Bill To Eliminate Inspection Sticker Passes House Committee
A state lawmaker is looking to eliminate inspection stickers because he says they do not make our roads any safer. Stonewall Representative Larry Bagley says he recently received a new sticker, despite a crack that ran across his windshield.
“I go to the station, he said we can’t do it because your windshield is cracked. I said look I need to get it fixed. He said, are you a member of the State Police? No sir, I’m a school teacher, he scrapped that one off and put another one on. I can tell you there are hundreds of stories like that, maybe thousands.”
The House Transportation Committee approved Bagley’s bill on an eight to six vote. Colfax Representative Terry Brown says inspection stations are a bit of a joke.
“There was a guy I taught in school in the 8th grade that has a piece of junk and he’s got about eight or ten cracked places in the window and he has a current inspection that window has been broken for at least 10 years,” said Brown.
Bagley says instead of paying a 10-dollar fee for a one-year inspection sticker, his bill would add 10-dollars to your vehicle registration fee and the money would pay for 150 new state troopers.
“The inspection sticker is not working, it’s not safe and the police will be more proactive, especially when given that duty they know they are given increased funds and we have increased patrol units,” said Bagley.
House Transportation Chairman Terry Landry argued against the bill, saying there is a safety value in inspection stickers as they make sure motorists are insured and have working headlights.
The measure heads to the House floor for further debate.