What are the penalties if a vehicle fails its annual inspection and is caught by traffic police?
3 Answers
For vehicles that do not undergo annual inspection on time, besides compromising driving safety, a penalty of 3 points will be recorded for overdue inspection. For any traffic accidents caused by vehicles that have not undergone annual inspection on time, the involved party will bear full or primary responsibility, and the insurance company will not be liable. If a motor vehicle fails to obtain the inspection qualification mark for three consecutive inspection periods after the expiration of the inspection validity period, it will be forcibly scrapped.
When I first started driving, I also made a silly mistake. I didn't realize my car's annual inspection had been overdue for two months until I was pulled over by traffic police—what a panic that was! I was fined 200 yuan on the spot, had 3 points deducted from my license, and worst of all, my car was impounded. The officer explained that according to traffic regulations, driving an uninspected vehicle not only results in fines and point deductions but also temporary seizure of the vehicle. That time, it took me three days of hassle: first dealing with the violation and paying the fine, then rushing to the inspection station to complete the overdue check, and finally retrieving my car from the impound lot with the inspection certificate—costing over 500 yuan in total and causing work delays. What an expensive lesson! Everyone, make sure to get your annual inspection done on time. Don't try to save a few hundred yuan on inspection fees only to lose much more later.
Our neighbor Old Wang learned this the hard way. He kept driving his van for cargo delivery for three months past its inspection deadline. Last Tuesday, he was stopped by traffic police on the ring road - his vehicle was impounded on the spot with a 200-yuan fine and 3 demerit points on his license. The officer explained this is standard procedure: any vehicle caught without valid inspection gets towed to a designated lot. Owners must pay the fine and present a renewed inspection certificate to retrieve it. Not only did Old Wang lose that delivery job, he paid an extra 200-yuan towing fee plus three days' parking charges, totaling over 2,000 yuan in losses. Now he sets phone reminders to get inspected two weeks early, never cutting it close again.
