Do people still have to get car inspections in the middle of a pandemic? Leaders in the North Carolina General Assembly announced today that they plan to take action on the issue.

Car inspections and fines for lapsed registration are part of North Carolina state law. Only lawmakers, not the governor or Department of Transportation, can change those laws.

Senate Leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore published a joint statement Thursday, April 9 acknowledging concerns over required vehicle inspections during the COVID-19 pandemic. They both support bipartisan efforts to retroactively extend vehicle inspection deadlines, Berger and Moore said in the statement.

“We continue to work with the Governor’s team to identify and resolve issues facing North Carolinians in this crisis. DMV regulations are a particularly pressing matter that we have worked daily for several weeks on a bipartisan basis to resolve,” the General Assembly leaders said.

“We support passage of legislation when the General Assembly reconvenes to retroactively extend vehicle inspection deadlines. Until such legislation passes, we support bureaucratic flexibility on compliance with the existing deadlines. Based on our communications with the Executive Branch, we understand that the Department of Public Safety and State Highway Patrol are doing just that by not prioritizing enforcement.”

“This shared commitment by the legislative and executive branches provides North Carolinians’ certainty that the state government will provide this flexibility they need now and act to retroactively alleviate DMV deadlines despite the current law temporarily in place.”