If you heard a loud WhooHoo! earlier, it was me cheering the end of inspections in NH. I never thought it would actually happen. Businesses and politicians become addicted to these kind of programs and the revenue they generate. Lots of lobbying by “interested parties” opposed to ending this program but in the end, the governor signed the bill ending it Jan 2026. Thank {insert your preferred deity}!
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Minnesota did away with metro testing during Jessie venturas term. When he won, it knocked both parties on their parts that flew over the fence last. Just couldn’t understand how the public was fed up with them all. Pretty good gov after all. Said the only one benefitting from the testing was the vendors. Shut the ramp meters down for a time too just to see how it improved traffic flow. Loved it.
I thought his concern for me was overwhelming. I said good morning to him once and he said hi how are ya and kept on walking. Not like I expected a hug or anything. 
If I read the above posts correctly, @TwinTurbo is writing about annual safety inspections and @bing discusses smog testing. No problem, I just want to make sure I understand.
MD has safety inspections when a car is sold, but no annual inspections. There was a big push in the general assembly about ten years ago for annual evaluations, but a significant number of the representatives opposed it. The compromise is to have state and local police stop vehicles with obvious safety violations, like burned out taillights. The offender has a couple of weeks to get it fixed and return the citation signed by a police officer that an inspection found that the repair had been completed.
We have smog inspections in Central Maryland after six years for the original owner, then every other year. It’s every other year after a used car is purchased no matter how new it is. The OBD2 memory is read for codes. None found means a passing grade. Vehicles older than 20 years don’t get tested, nor do those with historic registration.
Florida safety inspections up through the early 80s. If your lights failed after the inspection LEOs ignored it if inspection ticket was current. Inspection stations were owned and operated by the state. After state inspections were eliminated some stations were sold, became tire stores, others went to municipalities and became fire stations.
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It is a combined inspection here. The emissions part is a simple OBDII scan. The safety part is thoroughly defined by the state but in practice varies greatly between test stations (private entities) as does the cost of these inspections. Some places you need an appointment and they take the better part of an hour to do the inspection. My preferred place is walk in and takes 5 minutes. 
In NJ, new vehicles are exempt from inspections for 5 years. After that, it’s every 2 years, but only for emissions.
Safety inspections went bye-bye more than a decade ago, and the first time that I went to the inspection station after that elimination, I asked the inspector for clarification. He said, “Even if you manage to get here on 4 flat tires, with no windshield, no working lights, and with lousy brakes, we have to give you a passing sticker as long as the emissions are okay”.
One less thing to worry about. This past May when I got my Corvette out of storage I had to drive from there directly to an inspection station because my car’s registration and Safety inspection expired while in storage. Probably not a problem, but sometimes you run across a cop with a stick up his butt and could make a big deal of it.
I’m assuming it’s not as simple as no codes and no MIL equals a “pass”
I’m guessing in several states . . . such as mine . . . you still need the prerequisite readiness monitors and also need to pass the visible smoke test
I think that is the way that it works in my state. They check your registration and insurance documents, and then they plug into your OBD2 port, and if they find no codes, you get your passing sticker and you’re good to go.
The only time that it didn’t seem to be very quick was several years ago when I saw them test an older BMW time, and time, and time again, and then they finally gave it a failed sticker.
Virginia still has the annual safety inspection in place. It’s a nuisance, but I didn’t mind it so much until I learned that there is no evidence that such programs actually improve overall safety. So now it’s just a nuisance.
And oddly, emissions inspections are only required in specific counties/cities, I think all of which are in NOVA around the DC area. I’m not in one of those areas, so don’t know the specifics. But I think it’s required every two years and cars over 20 (25?) years are exempt.
You could totally game the system, in that case
clear the persistent trouble codes that always come back, and head straight to the testing station BEFORE the MIL comes back on
why bother to properly diagnose and fix your car, in that case? 
As a kid once in a while you would see the police set up and flagging cars down to go through a safety check. If you passed, you’d get a big round sticker on the windshield with a big green check mark. No idea if it was mandatory or what happened if you didn’t pass. Never seen anything since.
They’re required only in Bernalillo County (Albuquerque’s) in NM, cars older than 35 exempt.
I’ve gotten more value from repairs that I didn’t recognize I needed. Some people drive their cars until they break, which in the case of brakes or tires can injure others. I can imagine an honest inspection program that contributes more than it costs. Because my pickup is too old I paid for my last inspection.
I always thought that emissions inspections required all of the readiness monitors to be “complete,” and if not, that’s a fail even without the MIL being on or codes set - ?
Maryland requires all that except the smoke test. Well, I’m guessing since I run the OBD2 test myself. I’ll pass the Odyssey as long as it passes the systems monitored through the OBD2 port. I’m not sure about the technician assisted tests.
I guess my sarcasm didn’t come across
As you guys know, I’ve been a professional mechanic for decades and am a licensed smog inspector and repair technician
Of course I wouldn’t advocate clearing codes,not fixing the underlying condition and heading straight for the testing station, fully well knowing the MIL will illuminate the next day for the exact same reason
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I do indeed. So I guess I did miss the sarcasm. I was just asking. Never lived anywhere with emissions inspections, so IDK.
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