The check-engine light glared ominously inside Olman Gomez’s Subaru Legacy as he sat in the snaking Motor Vehicle Commission inspection line in Rahway today morning. “I know I’m going to fail,” said Gomez, a 37-year-old cabinetmaker from Sayreville. He’s been busy at work, he said, and unable to bring his car to the shop. But it was the last day of month and Gomez had no choice. He took the day off to fail inspection.

Gomez is one of unlucky ones. He just missed out on the state’s new inspection regulations, which are far less stringent than the old ones.

Under the new regulations, which take effect today, safety inspections are no longer required for passenger cars in New Jersey. Cars over five years old will still need emissions testing every two years, but they don’t have to be checked for anything else, such as bad brakes, worn-out tires or broken tail lights. 

That sounded pretty good to an exasperated Kendra Harris, 30, of Orange.

“I just think it’s unnecessary,” Harris said, as she waited for a second time today morning in the inspection line at the MVC office in Newark. She was there at 6:40 a.m. to beat the lines, but was rejected because a loose gas cap triggered a warning light. She had the cap fixed and returned. 

“I spent my whole morning here,” Harris said. “That could have been avoided.”

The changes are expected to save New Jersey more than $11 million a year. Another 28 states and the District of Columbia do not require mechanical defect inspections.

Motorists who failed inspection today still need to make the repairs and pass re-inspection. See full article in Star Ledger.