Penalty for driving an insured but unregistered vehicle

[er1c23]

What is the name of your state? CT

a friend of mine is planning to drive a can he purchased over a short distance.. it is insured but not registered yet.. he is waiting for the title..

he plans to put on the plates of the vehicle he is transfering the registration from.

he says he can live with a ticket but i beleive he will get towed as well.. He will have all documentation on him (bill of sale, regristration from other vehicle, license, insurance cards etc)..


Does anone know what the general penalty is for this type of violation? (does it depend on the mood of the officer etc...)

thanks for the help...

 

[LawGirl10]

Usually a ticket for unregistered, an impound, any fees for the impound itself, storage fees from the impound lot, and he won't be able to pick up the vehicle until he has the correct registration for the vehicle. Just a note: it is not legal to transfer plates from one car to the other unless you have gotten rid of the previous car (for temporary registration purposes).

 

[er1c23]

so it is automatically impounded?

thx for the quick reply.. so you are saying that it is automaically impounded? I have read other areas where people write that they only got tickets for this violation.... are there cases where just a ticket is warrented?

thx again for the help

 

[LawGirl10]

It is up to the officer (unless for some reason state law requires an impound). I always impounded them because I didn't want the liability if I let them drive away and they crashed into someone else. Kind of a CYA type of thing. Technically, by letting them drive away the officer would be letting them commit another violation, but many officers do let them drive away. I just made a decision not to. I didn't want it coming back to bite me.

 

[er1c23]

thx for the info

Thank you for the info, LawGirl10. Vry appreciated...

 

[Who's Liable?]

There might be a chance you will get a ticket... "displaying fictitious plates" basically means plates belonging to another vehicle mounted on the car...

 

[Froyn]

I was given the impression somewhere that here in Michigan it is legal to drive a vehicle from place of purchase to either a) a storage location b) the DMV (Secretary of State) without proper plates. This gives the new owner time to remove the vehicle from it's present location to a more applicable location while waiting for the registration for the vehicle.
Then again I've been wrong on many things before so don't take this as gospel. Best to check with your local DMV or Police station prior to taking any actions.

 

[LawGirl10]

I was given the impression somewhere that here in Michigan it is legal to drive a vehicle from place of purchase to either a) a storage location b) the DMV (Secretary of State) without proper plates. This gives the new owner time to remove the vehicle from it's present location to a more applicable location while waiting for the registration for the vehicle.
Then again I've been wrong on many things before so don't take this as gospel. Best to check with your local DMV or Police station prior to taking any actions.

In my state you would be correct. That is what I meant in the last sentence of my first reply to the OP.

 

[LawGirl10]

Thank you for the info, LawGirl10. Vry appreciated...

You are welcome.

 

[Alchohol_Free]

er1c23

Just saw this on the show COPS. If you have plates on a car that show up on a plate scan as belonging to another car, law enforcement can be suspicious that you might be driving a stolen vehicle and you'll get stopped