an increase in traffic accidents afterward. They also argued it was a financial burden to lower-income individuals and families that had to rely on older-model cars for transportation.
Repealing the mandatory inspections is anticipated to save Utahns an estimated $25 million annually, according to a financial analysis conduct by the state.
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Not only inspection fee savings but those items they find that might cost quite a bit more. Not so honest places trying to take advantage of the customer.$$$
good riddance to a mostly useless and largely corrupt program.