VTDigger20%
Changes to the state’s vehicle inspection system create a compromise for Vermonters 50%
By Grace Bertrand55%
7/17/2026, 9:45:22 PM
Keywords: Department Of Motor Vehicles, Vehicle Inspections
BS Summary: This article contains 22 faulty reasoning types, including Framing Effect, Hasty Generalization, and Middle Ground, with Optimism Bias as the most egregious example at 18.4% saturation with 154 hits. Analysis detected 1,024 faulty-reasoning hits from 838 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 50.1% and a BS Rank of 50% (10,704 of 21,174 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 50.60% of the article peer group.
Vehicle inspections in the state are changing, making it easier and more cost-effective for Vermonters to receive their inspection stickers every year.
Under a new state law, inspectors will fail vehicles only for an immediate safety risk, with owners being notified of any nonsafety issues.
The law took effect July 1, but the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles reviewed the standards in its inspection manual and recently posted the changes on its website.
Those changes take effect Aug.
1.
“It’s an attempt to sort of reduce the burden on Vermonters that a lot of people felt were too laborious and didn’t focus on the actual safety and operation of the vehicle,” said Rep.
Matt Walker, R-Swanton, chair of the House Transportation Committee.
What has changed
Vermont is one of 14 states requiring annual vehicle inspections.
While discussing changes to make the state’s inspection system more affordable, Vermont lawmakers called for the DMV to revise its inspection manual involving tires, power steering, suspension, brake rotors, lighting, electrical, windshield, windows, wipers and the body.
The new rules also aim to pass vehicles that have minor cosmetic defects, with the goal of helping Vermonters save on repair costs and still maintain compliance with the state’s inspection requirements.
A few changes made in the inspection manual involve rust, brakes and chips in the windshield that do not affect the driver’s view, said DMV Director of Enforcement and Safety Wade Cochran.
Other changes made to the manual were the removal of the headlamp-aiming subsection and road test references in several inspection procedures, as well as the expansion and reorganization of motorcycle exhaust system requirements, according to the DMV website.
If a vehicle is found to be deficient in any of the nonsafety areas, the owner will be notified, but the vehicle will still pass.
“They will be advised this should be fixed, so if somebody can’t really afford it, maybe it gives them a chance to save up to get that repair done,” Cochran said of vehicle owners.
He added that some of the changes will vary depending on the vehicle, as highway safety was the overall goal for the DMV.
Cochran said some changes will vary by vehicle, with highway safety as the overall goal.
Light surface rust on brake rotors and drums, for instance, will no longer be an automatic failure.
“We have to kind of find a balance between what’s going to save money or keep money in our hardworking Vermonters’ pockets, but yet keep them safe,” he added.
Vermont’s next steps
Ken Brown, a mechanic and inspector at Brown’s Sales and Services in Windsor, said these changes could be beneficial for Vermonters, as long as the core inspection requirements are kept for safety reasons.
“I mean, some of the stuff you can fail people for is kind of ridiculous,” Brown said.
“It’s not a safety thing, but I understand what they’re trying to do.”
As for how the relaxation of rules on minor issues will affect his business, Brown said he is not expecting any major impact.
Most of the customers he sees, he said, are regulars who already get repairs only when needed.
“Most of the stations, including us, prioritize the things that are actually safety-related, like if the frame’s broken, the brakes are bad, you know, tires are bad, things like that,” Brown said.
Many state legislators had also considered passing a Senate bill, S.211, making a switch to the inspection process from annually to every two years.
Brown said that change might make things easier for the mechanics in Vermont.
“I mean, it’ll just be less inspections to do, but most of us little shops already have a ton of work to do other than the inspection,” Brown said.
Walker, however, said he does not want Vermont to follow New Hampshire’s lead.
That state ended its mandatory annual safety inspections in 2025 and previously eliminated emissions testing for most vehicles.
Consequently, the state was sued for violating the Clean Air Act by ending the program without the approval of the Environmental Protection Agency.
“Vermont doesn't want to move backwards in relation to air quality and environmental concerns, so I think it's important to see how that (lawsuit) plays out,” Walker said.
In May, the lawsuit was voluntarily withdrawn after the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals allowed New Hampshire to end its vehicle inspection program.
However, the company suing said it planned to file a fresh complaint, continuing to push back against New Hampshire.
Walker added that he hopes the changes in the inspection system will satisfy the Vermonters who were looking for a more drastic change in when the mandatory inspections would take place.
“I think it's a good balance between a lot of people that would like to see inspections go away entirely, and people that feel inspections are pretty important for the safety of our roads, and making sure that people do see what's going wrong with their vehicle,” he said.
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