Legal reasoning why a car with expired registration should be towed.

[cbg]

Neither of which is applicable to having your car towed.

 

[wyattbiker]

Wow. You have some nerve questioning a tow.



Sure it fits. The tow is in place to remove an unregistered vehicle from the road. You have no business having a vehicle on a public highway with no registration.



Neither. You just can't seem to accept the fact that a tow for an expired registration (especially 6 months!) is reasonable.

I am not questioning the tow. I am questioning the towing part of the law. And you should read my question.

 

[Eekamouse]

For 6 months you didn't notice your tags were expired and you did not follow up with the DMV? Did you pay your registration and the tags just never showed up in your mail? How could you possibly go 6 months without noticing your tags were out of date?

 

[justalayman]

For 6 months you didn't notice your tags were expired and you did not follow up with the DMV? Did you pay your registration and the tags just never showed up in your mail? How could you possibly go 6 months without noticing your tags were out of date?

I sheepishly have to admit to an 8 month lapse of registration. My wife had usually taken care of it (for years) so I didn't even give it a second thought. Have to love the cops that stopped me though. As they stood there telling me they could have the car towed (as I bowed my head in shame and nodded agreement) they said; we aren't going to though. Now, you are supposed to have the car towed from here but (with a special inflection of an indescribable unspoken permission) as long as we do not see you driving the car, we don't know how it was removed from this spot. Now, when we leave here, we are going to go to the next corner and turn right (knowing I had to turn left for the shortest route home I presume). Let me remind you that we cannot see you drive this car (wink wink).



God how I felt so special at that moment.

I still do not know how it escaped my wife though. I cannot forget to close the toilet seat one time and you would think he Apocalypse was here but she forgets the car registration for 8 months and it's; Huh, don't know how that happened, and it's supposed to be ok with me.

 

[wyattbiker]

For 6 months you didn't notice your tags were expired and you did not follow up with the DMV? Did you pay your registration and the tags just never showed up in your mail? How could you possibly go 6 months without noticing your tags were out of date?

In NJ it's not a tag. It's a registration card that must be stored in the car's glove compartment. There is no sticker I can stick on my forehead nor on the plates nor on my windshield anymore... Nothing. Now it's something you have remember to hope you get in the mail or if the state or us mail looses the letter, it is up to the owner to remember everyday. It doesn't even match the car inspection date (which by the way has a tag stuck on windshield).

To me this screams of money making operation. A registration is a tax. If you forget to pay then get a fine. Not the car towed...

But again, it's a crazy law and it seems some people here didn't read my question.

 

[wyattbiker]

I sheepishly have to admit to an 8 month lapse of registration. My wife had usually taken care of it (for years) so I didn't even give it a second thought. Have to love the cops that stopped me though. As they stood there telling me they could have the car towed (as I bowed my head in shame and nodded agreement) they said; we aren't going to though. Now, you are supposed to have the car towed from here but (with a special inflection of an indescribable unspoken permission) as long as we do not see you driving the car, we don't know how it was removed from this spot. Now, when we leave here, we are going to go to the next corner and turn right (knowing I had to turn left for the shortest route home I presume). Let me remind you that we cannot see you drive this car (wink wink).



God how I felt so special at that moment.

I still do not know how it escaped my wife though. I cannot forget to close the toilet seat one time and you would think he Apocalypse was here but she forgets the car registration for 8 months and it's; Huh, don't know how that happened, and it's supposed to be ok with me.

Well, here is an answer next time about the toilet seat. Why women every time they go to the toilet they forget to put the seat up where it belongs.

 

[tranquility]

Have you seen the warnings in front of DVD's? Cruel and unusual; please. Besides as SteveF said, it is not a fine, but a fee.

The reason is the state wants its money. Did you really need to ask? They don't want you driving without paying the fee. If they made it reasonable as to the harm, many would calculate the risk/reward and the government would have to pretend they have limited funds to pay for what they want.

 

[HighwayMan]

As I recall the plate registration stickers were eliminated because a lot of people weren't even putting them on when they got them in the mail. So, rather than enforce the law and write people for that the powers that be decided that the stickers were a burden and eliminated them.

Sorry that you feel it's not your responsibility to remember when your registration expires. You could put a post-it on your refrigerator. Or maybe get into the habit of checking the registration card on the first day of the month as a reminder.

The bottom line is your car was unregistered and it was towed. Nothing unreasonable with that.

 

[justalayman]

if there is no sticker or such installed onto the plate, how does the authority know whether the registration is current or not?

 

[wyattbiker]

As I recall the plate registration stickers were eliminated because a lot of people weren't even putting them on when they got them in the mail. So, rather than enforce the law and write people for that the powers that be decided that the stickers were a burden and eliminated them.

Sorry that you feel it's not your responsibility to remember when your registration expires. You could put a post-it on your refrigerator. Or maybe get into the habit of checking the registration card on the first day of the month as a reminder.

The bottom line is your car was unregistered and it was towed. Nothing unreasonable with that.

Thanks for all your postings and suggestions. I ll have the last word. Case closed