Ticket for Plate Mix-up

What is the name of your state? Arizona

Two years ago I bought a new truck and since I am disabled and have a handicap plate, I switched plates between my new truck and the older vehicle I was driving. I was sure that when I went to the DMV to complete all of the paper work, I asked them to switch the plates between the two vehicles, but it didn't get done.

I recently received a ticket for violation of ARS 28-2531 B2, which states "Lends to a person or knowingly permits the use of the person's registration card or license plate by a person not entitled to the card or plate."

This doesn't seem to apply to my case because I am a person entitled to the plate since I own and am registered for both vehicles. It was just a case of inadvertently having the plates mixed up between my two vehicles. I want to contest this ticket in court. What do you think? Thanks.

who owns the vehicle you were driving at the time of the ticket?

I do. I own both vehicles. I just had the plates switched between them.

Plates are not transferable between vehicles without DMV approval. You did not have approval. Get the approval and take it to court, the judge may show some mercy.

jcbaty said:

I asked them to switch the plates between the two vehicles, but it didn't get done.

. I want to contest this ticket in court. What do you think? Thanks.

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You asked for a service but it was not done. Do you ahve reciepts showiing you paid for the services? Of course not because you didn;t really do this.

If you can show that both vehicles were properly registered and insured per state law, you might be able to claim dumb. If they were both registered and insured, there would be no fraud intended so no benefit to your actions and they may see it that way as well and let you off.

Thanks for the replys Justlayman & others. I really did tell the DMV to do the switch two years ago when I went there to finish the paper work after buying the new truck. Also, there is no fee for switching the plates between the two vehicles, so their was no disincentive to not do it, other than to have to waste an hour standing in line at the DMV

I think I will contest this because it was an honest mistake and I do pay a lot to register both vehicles every year. The cop that wrote me the ticket was just a real jerk. He had a really bad attitude and told me "You know, I could arrest you right now for this" as if I was supposed to be impressed by this or something. I guess all the murderers, rapists, and drug dealers were all locked up that day, so he had to fill his ticket quota by some other means. Can you believe I had to go to the police station and be fingerprinted because of this? How dumb is that? And what a waste of taxpayer money, my time, and their time. I learned that Gilbert is the only town in AZ that has this fingerprinting requirement and having lived here for 10 years, I can say I'm not surprised.

I'm going to contest it because of what the ARS law says. The cop wrote the ARS code that I supposedly violated and I think any honest, objective person will agree that it doesn't apply to me. Here is the ARS 28-2531 B2 rule that the cop wrote on my citation verbatim:

"Lends to a person or knowingly permits the use of the person's registration card or license plate by a person not entitled to the card or plate."

That is obviously NOT what I did and I WAS entitled to use the plate because I paid for it. It doesn't appear that there is any specific ARS rule that covers my situtation so the bad cop had to pick something close so that he could write me a ticket for something. I've always been and will continue to be a BIG supporter of cops. I think they are WAY underpaid for the risks they take and I appreciate their work in trying to protect us. But there are bad apples in every profession and it looks like I got the one with a worm in it. Hopefully, I'll get a competent, intelligent, and fair-minded judge, but I'm not crossing my fingers.

Thank you all for your comments.

You were not entitled to use it. In order to be entitled to use it, you have to follow the rules, which includes that plate being on the proper vehicle.

With that said, I agree that there is a decent chance that the court will show leniancy in this case if you correct the problem prior to your hearing.

Don't go in to the court with the attitude of "the cop was a jerk". It won't get you anywhere.