RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina automobile owners are still getting used to an inspection system requiring safety and emissions checks before car license plates can be renewed.
The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Tuesday that the Division of Motor Vehicles is rejecting more than 1,000 car owners every workday because they tried to renew their registration before
their automobiles were inspected.
DMV spokeswoman Marge Howell says that's about one of every four mail-in renewals the agency handles.
The vehicle inspection law that took effect in November 2008 harmonized annual inspection and registration dates so they fell within the same month.
The problem is that some motorists don't realize the renewals require the inspection first, then registration.
Information from: The News & Observer
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Don't wait
And if you wait until your tag is expired to get an inspection you will be turned away because you don't have a current tag. You go to the DMV to get a current tag and are turned away because you have not had your car inspected.