Starting next week, drivers in Massachusetts may notice a big change to the way state car inspections are performed.
The Massachusetts Vehicle Check program is going higher-tech, with an option for wireless emissions tests, a camera for newly required snapshots of the license plate, odometer and VIN, as well as real time compliance monitoring with several surveillance cameras positioned around the service bay.
"It's more or less to inspect the inspectors," said Bill Ferraro of Douglas. "I don't have an issue with it if it's not going to cost me any more."
The inspection will still cost $35, but the goal is to reduce sticker fraud -– which may mean longer wait times as inspectors may have to take a longer look at that rust on the body of your car or the tint in your windows.
"If I'm the third in line, that's not bad, but now I think I'm going to be sixth, seventh, eighth in line in that same place," said Ken Carlo of Gloucester.
"I have a feeling that there's definitely going to be more rejection stickers on the road," said Fuller Auto Body Service Manager David Malo.
But Malo says that's probably a good thing because it will hopefully lead to fewer unsafe cars on the road.
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"In case a shop passes somebody for something and they have to investigate," Malo explained, "now they have video proof or visual proof of what the vehicle looked like when it went in the shop at that particular time of the inspection."
According to the Massachusetts Vehicle Check hotline, the cameras will not be going online until January 2018, to try to give inspection shops more time to get the entire new system set up and become familiar with it.
It does cost each of the shops about $5,000 to $7,000 to purchase this required equipment.
