No person shall sell any motor vehicle which is intended for highway use if such vehicle is at the time of the sale a responsible motor vehicle required to have a certificate of emission inspection under Code Section 12-9-45, unless there appears on such vehicle an unexpired valid certificate of emission inspection issued pursuant to this article. Any person violating this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of $100.00 for a first offense, $500.00 for a second offense, and $1,000.00 for each subsequent offense. If, as a result of the sale of a responsible motor vehicle subject to any requirement under Code Section 12-9-45, such motor vehicle would not, if immediately registered by the purchaser as provided by law, be registered in a county in which the requirements of Code Section 12-9-45 are applicable, this Code section shall not apply.
(Code 1981, §12-9-54, enacted by Ga. L. 1992, p. 918, § 2.)
RESEARCH REFERENCES
C.J.S.
- 39A C.J.S., Health and Environment, §§ 133, 136, 142, 145, 148, 164.
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
No private cause of action.
- Trial court erred in denying an auto sales company's motion for a directed verdict on the buyer's claim under the Georgia Motor Vehicle Emission Inspection and Maintenance Act, O.C.G.A. § 12-9-54, because the statute does not provide a civil remedy nor contain an express private cause of action and the appellate court could not allocate the compensatory damages award among the several counts; thus, the jury's verdict had to be reversed in its entirety and the case remanded for a new trial. Gobran Auto Sales, Inc. v. Bell, 335 Ga. App. 873, 783 S.E.2d 389 (2016).