Bill would restore measurable steering, brake and tread rules; safety officials warn to carve out commercial vehicles

Representative Tom Walsh told the committee House Bill 1362 is intended to reinsert measurable vehicle-safety criteria into statute following last year’s repeal of the inspection program, pointing to steering, suspension, brake lining and tire-tread items that had previously been enforced via rules.

Thomas Colman, commander of Troop G and a Department of Safety official, praised the return of measurables but urged committee members to consider commercial standards for vehicles over 10,000 pounds and to include specific regulatory citations for tread depth and air-brake friction-lining requirements that the bill currently omits. Colman said commercial tread-depth standards differ from passenger-vehicle metrics and cited air-brake friction ranges that vary by shoe configuration.

Jay Ol of the New Hampshire Auto Dealers Association supported re-establishing measurables to remove subjectivity for consumers and inspectors and offered to help draft language to address commercial-vehicle carve-outs.

Committee members asked about enforcement, penalties, and defective equipment tags that had been removed when the inspection program was repealed; sponsors said some enforcement mechanisms remain in law and that staff would prepare amendments, including a possible seven-day defective equipment tag and clarifications tying penalties to existing unsafe-vehicle statutes.

The hearing closed after public comment; staff and agencies signaled they would work on language to address commercial-vehicle standards and inspections.