The folks at DMV have stopped slapping inspection stickers on our windshields, but they still ask us to get our cars checked for safety and emissions problems every year.
In fact, they insist.
The state Division of Motor Vehicles refuses every day to renew registrations for hundreds of cars because they have not been inspected first.
It's the law, but it's confusing for car owners.
If your inspection is overdue and you try to renew the registration at a DMV license plate office, a computer check will thwart you. The clerk won't accept your cash.
Likewise, you face quick rejection if you try to pay by credit card online at www.ncdot.gov/dmv/. No inspection? No transaction.
But a lot of us renew our registrations by mail - or try to.
And this process can get messy. If you run afoul of the DMV's rules, you face the prospect that checks and letters could cross in the mail for weeks.
Marge Howell, a DMV spokeswoman, says the agency rejects renewals and sends refunds to about 22,600 car owners every month - more than 1,000 every workday - because they tried to pay the DMV before they got their cars inspected.
High rejection rate
That's about one of every four mail-in renewals DMV handles.
Here's what happens in the big mail-processing factory:
A DMV worker opens your letter. Your check is sent to the bank. Your registration renewal is sent to a computer that will process it overnight.
If your car hasn't been inspected, the computer blocks your renewal. The next morning, DMV starts the process of sending you a refund.
This might not be a big hassle if DMV simply rejected your check and mailed it back to you right away. But Howell says it's a high-volume operation that can't work that way.
"We get massive amounts of mail every day," Howell said. "We have people opening mail for different things, and they have to be very careful with any checks that come in. One of the initial concerns is getting the money where it belongs."
DMV officials don't want to leave lots of checks lying around until they're sure they can accept payment. It's safer to get the money into the bank quickly, she said.
"And so a letter is generated to that customer saying you must get your inspection done before you can renew your registration - and your check will be refunded to you," Howell said.
The letter says you might have to wait three or four weeks for your refund. "Most of them get back to the customer within a week or two," Howell said.
Confusion, red tape
Still, that means you might have to pay for registration a second time before you get the DMV refund for your first payment.
Howell hopes that, as North Carolinians get used to the new rules, the numbers of registration blocks and refund checks will dwindle.
In the old days, a windshield sticker reminded drivers what month their inspections were due, and a license plate sticker displayed the month - for most cars, a different month - to renew the registration.
Under a law that began taking effect in November 2008, the twin renewal deadlines for inspection and registration fall in the same month each year. And they must be renewed in that order: inspection first, then registration.
If you haven't gotten used to this, you should pay close attention to your mail.
When the DMV mails you the annual reminder to renew your car registration, the notice includes a reminder of the inspection requirement, in red ink.
Get the biggest news in your email or cellphone as it's happening. Sign up for breaking news alerts.
Heather Peters got the better of two big industries - international carmakers and high-dollar lawyers - when she spurned a class-action lawsuit and went one-on-one against American Honda Motor Co. in a California small claims court. 
Since two unhappy guys told the Road Worrier about the deteriorating fuel economy performance of their hybrid Honda Civics, lots of local drivers have spoken in defense of their gas-electric hybrids. 
Wake County commissioners haven't made the hard political decision on whether to let voters consider a sales tax increase in November to pay for new trains and more buses. 
The worst year ever for gas prices was 2011. Prices have risen by 20 cents a gallon since Christmas. Forecasters figure we'll see $4 gas again this spring, for the first time in four years. 
When they bought their hybrid Honda Civics back in 2006, Aneil K. Mishra and Jeffrey A. Wald expected to save a lot of money on gasoline. Since then, both men have been disappointed with their hybrids. 
When Raleigh police Lt. Tim Tomczak heard I wanted to chat about cellphones and distracted driving, he almost missed his exit. 
Phil Brookover figured maybe the end was near when he spotted an ominous combination of letters on the license plate of a car ahead of him: ZZZ. 
Starting next year, folks who ride the bus to work on Interstate 40 won't always have to sit through traffic jams like, you know, common car drivers. 
Cars and trucks must be inspected before registrations can be renewed.
The deadlines fall in the same month, but the inspection can be done up to 90 days before the registration deadline.
State law also requires the Division of Motor Vehicles to block registrations - and reject payments - for other reasons:
Local fees and property taxes for the vehicle are delinquent.
Auto insurance coverage has lapsed.
The car owner is delinquent in making court-ordered child support payments.
The car owner's DMV check bounced or the owner failed to pay an emissions penalty.
A judge has ordered seizure of the car because the owner was driving with a revoked license.
Source: N.C. DMV
