dc parking ticket for va violation?

[sarona]

so today i got a dc parking ticket for not having my virginia plate attached to the front of my vehicle.

basically, virginia requires you to affix a license plate to both the front and back of your vehicle. i don't have a license plate holder on the front of my car, so i have had it sitting in my dashboard for about five months with no adverse consequences. today, parked in DC, i got a ticket for this.

can dc actually ticket me for violating a va law? this seems completely out of their jurisdiction!

[Zigner]

Originally Posted by sarona

can dc actually ticket me for violating a va law?

Answer: Yes

[FlyingRon]

It's not out of their jurisdiction. Most likely they charged you with 50-1501.04 of the DC code which requires valid car plates/registration either of the DC or some other state.

[xylene]

Originally Posted by sarona

so today i got a dc parking ticket for not having my virginia plate attached to the front of my vehicle.

basically, virginia requires you to affix a license plate to both the front and back of your vehicle. i don't have a license plate holder on the front of my car, so i have had it sitting in my dashboard for about five months with no adverse consequences. today, parked in DC, i got a ticket for this.

can dc actually ticket me for violating a va law? this seems completely out of their jurisdiction!

As Flying Ron points out, you can be ticketed.

You MUST display the valid indica of registration as prescribed by your state wherever you drive.

For example, in Delaware, which is rear plate only, a driver from NY (2 plate state) can be ticketed for improper display.

It is never OK to place the front plate in window.

Two self tapping sheet metal screws are all that is needed to affix a plate to a bumper. You don't need a special bracket, and if you insist on one, you can get them easily at the dealer or any autoparts or even most hardware stores.

Several months of the plate making a blind spot on your windshield was not enough to clue you in that you were being incredibly lazy, and finally got burned.

[sarona]

wow. i guess you have to be a certain type of person to sit around and make smarta$$ comments on a traffic ticket board, so i don't know why i expected civility in the responses.

thanks anyway though.

[xylene]

Also, you were committing the violation.

It is not lawful to place the license plate in the front window.

It is obstructing your vision (in itself a potential violation)

and

it does not meet the requirement that it be at the front of the car in the very least.

You have VA plates. DC can enforce the plate law. It is called reciprocity.
It is why you don't have to get your car registered in every state you drive in.

Do you have some technical out: I don't see one (but who knows), BUT;

It certainly isn't the fact that DC doesn't have jurisdiction. They do.

And it certainly isn't an issue that your car has no bracket. It wouldn't even matter if it was very difficult to put the plate on (and it is in fact incredibly easy.) You are still responsible. Why didn't you make sure the seller got you the bracket?

And it certainly isn't that the front plate was lost or stolen and you had a police report and had applied for new plates.

And it isn't even like you hit a snowbank that day and could not fix it that minute. Not that it would really matter legally, but slack can be cut, sometimes.

You were sitting on it for, in your words "5 months".
Do you think the hearing officer will care, except in a way that hurts your case?

When would you have corrected the violation without getting this ticket? Try never. That is why they give tickets.

[sarona]

and i said thank you.

but if you want to sit here and say you made those statements - about the glaring blind spot (and there was not one, it didn't obstruct anything and i forgot the plate was even there), me being "incredibly lazy" (i live in dc area, work and go to school full time - i hardly ever drive, i wasn't staring this thing in the face everyday and thinking "ehhh i should get that fixed, but really, i'd rather just watch tv"), and how i "finally got burned" like i was committing some heinous crime and finally got caught - to be "helpful" i'd say you're full of it.

this was not a situation of buying a car and not getting it fixed. i have lived in another state my entire life and just moved here. my state does not require two plates; i bought my car 8 years ago, in the other state. i seriously doubt they'd drill holes in my metal bumper for free without asking me for some money. and quite honestly i didn't even know you could affix the plate any other way - nor did any of the 15 people i asked about it when i first moved here.

also, as far as everything being true, since you're being so adamant -

you were not correct in saying a state could cite you for not having your plates in the formation required by that state if you are registered in another state - i.e., dc could not cite an nc person for only having one plate, as you said a state could in your first post.

[sarona]

and one more thing before i abandon this -

i didn't ask if i broke the law. i didn't ask if i actually violated a regulation. i asked a jurisdictional question. the only helpful thing that came out of this was whoever pointed out the exact statutory code title number because i had a difficult time finding it without having a title number to start from to read the exact words of the statute.

unless you know nothing about the judicial system in this country, you would know that people don't generally get out of statutory violations by saying "i didn't do it."

i never argued that i didn't do something i shouldn't have. i just asked a question about jurisdiction. i know it must be fun to sit at your computer and tell people how they broke the law and deserve to pay, but quite frankly, that's not what i asked.

[xylene]

Do you think the hearing officer is your friend and will be buddy-buddy? No.

I do not have the motivation to be a commiseration station. Logical reasoning and respect for the letter of the law is what you will be facing if you appeal the violation

Would you prefer to guess at defenses once you got to the hearing?

I know enough to volunteer my time to help people prepare a defense or decide how to proceed.

None of the issues you raise are a defense.

If you have any other pertinent facts, perhaps they would be relevant. Otherwise it is hopeless.

Even mentioning some of them in court would be an admission of guilt and would make you look terrible.

And my statement is correct. The state a motorist is in can and do require the plates and all other indica of registration (stickers, tags, inspection and the like) to be in order as required in the state the car is registered in.

The government is relentless in the application of law. There is no advantage in you crying over it or me giving you a gloss coat on your situation.

If you had a bulletproof out on this ticket I would be the first to tell you.
I don't believe you even have a tenuous defense, and I have told you why.

[sarona]

i hate that i keep coming back to this thread.. but AGAIN:

i asked if they had jurisdiction to enforce a VA law.

not what defenses i had.

not what i should plead in court.

not what i should or should not say.

i never asked for your pity - i asked ONE QUESTION - does have the jurisdiction to enforce a VA law - and um, no, they don't - but they do have the jurisdiction to enforce their own law requiring you to adhere to your state's policies. if i'd been able to find the statute earlier i never would have even posted on here.

(and btw, your original statement:

For example, in Delaware, which is rear plate only, a driver from NY (2 plate state) can be ticketed for improper display.

is incorrect. reread what you said. delaware could not cite the NY registered driver for having two plates just because the driver is currently in delaware. otherwise people would have to hop out of their cars and switch their plates every time they cross a state line :P)

[FlyingRon]

What were you charged with.

Most likely as I have already pointed out you were charged with a violation of DC law.

[sarona]

ron - this is my one point i may challenge on, as i think they cited me on the wrong statute.

the officer didn't actually list what regulation i violated by number (which would have been helpful). he stated "improper display of front tag" - NOT failure to show proper registration, etc, which i think is the 50-1501.04 regulation (and the one that states you have to do what your state requires you to do).

the improper display of a front tag regulation, i believe, is DC 18-422.1:

"Whenever a motor vehicle or trailer for which District of Columbia registration
is required is being operated or left standing upon any public highway, such vehicle shall display two (2) current identification tags, with one (1) on the front and the other on the rear"

this HAS to be what they cited me, as 50-1501.04 carries a $25 fine, and i received a $50 fine as carried by 18-422.1.

since i am a VA citizen, pretty sure i have a valid challenge here, on a technicality maybe, but whatever thanks for posting the title code as i was having a really hard time finding the dc traffic statutes before.