New York: Inspection Violation

[SpawnedX]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York State, Licensed by state of Michigan to be an Operator

I am posting for a friend who does not have internet access. He does custom vehicle harnesses and installation. A mutual friend of ours paid for him to come down to New York to do a custom wiring harness and install. He installed the harness and took the car for a test drive. This was in Verona.

Apparently the owner of the car let his inspection expire (was about a week out of inspection) and the police gave my friend (the installer, who does not own or insure the vehicle driven) a ticket for it. They are claiming he is responsible for the inspection and the ticket and any fees. I am saying he is not, that while the ticket was give to him as an agent for the owner of the car, he is responsible only for transferring the ticket to the actual car owner. He called the Verona court system who said he was responsible, he had to show up to court, he had to pay the fees and if he didn't they would suspend his Michigan license.

From my research on the NYS site, reading the law, it is backing up what I am saying, that he has to transfer the ticket to the owner, the owner has to appear, pay any fines and take responsibility. The owner did get the car inspected a few days later, but the Verona courts keep saying it is all on my friend from Michigan. The problem is, he cannot afford to go back to NY to fight this right now, so looking for advice to give him on how to get this resolved and what, if any, sort of complaints against the Verona court can be filed.

Thanks.

 

[HighwayMan]

You're wrong. There is no "transferring" of responsibility.

The operator of the vehicle is the one who gets ticketed and is ultimately responsible for fighting the ticket and paying the fines involved. This is called strict liability.

I have no idea what you saw on the DMV website that is enabling your misconceptions but the bottom line is that you are wrong.

Your friend knowingly drove the car - the inspection sticker is clearly affixed to the windshield. If he didn't want to take a chance on getting a ticket he should have refused to drive it.

 

[HighwayMan]

he cannot afford to go back to NY to fight this right now, so looking for advice to give him on how to get this resolve.

He doesn't need to appear if he enters a guilty plea and mails the ticket in. The court will then notify him what the fine is and he can pay by mail.

 

[SpawnedX]

Firstly, step a notch down on your morality horse. If you truly expect a person from a completely different state to know exactly what to look for on an inspection sticker to know it was un-inspected than you are out of your mind.

Especially with such poorly designed ones like NY state which only prominently shows the year and then a little punch whole that in a lot of cases you have to scrutinize closely to see which month is punched. So if I was in a strange state and saw a giant sticker with a year centered on it I wouldn't look much closer either, and I work on cars for a living, the only difference is, in my state, our laws aren't absolutely retarded, a person repairing a vehicle is legally allowed to drive it un-inspected for the purposes of testing and diagnosis. So stop assuming that every state is liberally-backwards like NY.

Now, let me quote this from NY state law.

19-a. If a vehicle or combination of vehicles is operated in violation
of this section, an appearance ticket or summons may be issued to the
registrant of the vehicle, or if a combination of vehicles, to the
registrant of the hauling vehicle rather than the operator. In the event
the vehicle is operated by a person other than the registrant, any
appearance ticket or summons issued to the registrant shall be served
upon the operator, who shall be deemed the agent of the registrant for
the purpose of receiving such appearance ticket or summons. Such
operator-agent shall transmit such ticket or summons to the registrant
of the vehicle or the hauling vehicle.

 

[TigerD]

Firstly, step a notch down on your morality horse. If you truly expect a person from a completely different state to know exactly what to look for on an inspection sticker to know it was un-inspected than you are out of your mind.

Especially with such poorly designed ones like NY state which only prominently shows the year and then a little punch whole that in a lot of cases you have to scrutinize closely to see which month is punched. So if I was in a strange state and saw a giant sticker with a year centered on it I wouldn't look much closer either, and I work on cars for a living, the only difference is, in my state, our laws aren't absolutely retarded, a person repairing a vehicle is legally allowed to drive it un-inspected for the purposes of testing and diagnosis. So stop assuming that every state is liberally-backwards like NY.

Now, let me quote this from NY state law.

Since you don't have a question, have a nice day.

DC

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Thx for playing but the statute you cited relates to commercial trucks and commercial autos, not private motor vehicles.

http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/VAT/IV/14/401

 

[HighwayMan]

Now, let me quote this from NY state law.

You're quoting out of context. Either you're trying to rationalize to get us to agree with you or you just pulled that section out of thin air somehow and assumed it applies here.

The bottom line is that the operator of the vehicle is responsible for the ticket - no one else is.

If your friend refuses to deal with the ticket he will have his New York State driving privilege suspended which will eventually lead to a suspension of his Michigan license.

He can sue the vehicle owner for the cost of the ticket in small claims court if he so desires, but there is no way to transfer legal responsibility for the ticket to the vehicle owner.

 

[BL]

He doesn't need to appear if he enters a guilty plea and mails the ticket in. The court will then notify him what the fine is and he can pay by mail.

Your mutual friend can then reimburse the installer the amount .

Perhaps along with the ticket of Guilty and proof it was inspected shortly after ,the court may be inclined to reduce the fine.