STICKER SHOCK Feb 1 ‘registration’ law that would change safety rules in US state blocked at last minute leaving drivers in the lurchAN incoming law set to revise vehicle registration rules has now been put on hold. A federal judge’s ruling on the law has blocked it from going into effect just days before it was scheduled to due to it requiring federal approval to go through. Set to go into effect on Saturday, the law eliminating mandatory annual vehicle inspections has been stopped short of effectiveness by a federal ruling. HB649 was signed into law by Republican Governor Kelly Ayotte in 2025, with the state’s Republican lawmakers advocating heavily for the bill. New Hampshire is one of just 14 states requiring annual vehicle safety inspections, while it, Massachusetts, and New York are the only three in the nation that require both a safety and emissions inspection each year.