fix it tickets in cars not registered to me

[irategirl]

california
while test driving a vehicle last month, i was pulled over by local law enforcement, and issued an expired registration and no proof of insurance "fix-it" ticket. the owner of the vehicle told me the tags were good til march 2008 and it was insured. the only reason i considered buying it was because of the current registration. and i would not have driven it knowing about the tags and insurance. the cop said it was just a fix-it ticket, but how am i, not the owner, suppossed to show the two things were fixed? i can't locate this person now, and have no idea where to find them. anyway, the ticket without the corrections is $751.00. what do i do?

[seniorjudge]

What statute number were you charged under?

[irategirl]

violations: 16028a 29 and 4000a1x 29
per the notice i received in the mail.

[seniorjudge]

Originally Posted by irategirl

violations: 16028a 29 and 4000a1x 29
per the notice i received in the mail.

Those are violation codes.

We need to know the statute number under which you were charged.

[CdwJava]

Originally Posted by irategirl

violations: 16028a 29 and 4000a1x 29
per the notice i received in the mail.

SJ, those ARE the statutes - they are the California Vehicle Code sections.

CVC 16028(a) is not providing proof of insurance when requested at the scene of a stop, and CVC 4000(a) is the expired registration.

The officer SHOULD have checked a box indicating owner responsibility if you told him that this was NOT your vehicle. If he did not, then you will have to appear in court and plead not guilty. Then you may have to show with any information you have as to the registered owner and as to your "test drive".

However, if the registered owner says you bought the car, and you submitted a release of liability, that argument might be dead in the water.

At this point, it seems you will have to go to court and take care of the matter. And you need to contact the owner of the vehicle so that HE can take care of the registration. Oh, and if your insurance covers you for any car YOU drive, then you might want to bring that with you as well.

- Carl

[CourtClerk]

I will add that the insurance portion of the ticket carries the highest fine...

presenting insurance that covers yourself will dismiss that portion of the ticket because an insurance violation can be dismissed if you present insurance for either yourself or the vehicle. If the registration is in fact current, then get a copy of the registration and present it to the court prior to the expiration date on the registration... pay the $10 and get on with it.

BTW OP: you do realize you should never drive a car without insurance of your own, don't you?