New Hampshire Lawmaker Seeks to Bring Back Mandatory State Safety Inspections

New Hampshire is set to eliminate required annual safety inspections after January—but one lawmaker has presented a bill to change that, reports Ledger Transcript.

Rep. Peter Leishman, a Peterborough Democrat, will be introducing a bill that would reinstate mandatory annual safety inspections starting in 2027, for any vehicle older than three years. 

Emissions testing is exempt from the bill, and would not be required. An emissions assessment company has actually sued New Hampshire in federal court over its elimination of emissions testing requirements, claiming it violates the Clean Air Act.

Safety inspections were axed after Republicans added the legislation to the state budget, which passed by only one vote. Republicans currently hold a strong majority in both the House and Senate, but Leishman hopes that means there is some leeway for a vote on bringing back safety inspections to pass. A few Democrats have already signed onto the bill.

“I think there’ll be a pretty lively debate,” Leishman said. “It’s very close, and we’ll see what
happens.”