Texas lawmakers have passed a bill that would eliminate annual safety inspections by 2025, pending final approval from Governor Greg Abbott. The bill is a compromise of an earlier version that would have done away with safety inspections by September 2023, but the Senate pushed the date back to January 2025. Supporters of the bill argue that annual inspections do little to improve road safety, burden rural Texans who live farther from a mechanic, and reward fraud. Opponents, however, argue that eliminating safety inspections could make roads less safe at a time when they are busier than ever. The Dallas Morning News editorial board described ending inspections as “a bad idea” and urged Governor Abbott to veto the bill. A study by the University of Texas at Austin’s Center for Transportation Research found that the state’s inspections system continues to find safety faults and recommended expanding the list of items that should be checked, not cutting it. The state fee that was collected during safety inspections will continue to be imposed on drivers if the bill is signed into law. The levy will simply be converted into new charges that owners pay to register their vehicles.