Motor Vehicle Amendment:

Grace Period for Vehicle Inspection Stickers to Be Eliminated

An Unpopular Appointment: The Vehicle Inspection(Bild: P. Huber)

Until now, Austrian drivers have been able to exceed their vehicle inspection deadlines by up to four months. If the current Motor Vehicle Act amendment is enacted, this grace period will soon come to an end. The FPÖ describes the government as “anti-driver” and is calling for the regulation to be retained—also in the interest of classic car owners. 

What lies behind the extremely cumbersome term “42nd Amendment to the Motor Vehicle Act” could soon lead to trouble for some motorists. In addition to reducing the administrative burden on inspection stations, various adjustments for driving instructors, and changes regarding truck inspections or fraud investigators’ access to the inspection database, the amendment contains other contentious points.

The new regulations could cause trouble for classic car owners.(Bild: Margit Stockinger)

4-2-2-2-1 Instead of 3-2-1 for the Pickerl
The §57a inspection—that is, the standard vehicle inspection—will be changed from the previous 3-2-1 rule (first inspection after three years, then after two years) to a 4-2-2-2-1 schedule. Furthermore, the inspection sticker may no longer be obtained one month before the due date, as was previously the case, but can now be obtained up to four months in advance. However, the grace period afterward (previously four months) is to be completely eliminated. The inspection sticker must therefore be affixed to the car or motorcycle on the scheduled date—and not a day later.

The exceptions granted even by the EU are being ignored by the driver-unfriendly federal government.

NÖ-Verkehrslandesrat Udo Landbauer (FPÖ)

Bild: FPÖ

Problems for Motorcyclists and Classic Car Owners
For Lower Austria’s State Councilor for Transportation, Udo Landbauer (FPÖ), this is unacceptable. The planned regulation would cause problems especially for motorcyclists and classic car owners, as they often store their license plates and registration documents during the cold season. “If the inspection date happens to fall right during the storage period, it could lead to scheduling conflicts with the vehicle registration sticker appointment,” Landbauer emphasizes. Longer wait times for replacement parts for vintage vehicles are also being “ignored by the anti-driver federal government.” The FPÖ is therefore calling on everyone to “get moving” and retain the current deadline.