In the mid 90's I was pulled over in GA a few years after I was stationed there, I'm from TN. The cop who pulled me over noticed the license was from TN and had all zeros (00-00-0000) for an expiration date. He asked how long I had been in GA and I told him a couple of years. He started raising his voice and saying I was required to get a GA license within 30 days of moving there. I kindly said that was not true due to the Soldiers and Sailors Relief Act. Then he got so boned out on the expiration date and the fact that I challenged him he arrested me for driving on an expired license, not changing my license within 30 days, not registering my car in GA within 30 days, and speeding 5-10 over. Luckily I had an advocate called a First Sergeant who got me out of jail and brought a JAG lawyer with him. After their interactions ALL charges were dropped and the police chief made the cop deliver my truck to me at the entrance and he had to take it to the car wash. Mnny laws are stupid, and sadly many more cops are more stupid.
When a cop starts yelling you know you are dealing with a bully, not a professional. Pros don't yell, they simply act according to the law. And for CIVIL violations (no crime was committed) they are especially out of line acting like that. It should be a firing offense since if they get so upset about a license plate just imagine an actual crime. I drove for almost a year without realizing my new car's registration had expired. I wasn't sent a renewal notice because the new car had been reported as sold by mistake. To make matters more interesting I was in a KIA but had re-badged it and that looked a bit like a Lexus badge. So when the cop ran the plates it came back as a KIA and he said, how is that possible since it's a Lexus? I explained the reason, he looked more closely and just gave me the expired registration ticket and away I went. He was courteous the entire time, never any issue, just as it should be. But I can imagine a bad cop hauling me out of the car with claims that I'd stolen it or something.
My dad said that cops wear their badges either over their hearts, or on their foreheads. As in the power of the badge went to his head. That cop sounds like the forehead type.
I am from Washington State and was stationed in California in the late '90s. I was heading to a mountain ski area when I was forced to stop at a snow chain inspection check point. The officer wanted to know why my Jeep wasn't registered in CA. I told him I was in the Navy and not a California resident. He immediately got an attitude and told me I needed to register my vehicle in CA. I decided it was best just to play along with him and he quickly cut me loose. It's important to remember that in the U.S. only 6.4-percent of the population are veterans. As a result, a large portion of the population, including law enforcement officers, do not have a clue about the special privileges afforded to active-duty members of the military. You were lucky enough to have a state which afforded you a vehicle registration which didn't expire. My state provided me with a driver's license which didn't expire. I had that license for more than 15-years, and only replaced it once I retired.
@@CitEnthusiast Quite a few years ago, my friend had a GMC "SAFARI" mini-van. I tried to convince him to go to the wrecking yard and get a few more letters, then re-arrange them to spell "FERRARI"! He wouldn't do it.
An interesting counter suit to this would be to charge the RMV with criminal coercion. By forcing him to register in Mass they are essentially forcing him to commit a crime in another state. (in Virginia your registration has to match your license) The coercion charge could also be argued that this action unlawfully restricts his freedom of action to his detriment. I just looked it up and the legal definition of residency in Mass is "A resident is a person who maintains a permanent place of abode in Massachusetts and spends more than 183 days of the taxable year in Massachusetts. Whether a person maintains a permanent place of abode in Massachusetts is a factual determination." I think the threats toward Ben are pretty flimsy and he should certainly retain a lawyer and counter sue for damages (time and trouble in dealing with this frivolous action)
This is key. When I stayed in another state in the northeast (not MA) for the winter to help my mom out after she moved, I would have had to register my car there if I had established residency. Establishing residency is defined as taking a new permanent job, maintaining a permanent abode, etc.. I did none of those things. Since I didn't legally establish residency, I didn't worry about it.
What about the interstate commerce act? there has to be 100's if not 1000's of tractor trailers that are afoul of that state law but are 100% in compliance otherwise.
@@TheLoiteringKid As an interstate truck owner/operator in the late 80s and early 90s, I had to report my milage in each state I drove in and paid road use fees out of my settlement to each state according to miles driven. Now, I am sure it is all done electronically. Although, I also had to have several different "authority" plates on the front of my truck.
A CBS news article says “However, Ben’s car insurance company informed him that he would not be able to register his car in Massachusetts because he’s not a resident and therefore is unable to get the necessary insurance policy required to register the vehicle.”
@@michaelashley2855 This kind of thinking is how rights get slowly eroded away. "It's too much bother to fight it, I'll just pay it and move on with my life." Give them an inch...
@@michaelashley2855 not really, considering issues with insurance, duplicated fees, etc. Also it isn’t likely to stop with 1 year. MA is likely to try to keep forcing a non-resident to register their car in MA for the fees year after year under threat of action against the license. What I don’t get is how MA can possibly suspend another state’s license over vehicle registration from a nonresident.
I was a cop in California while attending college over four decades ago. Our philosophy was unless there was another traffic violation we wouldn't bother enforcing license tags at all. In patrol. versus traffic (motor cops) our primary job was to protect the public from crime, arrest those with warrants, reckless driving, and emergency traffic accident response. I remember we once pulled over an elderly man who happened to be black. He had failed to stop fully at a stop sign in a part of town that had very few cars, or people for that matter. As I approached the driver, I asked the gentleman why his tags were expired. He explained a month earlier he had lost his job and was in the process of getting another. In the meantime, he said he had to take care of his sick wife who was bedridden. He was scared we were going to give him a citation. I remember walking up and addressing the man respectfully, Sir you have enough problems and we don't want to make things any more difficult for you. We gave the man our business card with a note on the back in the event he was stopped by another officer, to show him compassion, courtesy and understanding. He was very grateful and said he would take care of it as soon as he was paid from the new job. I remember how happy he was that we didn't cite him, and since he said he was hungry, we sent him over to a locally owned diner where he could get a meal. To me, that is what a police officer should do whenever he could. The man later contacted our watch commander to thank him and let us know he finally got his tags.
Whether this is true or not, this is what America should be about! Not trying to nail others for every cent they have in a traffic fine or giving citations for ludicrous things trying to hurt these citizens. Be fair and try to help them not hurt. Thank you Alex !
In about 84 I lived in CA and worked with a girl who had relocated from IL. She drove the freeway to get to work so I assume it was the CHP saw her out of state plates and she ended up getting a ticket /demand she register sent to the IL address of record.
you are verry clearly not from the LOSD and I do apricate your report of this stop and am sure that this is how you conducted your self to everyone not just those that are fearful of your potential as documented often from those in your profession.
I don't think they're specifically threatening that; they're just threatening to "revoke his license", and a side effect of that is that _generally speaking_ that will cause every other state to also revoke his license. (That isn't a hard guarantee, but he does _not_ want to be going to the bureaucracy of every other state individually and asking them to not take Massachusetts' word for it that his license should be revoked.)
@@Tzizenorec correct. In general, if another state issues you a moving citation or similar violation, the state which has issued your license will also be informed. And based on that state's laws, you'll be treated accordingly.
I just say screw it trying catching when I drive through Massachusetts if you don't pay the ticket and keep going but you better have every cop on the road looking for me every single day because you never know when I'm going to pull through
I had a friend that moved from Massachusetts to Rhode Island and he tried doing the right thing to register his car, get a RI license, etc. The people at the DMV told him that he needed such-and-such so he left and returned with it. Then they said you need this and that so he got it and returned. This happened several times and he finally told one of the woman at the RMV that he was done and would simply leave his car registered in MA and park it in his driveway because they were too difficult to deal with. The woman was like "Fine, give me the forms" and she did everything he needed. It just goes to show that these people make things difficult just because they can.
I said at the beginning here that The most important #1 qualification for employment at the Ma. Registry of Motor Vehicles is you have to have the personality of a Rattle Snake. I guess Rhode Island acquired this requirement also, or maybe it's just New England.
@@CorbinAce I lived in MA when I was a kid and had a Mustang for my summer car and a junker for my winter car so twice a year I would be down at the registry transferring plates from one to the other. I used to teach karate and one of my students worked at the RMV. I would go there on a Saturday and the line would be out the door and around the building but I'd stick my head in the door and get her attention. She'd scream "SIR... SIR??? COME ON UP" to me and people would be freaking out. She be yelling at people to shutup because I was in earlier and blah blah blah. She'd hook me up real quick and be like "get out of here before there is is a riot" since it was at least a 3 to 4 hour hour wait. Haha.
I had a Massachusetts cop drive extremely reckless in rush hour traffic to chase me down and stop me for having an Alabama plate. He didn’t understand that we only have one plate on back and don’t have front plates. I still can’t believe how aggressive he was driving like a maniac trying to get to me in eight lanes of traffic at rush hour. I was a travel nurse so I wasn’t about to switch plates when I worked in several New England states and stayed at a friends in Rhode Island.
Many years ago my Father in Law was driving in Nebraska in a vehicle with Kansas plates. He got pulled over by some small town cop for not having a front plate (Kansas doesn't have front plates but Nebraska does). He almost got arrested by the Nebraska cop who refused to believe that Kansas didn't have front plates, and it wasn't until his supervisor was called out to resolve the issue. Apparently he looked at the young cop with disgust and chewed him out in front of FIL "What the f is wrong with you? Kansas don't have front plates." (apparently his supervisor was off duty and had his supper interrupted to come out and address this issue). Some cops really give the rest of them a bad name.
Years ago I visited my brother in Virginia from Texas. My car had Texas plates and registration. Got a ticket for not having a Fairfax county personal property sticker on my car. Went to court, spent the whole day, got before the judge. Presented my driver's license, voter registration, gas and electric bills and other proof of my Texas residence. The judge said he didn't believe I would come all the way from Texas to fight the ticket. I said I was an airline pilot and could fly there for free. He dismissed the case and I went to the clerks office and since I elected to go to court the "court costs" were $50 more than the ticket.
Yeah, I'd be calling the state I live in and pay taxes to. They're probably the ones who can tell Massachusetts to go f-off and leave their citizen alone.
Yeah, if Massachusetts doesn't back down then all of the Massachusetts police's (or perhaps DMV) license plates need to be revoked by Virginia to keep them out of the state.
My point is that there definitely are laws that require reciprocity (that's the magic word) in vehicle and driver licensing between states, and the Secretary of State's job (maybe the Attorney General) is to handle matters between states. A legal registration in state X _must_ be accepted by state Y, full stop.
absolutely, a 5-minute phone call where VA reminds MA that honoring VA's records is not a choice its legislature can make, and that it would be glad to assist its citizen if necessary
Constitutionally, Massachusetts has to recognize Virginia's registration unless residency is established. I cannot envision a Federal court allowing Massachusetts to force this. This whole situation begs the question of just how stupid have we become?
I'm not sure where the attorneys heads are in this case but it is astounding. You could strike down this application of the statute on statutory and constitutional grounds with little research.
In 2021, registering a normal private passenger vehicle in Massachusetts costs $60 and is good for 2 years. In MA, the Certificate of Title fee is $75. You'll also need to have your vehicle inspected, which costs $35. ========= I think we can guess why they have implemented the law. It's a shakedown.
That is in violation of the requirements for states to have reciprocal agreements to recognize other states registrations. It is an interference with interstate commerce. Sue in Federal Court.
Reminds me😂. Virginia tried to force me to pay state income taxes because my wife, who worked there while I was in the Navy, paid taxes. They said it's all or none. Whatever. It got so bad they put a lien on the house I lived in...as a renter!! Too funny. Owner sued the crap out of them. I moved to Japan. 😂😂😂 Some states are crazy.
My state also has a 30 day law, though it is consecutive. A couple years back the mayor in my town announced a massive enforcement effort after claiming to have received a flood of complaints from residents about cars with out of state plates. Note: My town borders another state, so you know, out of state plates aren't exactly uncommon. They were going to have officers making daily rounds noting what cars were parked in what driveway. This was shortly before primaries. The incumbent mayor lost badly and we never heard about the supposed enforcement again.
So he did that when he was close to re election? Sounds like the dumbest mayor ever. Not sure how he wouldn’t have known that it was going to harm his re election chances
Virginia it's 30 consecutive days. Fairfax county tries to crack down on it from time to time. The problem is how do they prove that the car wasn't driven over the bridge into Maryland or DC during that time? I have a car registered at my vacation home in MD. It makes the trip there or to my Mom's in MD at least once a month.
The "c" word caused deficits in municiple budgets even before many gvmnt employees gave themselves handsome raises for all of their *demic suffering enforcing and finger wagging their constituents at the behest of their governmental big brothers and sisters. They decided to run tons of these safety and licensure enforcements. Coincidently, only those with the most promising revenues. There was some scandal with one of my local city officials, and they demoted him to Parks and Rec management with a raise that nets him $106,000 a year.
A few years ago, a cop pulled me over in another state because my Pennsylvania license plate didn't have a registration sticker. He embrassingly had to apologize after verifying that my state no longer issues physical registration stickers. Police can simply verify the legality of the plate by using a plate reader. The Pennsylania DOT saves millions of dollars per year by not printing and mailing out stickers. As drivers, we just download and print out our annual renewal info. I'd like to know how this Massachusetts case turns out.
@@davidroberson1962 I don't get the American "you need to register your car every year" thing. In Europe, car is either registered to a person or not, once. What is yearly is insurance.
@@dustojnikhummer Do you pay taxes on your car every year? Registration in the USA is a tax. I pay like $50-80 a year per vehicle. That is my completely cost, aside from insurance, for owning a vehicle in the USA. You don't have a yearly tax stamp or anything? I bought a truck this year. I payed like $300 for tax, title, and registration. In Europe, just the tax would have been a couple thousand dollars. We pay a couple percent tax on a vehicle purchase in most of the country(Outside of NY, CA, and other far left states). I don't have to get my car inspected ever. I pay less than $3 a gallon for gas today. Governments play shell games with taxes but my total burden is much less than anywhere in Europe.
@@davidroberson1962 Nope. I paid 20 Euros for a title change. I could pay 30 if I wanted license plates from my city. We had car taxes like you, but that got removed in like 2008. My gas is 6.5 USD per american gallon. Car inspection every 2 years, which can range from 40 Euros to 80 Euros, so I guess you can consider that a tax. I did not pay any taxes when purchasing the vehicle, since sales tax was paid by the first owner of the vehicle.
@@dustojnikhummerWe are under $3 a gallon. Most if that is tax. I don't have any inspection. I only have registration. You are paying $4-5 per gallon in taxes. You pay more taxes than I do. Moving it from one column to the other doesn't change that. 3.50 per gallon in taxes means you are paying more taxes than me after driving 400 miles a year in a 30+ mpg car.
"Registering a motor vehicle [in Massachusetts] automatically triggers the assessment of excise, which is calculated at a rate of $25 per $1,000 of value." Damn, so that's why they do it.
I pay about 6k in property tax for my house in Massachusetts and a yearly bill of about 400 in taxes for parking my car in the driveway I pay property taxes for.
I live on Martha's Vineyard and as you'd imagine, in the summertime there's almost nothing but out of state plates when people come to their vacation homes for MONTHS at a time. There's an older gentleman down the street from me who's too old to commute anymore and he's being driving around on FL plates for maybe 3 years now. MA's laws are outrageous but people need to mind their own business.
Sounds like Massachusetts really doesn’t want ANY tourism or commerce coming into their state. Because I’m sure a lot of people hearing about this is going to cause them to rethink travelling to or through them.
Seriously. Hell, if I were in a position of power with my state and found out a neighboring state was doing this to my constituents, I'd start warning people in my state to avoid going through or visit that state if at all possible, because they have and enforce a law that in my eyes does something they do not have the right or authority to do to visitors. Or at least should not have the authority to do. Like mess with my people I mess with your economy. Want that tourism revenue? Play nice with everybody else. Then again, that's probably why I'm not a politician. God forbid there exist a politician in office that might actually do something useful or helpful. Or moral. But I digress.
When these things happen, it seems one option is calling the local news to see if they'd like to help you with some exposure and getting people of authority to look into it and bypass the red tape.
Many years ago, I was a cop in Santa Fe, NM. I made a traffic stop for speeding on a vehicle with out of state plates. I cited him for expired registration and expired driver’s license. When we went to municipal court, the Judge threw it out. The Judge stated that we could not enforce the laws of a different state. Thank you, your honor, you have just made my job a lot easer.
In va you can be ticketed for expired registration with an out of state plate, instead of an “expired registration” ticket it’s a “improper display of license plate” ticket.
@@extremerc76 surely you can then argue that it's a catch-22 since you're not allowed to display no plate, and you don't meet the requirements to get the other state's plates...
In the mid 1990s I was in California serving in the US Air Force. I got pulled over while turning into military family housing. My license plate light was out, but I was questioned as to why I had an out of state plate. I told him that I was USAF, gestured to the base sticker in the windshield and told him I was in California temporarily. A low level of harassment, but harassment none the less.
@Joshua Skinner well ok, that sounds probable. And to the point you made at the end of your last comment, I think the career enticement of warranted or unwarranted harassment of any civilian they see driving down the road has to stop. I mean we're all just bigger humans playing the same games we did as children. The girl who cheated playing the bank during Monopoly or the boy who still tried to tag you once you were safe on base can't be allowed to win the games as adults, we certainly didn't let that shit fly as kids.
One of my coworkers had a similar experience. His son lives in Massachusetts and he would fly into our office there every 2 months for a week or so. He got a ticket over a decade ago visiting his son. He was ordered by the court to maintain two separate registrations, plates, and the court even ordered him to have a Massachusetts drivers license. His residence is in Florida. So he actually has a Massachusetts ID with a Florida address on it. It has caused him a ton of issues, every few years the state sends tax officials after him because he isn’t paying his Massachusetts income tax and property taxes; but he has a binder full of paperwork, court orders, letters from various state departments, etc that he always uses to get out of it. He appealed the original courts ruling, but it was upheld. Of course I asked if he has ever voted twice… he refuses to answer. Oh and yea Massachusetts loves it reciprocity relationship agreements, they will totally send notice to the other state if he doesn’t register, keep it active, etc.
I'm shocked that this is allowed to happen. Imagine if Florida did that to everyone who visited Disney World for a few weeks out of the year. Or imagine if two states did that to each other. And trying to make him pay income tax to a state he neither lives in nor works in every few years probably costs the state more money than the license registration cost so I really don't see the point. Plus, well, you can't be compelled to pay income taxes in a state you neither live in nor work in.
I had a friend who moved to CA and when he registered his car there they said they would send him his new license plate but it would take a while and not to worry about not having one in his car as he had the paperwork. It took THREE YEARS for them to send him the plates.
The license plate is just the first step. Once they get him to register his car there, they’ll consider him a state resident and then they’ll come chasing after him for income taxes!
Thanks Steve instead of booking our campsite in Massachusetts during our New England trip this summer we will spend longer in New Hampshire. More money for New Hampshire businesses, less for Massachusetts.
I spent nearly 2 years in CA taking care of my elderly mother, yet had my vehicle licensed & registered & was voting in OR. On the way home, after winding up my mother's estate, A CA cop asked me why I didn't have CA plates. I told him the story & he condoled me instead of writing up a ticket!!
Virginia did the same thing back in the 90s. I had a Sgt that wife had a baby in Virginia. The sister-in-law came to help with the baby.She was pulled over for speeding and the police officer asked how long she was in the state it was well over the allotted time. She got the speeding ticket and a ticket for not registering in the state. Asinine!
I was born in Massachusetts, and grew up in Connecticut just a few miles from the border with Mass., where I have lived for nearly 60 years. I even worked in Massachusetts for five years while living in Connecticut and...not only did I never get a Mass. registration...I never even heard of such a law! We here in Connecticut refer to Massachusetts as "Taxachusetts"...and hearing this story just gives us one reason more for doing so!
Then they'll add the caveat that he'll need a MA license for the registration, which he won't have because he's not a state resident. And if for some miracle they do let him get a MA license his VA license is forfeited for the MA license like the registration. What a mess.
@@sparkyUSA1976 That's a good one - voting rights. You could vote twice for president and once for each state's congress and senate candidate. Just set up a mail drop in MA for MA voting.
It is even more ludicrous if Steve's explation is the full law without any carve-outs. Federal laws and international agreements supersede state law, but that wording would apply to foreigners and company vehicles as well.
You are correct.. It IS a scam. Massachusetts may be the most expensive state to own a vehicle. Title transfer 75$ registration 80$ it varies. There is a 25$ fee for this,, a 40 dollar fee for that, State inspection is 'just' 35$ PLUS all the repairs and emissions testing.. Good luck at getting out of the office for less than 300 or 400,,, plus the inspection and required repairs PLUS there is an annual excise tax on the value of your vehicle 25$ per 1,000 valuation,, payable to the city in which the car is parked. (pronounced 'pahcked') 250 to 1500 per year. And trust me,,, there are a few dozen other charges. 250 to 2000 per year is normal. THE REASON IS,, There are 120 plus schools and universities in just the Boston area. Students from all around the country and the world bring an out of state vehicle into Mass. And it used to be,, no one ever got caught. Heaven help you if you did.
@@gasad01374 I could be wrong,, but a suspended license is a suspended license in all states. Laughing,, even though he may not have a license in Massachusetts, Virginia will honour the suspension. Be aware,, Massachusetts is weird. They also deal with a difficult problem,, 120 something schools and universities in the Boston area. Hundreds of thousands of students come there for school. And Mass is so freaking expensive to own and insure a car.. those students maintain their out of state license and registrations. Which costs the Commonwealth a bunch of taxes.
@@Sailor376also "suspended license is a suspended license in all states" There are shades of grey to this. The determinant factor is which two states we are talking about. Revoking your permission to drive in the "not home state" only hinders the permission to drive to that state. Revoking your permission to drive in the " home state" applies the permission to all states. (And more generally, most of the world.) The issue becomes if the two states in question have an agreement to honor each other's permission revocation. So in the case of agreements, getting permission revoked in "not home state" cascades into getting permission revoked in "home state" which in turn gets permission to drive revoked to most of the world.
I'm 71 years old, the laws by Which we live , have become a nightmare in recent years, we now live in a crazy world, lucky for me my days are limited in this crazy world.
@kingdomfor1: I agree. I'm 60 and I grew up in what was a free country (i.e. the USA). LEO tyrants and left-wing politicians are turning the USA into Nazi Germany. "Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it." We're currently going down the well+travelled road to Hell! 🤬
if your days are limited to need to make sure you connect with the Lord; John 3:3 states Except you be born again (christian), you will not see the Kingdom of God.
I had a friend who drove his motorhome all over the continental US for more than a decade with expired PA tags and no PA inspection. At the time, he claimed that the lack of inspection was a "Pennsylvania matter" that non-Pennsylvania police can't enforce. When he was pulled over (for bad driving) and the Florida police officer noted his tags were expired, my friend told the police officer that he was on a 48 state tour and hasn't been home for years and years. The Florida police officer cited him for the bad driving, but not the expired tag.
According to the RMA, the vehicle has to be permanently based in Massachusetts in order for this to apply. Also, how can someone even register a vehicle in a state where they have no proof of residency?
This is exactly right. A quick browsing of their website shows that you must prove you reside in the state to register your vehicle. I hope he goes to the DMV and tells them he does not reside in the state but he would like to register his vehicle and record the interaction as the person behind the counter vehemently denies him service because he cannot register an out-of-state vehicle.
3/27/23...COPS + JUDGES + STATES DON'T CARE! THEY ARE BLEEDING OUT $+ MUST CHARGE EVERY "SUCKER" THEY CAN FIND! PLUS THEY HAVE FREE LAWYERS---THE "SUCKERS" DON'T!
It's also common for people to have multiple properties in multiple states. Most states have the language PRIMARY RESIDENCE when determining where to register vehicles.
There are many states you can register a vehicle without having residency. This is used to the benefit by some people and business and to the benefit of the government by other states. Getting a drivers license in a state usually requires residency and some states have very lacks laws for residency. Many New York people have a vehicle licensed in Florida to them; they store when not in Florida. People try the Montana one often but South Dakota has the most vehicles licensed to out of state people. I could see if he spent extended time in Mass. every year they would require him to register the vehicle. But if he spent less than half a year there they will have a tough time forcing residency.
I had something very similar happen with IL. I was an Alabama resident and visited friends in Chicago. I got a parking ticket while there which I mailed payment and a self addressed envelope to have the receipt sent back to me. The cook county clerk failed to mark my ticket as paid and pull it from the docket. So unbeknownst to me I failed to appear. The judge issued a bench warrant and suspended my IL license (that I didn't even have). A year after this I tried to move back home to TN and discovered I had a valid AL but a suspended IL license so TN would not transfer my license until that was resolved. So a year after the original I learned about the warrant when I called IL to figure the mess out. I scheduled to appear before the judge and I show the receipt that it was paid and he dismissed the ticket and the warrant. He then stated I would have to pay a reinstatement fee for my IL license I never had. I then asked for clarification as I still had an AL license. He gave me a number to call the state as he didn't know how that even happened. Long story short it took 8 months of hounding IL to fix their mistake so I could transfer my license to TN.
A friend of mine had a similar experience in Kentucky. He lives in Alabama. He got a speeding ticket in KY and mailed in a money order. He got a receipt. A couple of years later, he went to renew his AL license and found he had a warrant for his arrest in KY. AL told him he had to resolve the issue with KY before they would renew his license. He still had the receipt. He called the court in KY. He was told the warrant was still active and that he was being penalized $30.00 a day which would have been around $10K. He finally was able to email a copy of the money order and the receipt. They dropped it all.
This is pure craziness! Husband and I were remembering all the time we spent in a special seaside town when we were young. We'd take off for a few days and spend so much money at all the quaint little shops we'd come to adore. It's wild that a state would actually work to prevent that kind of constant revenue from coming in to an area.
Yeah, this happens all the time. I personally have the issue of not being able to transfer my lic and stuff because some city in PA that I never lived in or been to has suspended my license. To this day after hundreds of calls, the only thing I have been able to figure out is that if I pay a lawyer thousands of dollars it will go away. These systems and laws are just so much fun to deal with....
This exact same happened to me when I went to school at ft devins Massachusetts for two month course back in the late 80's when I was sent on orders from ft bragg where I lived. It took the US Military JAG to get the assholes off my back and stop the threats of suspending my license.
@@charlebrownga I want to point out something today we get more than 50% of our oil from Canada. From the 90s to 2000 opec and person gulf supplied about 50% of our oil. Since the peak they have dropped to the low single digits. Most of the wars fought over there might have been about saving the oil. yet in the last 20 years we moved from buying from them to buying local. We could 100% stop buying from everyone and produce as much as we need with what we have right now or we could just buy 100% from Canada. Couple other things to consider is the shutting down of the pipelines which likely would have made the cost of fuel cheap. Also buying 100% from canada could make the price stable and low. Because we would not need to worry about market price. Sell the us all the oil it needs then sell off the extras to make profit. Would have worked great for everyone.
@@TheRealMrPeach it's funny. I grew up in NH, and we had a low opinion of MA, and an even lower opinion of people who specifically moved in from MA and brought their MA voting habits with them (considering those voting habits are how MA ended up so shitty to begin with) But, when I left New England, I felt a similar joy. That whole part of the country just sucks. Full of snooty assholes who look down upon everyone who doesn't appear to have lots of money, and can't keep their noses out of others' business. Alabama didn't work out, but now I live in the central-upper Midwest, and short of moving out to the mountain west somewhere (except Colorado, too expensive now) I doubt I'll ever make a significant move again. It may not be as pretty, but the people out here are so much more laid back. One thing's for sure, I'll almost certainly never live in New England or even the Northeast in general ever again.
@@lt1caprice57l Hey, cut me some slack, i was only 23 and starting a small family. Mass taxes were not to my liking and i wasn't big on voting at the time. Also, making gross generalizations based on a small sample is absurd.
I was born and raised in the N end of Idaho, I'm 75. When I was young guys needing work would go over to Noxon or Libby, etc, MT and get work at the mills. The MT state cops would sit at the exit to the parking lot at quitting time and write up ANYBODY without a MT plate. Growing up, it was common to see vehicles in town with ID plates as well as a MT plate stuck up in the rear window. Frankly I think all this is illegal.
@@MrTruckerf Maybe not the State's department of Motor Vehicle, but I suspect the Attorney General's office might react differently. I live in Vermont. I contacted my State's Attorney twice regarding fraud. They took care of it both times. The first time they took care of it quickly, and the second time I was told that I was speaking to the wrong department; they said they'd notify the proper people. They did, and that department took care of my issue.
There are some videos from a exotic car enthusiast youtuber from Vancouver B.C. Canada, getting pulled over in California, issued a ticket because he "didn't have a california drivers license" which the idiot cop asserted he absolutely had to have in California, even if just visiting. He thought the situation was quashed when he went to the stations and spoke with a Sgt......Nope a few months later, finds out California issued him a temporary license, so they could proceed with tickets and charges, and convicting in absentia. Absolutely insane.
The legal issues with dual registrations for law enforcement would be an absolute nightmare. When they run a plate it comes back to a car. If they check the vin it will come back to either plate. Their fisrt assumption would. Be a stolen plate.
I ran into this recently. I moved from one state to another and had 20 days to register car and 60 days to get a license. However, I needed the license to register the car first, so I really had 20 days to get a license also. My bank has the car title and could not find it. Suffice it to say, it took many months, through no fault of my own with many emails and phone calls to the bank, to finally register the vehicle.
Sounds like Mr. Dover has is a constitutional (Commerce clause) case. He needs to take this to court and declare this as unconstitutional, because only the United States Congress shall regulate interstate commerce.
My understanding is that Article I, Section VIII, Subsection III states: Congress shall have power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes. With means: accompanying, along side of, next to. Among means: in association with, in joint action of, through reciprocal acts. Sounds like they have power to regulate commerce in the event the state consents. If the state doesn't consent then they don't have that power.
I don't disagree, however, that would fail for two reasons. First, his appeals aren't finished. Thus he can't get a court to intervene. Second, he would need to hire a lawyer and that can cost thousands. That is money he could never recoup from Massachusetts.
Regarding the color coded expiration sticker, Indiana cared enough in 2015 to (wrongly) stop one of the vans on a University Choir tour. Despite the fact that the tag actually was current, the officer also illegally extended the stop (which he had no legal basis to make in the first place because the tag wasn't expired, the color just didn't match with Indiana) for a drug dog search.
He must've forgot his contribution to the Fri night cop BYOD potluck and hoped one of your choir students might've packed some for him. He'd have more luck stopping the theatre kids bus. Those moody little narcissists always have party favors or at least their creepy directors do.
What utter stupidity, but not a surprise by officials in Massachusetts. If you’re not a resident of that state you don’t have to register in that state. This is a violation of Article IV, section 1 of the Constitution (“full faith and credit” clause).
This reminds me of a complaints I heard from other residents of a community I used to live in. Basically, they said that if you had a visitor stay over more than a certain number of total nights (not in a year but the entire time you live there) that the association considered them a resident and would tow their vehicles for not having a resident parking permit. It sounds crazy, but given some of the other stuff they did and seeing the security person walking around documenting visitor plates at night, I believe it.
@@patfrederick7327 : There are cases that I would consider them necessary, but most of us don't live in an apartment tower, have a neighborhood social club, etc. The only legitimate purpose for them in ordinary developments is to keep the roads maintained until the government takes over road maintenance.
@@absalomdraconis I live on a private road with 6 homes without an HOA of any kind. When the road gets snowy, we clear it, when it gets full of potholes, one of us grades it. It probably takes 60 hours a year to maintain. Id' much rather do the work than pay the free and have to deal with an HOA
I went to college in California in the 80s and I had Alaska plates on my truck for the first two years I was there and never had an issue. I sold the truck and had California plates on my new vehicle until I returned to Alaska, at which time I immediately got Alaska plates because I didn't want anyone to think I was from California!
Massachusetts is so needy for money that this is common. Moved out of the state in September and changed over my license and insurance. Got a notification that my registration was revoked because of not insured in state. Sent me a tax bill for the car for the following year.
One of the New England states had a law that said, you must have “white” sheets on your bunk in the sleeper. Their reasoning was that in case of an accident, the sheets could be used for bandages. I think that rule is still on the books. And why you can’t use blue or any other color sheets for bandages is beyond me!
My state can beast that one, ( or at one time it could as I don’t know if this law is still on the books)but at one time in my states capitol city, you weren’t allowed to walk down the street, at night, while whistling a certain tune( I believe it was the Happy Birthday tune, but can’t swear to it)🤣🤣
I’m from Texas and have Texas license plates on my car. I went to college for five years out of state, spending nine months of the year in that state without ever changing my license plate tags. This is ridiculous.
I wonder if Ben could contact the VA AG's office and see if they can intercede on his behalf? Or maybe petition his state reps to revoke Virginia's reciprocity with Mass. for reported suspenions?
When I lived in New Hampshire many of the jobsites I worked on were located in Mass. There was not a single year in which I did not operate my vehicle in Mass. To think officials in Mass could demand I register my vehicle in a state I don't live in, yet often works in is totally nuts. Presently, I reside in a city that has what amounts to a twin city located in another state immediately adjacent to limits of the city in which I live. Literally, one can drive down one side of the street and be in one state, yet driving on the other side of the same street means operating a vehicle in the adjacent state. Many, many, many people commute for work between the two states. Even more people travel regularly between the two states to shop, recreate, or simply dine out. Were one of the two states to suddenly require the visiting driver to register in the visited state absolute chaos would surely result. Threats to suspend licenses would mean literally thousands of unlicensed drivers were such threats made good. Suspension of driver's licenses would also mean adding thousands of uninsured drivers traveling the roadways on both sides of the state line. WTF kind of sense does this make?
I moved to New Hampshire. A few months in, my car was broken into. I reported it, and the responding officer was more interested in my lack of NH tags than the actual crime. 😂 they call it Taxachusetts for a reason, and NH is not much better.
In regard to driving with expired plates in CA, when I went to update the year after my latest car registration, I realised I had never updated it the year before. The sticker was still sitting in a bag in the glove compartment. And yet despite driving regularly for that whole year, I was never once pulled over for it.
Back in the day (I know the 1970s and earlier, I just don't know when it ended); a semi truck had to have a plate for each state that required it if you traveled that state. Which is why in old movies you would see trucks with many plates on them.
Those were tax stickers .....1993 The states got together and created a central tax authority for Commercial Motor Vehicles.....all companies pay a fee / share of tax to it.
The fact that this was all descended from a PARKING ticket is just unbelievable. They have no idea that this vehicle wasn't actually there TWICE - on two different days - visiting the same person two different times, parking only overnight. I would advise the state of Virginia's motor vehicle bureau of this malpractise.
Your story about your friend driving on an expired MI plate in CA reminds me of what happened with my license when I moved to MD from PA. I did an internship here and lived in my parents' vacation home. All my bills were sent to their vacation home address. When my PA license expired, I had gotten my own place, but my mail still went to my parents' vacation home. I could not get my MD license, because I needed mail from a utility bill with my name and current address, but after many calls and emails, none of my mailing addresses got updated (Even though the address they were sending the mail to was not the service address). After 9 or so months of driving on an expired PA license in MD, I finally got pulled over for a dead headlight. I explained to the officer the situation and he let me go. Probably helped me that I had explained to him I had just left Walmart after buying the replacement headlight bulb and showed it to him with the receipt. Took almost a year, but I finally got my MD license. With how long it took the bureaucracy and companies to get around to giving me the stuff I needed just to prove who I was and where I lived, I'm surprised MA can get away with this garbage. My father lives in MA, and this is something I will have to keep in mind every time I visit. Course, in the end, I think this is a case of an overly nosey neighbor.
I remember when they started doing that stupid dual registration in Massachusetts. If I remember correctly, it was aimed specifically at students in college. I guess they decided to go all out tyrant greed monster and apply that law to everyone.
Wonder how many people died in jail/prison in MA because of this law and inability to afford bail, lawyer, and courts overbooked with countless cases over this law being used as grounds for arrest. All the problems of the for profit justice system, arrest quotas, and private prison industry problems make this law even more insane. Imagine catching whats effectively a life sentence in jail because you got arrested for not registering in MA while too poor to afford innocence.
That actually makes some sense. College students spend the majority of the year residing at college. That means they are consuming an inordinate amount of state run infrastructure without contributing their fair share. If I were a college student though, I'd just unregister in my home state to avoid the double registration.
@@LimitedWardit really should wash out .. lots of kids go to college in another state. In Florida full time students don't need to register a car in Florida if they are residents of another state. But I think if they start working a job they have to get FL tags
One of the curiosities I learned while on assignment in NYC was a skirmish between NY and a Florida retired couple. Part time residences in both states, NY insisted the couple pay NY state taxes. I do not know the particulars of the case. I was told it went way up in the court process. The result was that residence is established by the preponderance of nights spent in the state of claimed residency. One more day a year in Florida than in NY made them Floridians. I came to ponder this 20 years later when I became an OTR driver. Do I keep a running list of what states I slept in during a year? It's in my log book . . . But . . . Is some crazy state law going to force me to be a resident because I spent 28 overnights? Actually, no But Straight Talk cut my phone service off claiming I had moved to South Carolina. I (not so politely) told the customer service center located somewhere in India that an act of Congress allowed me to keep my phone number no matter where my company sent me. And that my legal commercial driver's license was from Utah. Did Straight Talk want federal restraint of trade lawsuit? And that my attorney was a retired Judge. I still think the kindest person I ever knew in Utah was Earl
10 years ago, I relocated from NY to Houston and did the right thing by immediately applying for a registration for my vehicle in TX. A week later I got a letter from the mail from the NY DMV demanding I mail back my old NY plate and that failure to do so will result in my drivers license suspended. I was taken aback since my plate was custom with my initials and my son’s nickname so I have every intent of keeping it. Having no choice because of the threat to lose my license I had to mail it.
I can foresee how this could become a problem in the future. with automatic plate readers, being connected to computers at the DMV. The computers could count the amount of times it has seen the plate- and when it hits 30, automatically issue a ticket for out of state plates . As a side note; Chicago has been looking into doing the same thing, to charge those who DON'T live in Chicago a toll for using the Cities streets.
In 1985 I bought a new car in Wisconsin, where I'd been living for six years, but a few months later, moved to Washington State. Obedient to the state law, I re-registered my car in Washington, and was hit with an "excise tax" that "coincidentally" was exactly the same as the sales tax I'd just paid on the car in Wisconsin! Just sayin', sales tax on a brand new car is not a small amount of money. I appealed, and lost. This is literal and legal highway robbery.
My Dad had the same thing happen in the 90's when he moved from NJ to MD with a car he had just bought a few months previously. He essentially had to pay MD the excise tax equal to the NJ sales tax. MD told him it’s a tax based on the present book value of the vehicle when he first registers it in MD, regardless of its age.
When we moved to Florida in 1995 specifically Jacksonville the Jacksonville Sheriff's Department (and yes I did say Sheriff's Department as they combined the sheriff and police departments into one when years earlier they unified the City of Jacksonville with Duval County into one governing body) would on a weekly basis go through the parking lot in our office complex looking for plates just to write them up for that..
Until last year you could register multiple plates to a vehicle in Oklahoma (a standard issue plate + any number of vanity or specialty plates) and as long as you kept up with the registration of each plate you could theoretically swap the plates whenever you wanted. The primary plate would get a colored year sticker and the secondary plates would get a silver sticker. I'd never heard of registering a vehicles to multiple states however.
I visited some friends in San Diego for a couple of months. CA sent a letter (to my actual home, in NM) stating that I was required to register my car. I called the number on the letter, that my roommate read to me, and said, "Hey, look, I got this letter, but... I don't *live* in CA. I live in NM. At the address you mailed the letter to. I still pay rent there. All of my stuff is there. I'm just visiting." They said, "OK. Have a nice visit." and that was the end of it. CA is insane, but clearly MA is even worse.
I had to dual-register a car at one point. I was living in Texas, with a Texas Driver's License, driving a car owned by my father. The state of Wisconsin, where my father lived, required that cars be registered by the owner of the car based on where the owner of the car lives. One evening when I was pulled over by a Sheriff's Deputy, I found out that Texas requires that cars be registered by the usual driver of the car based on where the car is typically located. I had lived in Texas for more than six months at this point; after six months, they can no longer give you a ticket for that offense -- they have to arrest you. He didn't want to arrest me, so he let me go, but told me to get my Texas plates. I checked to make sure he was correct, and he was -- the rationale was/is that registration fees are used to help maintain roads and bridges, and a car puts wear-and-tear on roads and bridges where the car is, not where the owner is. So I ended up with two sets of legal plates for the car -- one set for Wisconsin, one set for Texas. In Texas, thirty days is also the limit, but, unlike Massachusetts, it is thirty *continuous* days. Texas aggressively enforces this is because Texas does not have a state income tax, so all other sources of revenue for the state, such as auto registration fees, are taken *very seriously* -- not registering a car in Texas when the car is usually in Texas is perceived as a form of not paying taxes.
Back in the day when I was Driving truck I was informed my Utah driver license was suspended by the state of California when at a inspection in Colorado. Thanks to PRE PAID LEGAL SERVICES for helping. Can't believe states can get away with that crap.
When I moved from Arkansas to Louisiana and went to register my vehicles I was shocked when they told my I must pay sales tax on my two cars and two motorcycles inspite of having proof that I paid the sales tax in Arkansas when I purchased each vehicle. And no, it was not refunded when I moved out of Louisiana.
Buddy of mine was military, working at the Pentagon. He lived in northern VA, but the plates he had on his vehicles were all from GA, where he was born. He was able to renew them by mail, which he did for seven or eight years.
I moved to Michigan from Pennsylvania about 30 years ago to attend school. I intended to return to Pennsylvania after graduation. I kept my PA plates and license for about three years without any problems. I got a job in Michigan, got married and decided to stay there. That’s when I switched my license and plates.
I live here in Boston. The area where he lives has bad street parking. Someone got butt hurt because his car was in the same spot most likely or always in the general area they want to be and called it in. We have a lot of college kids here and when they can move out of the dorms this becomes a issue for them. As a landlord I rent out extra spaces so people can avoid this. Taxachussetts at its best
This is interesting timing. My brother found out yesterday at lunch before a funeral his son is still driving on 2020plates. He is in N Carolina driving on Nevada plates on a car in my brother's name. We couldn't believe he hasn't been pulled over either since it's a convertible red Mustang.
Damn, when I was growing up, red convertible used to a be a cop-bait trope like you say. Really goes to show how drastically lax cops of the current era have become towards citizens they perceive as wealthy vs how they choose to treat regular people. :(
You know what else they do in Massachusetts? When you register a vehicle they give you a plate with an expiration date that is only 20 to 22 months away. Your registration is supposed to be good for 2 years. This happened to me twice. I purchased a vehicle in February and the registration expired in October.
The reason that your friend didn't get stopped is that they don't know what out of state plates look like when they have expired registration. I was living in Alabama and visiting California and I got a lot of double takes from cops when the noticed that I didn't have a front plate as required in CA. The AL and CA plates looked similar enough that many CA cops would make a U turn to pull me over and get close enough to see the AL plate and then stop. They were certain that they would be able to cite me. I am certain that cops don't recognized plates from other states unless they happen to be in a border city where they frequently encounter people from the neighboring state.
I would guess the same thing. And even a nerdy cop that can identify out of state plates in seconds would now that running the plate and license would take extra time, and that guy is likely just passing trough, so... why go trough that?
I had a CHP officer outright admit to me that he and most law enforcement officers are not familiar with out of state plates and the tabs in different corners as to when they expire. And their automated license plate readers were only tied into the CA DMV, not other states. This was 10 years ago.
My brother is from Michigan. He worked for Roush and they lent him to Roush Racing. They gave him an apartment, per diem, yada yada yada... anyway, North Carolina was sending him notices threatening him and telling him he needed to change from Michigan plates and license. He traveled back and forth and refused because he still resided in Michigan. He continued to ignore the threats and after three years he stopped going to NC. Nothing ever came from it, but what a pain.
In North Carolina you not only have to notify the DMV of moving even within the state but you also must notify the tag office separately. These are two separate entities unless you get a DUI. I actually got in trouble because of this and it really sucked and took a long time to clarify so if you live in a place that has a separate tag office from the DMV that lets you do registration and such but not driving test then you probably need to notify both of them when you move. Otherwise you won’t get revocation letters in the mail.
As Someone formally from Taxachusetts- I understand what happened. Public parking is tight (JP might very well require a parking Permit). I guarantee, parking enforcement officers keyed in the out of state plate & address "daily" & it caught up
In Ca. it's only 10 days, and - - get this - - applies even if you have NOT moved there! I was doing some consulting for Polycom (they make those triangular speakerphones in all the corporate conference rooms throughout America) in San Jose, when I was cited for this. And in California, the citation isn't for not changing over to the California license: they ticket you for UNLICENSED operation - a MISDEMEANOR [not a traffic infraction] - as if you had no license at all! And I had a completely clean & valid license from Florida at the time. So, imagine that, a CRIMINAL charge that is based entirely on, essentially, disregarding the sovereignty of the other 49 states in the Union. It was also a CRIMINAL charge based only on my own testimony. This is just a shake-down for cash from unsuspecting visitors. So consultants, students, all out-of-state visitors beware: the correct answer to "How long have you been in California?" is always, "I just pulled in last night, officer."
They trust that you won't come back for the court date. If you did, you would be able to just point out that you wouldn't be able to fulfil the insurance requirements of registration, so therefore have literally no ability to comply with said bogus law.
It seems to be something that happens mostly around the northshore and surrounding areas. I don't know why, but closer down here near the cape, it doesn't seem to happen as often. I've lived in this area my whole life and I've never heard of this, despite knowing many that have Florida plates from six months ago.
Seems like it would have a cooling effect on tourism to any state that would require visitors to do this, and would hurt the economy of that state much more than collecting registration fees.
I had a similar situation in California. I borrowed a car from an out of state family member for a month (I didn't have a car at the time). I was pulled over and told I had to register the car in California, despite the fact that I didn't own the car. The explained the situation to the cops, but they were very insistent.
Similar things even happen within a state... in Virginia, we have a sticker tax collected by the towns/counties/cities, but in recent years, many localities stopped issuing stickers, even though they still collect the sticker tax. I've received tickets for not having a sticker on my employer's vehicle while parked at my home, so my employer got to pay 2 separate localities their sticker tax. One based on the vehicle registration, the other based on where it's parked most of the time.
I have a friend that right now has been driving around with his expired Nevada plate for now over 2 years in California, daily driver, no trouble! Interesting to hear such a similar story from your friend, Steve.
Playing off of some of the stories I've seen posted here: As far as cops/government checking plates and registration: There's an outlet just outside of Stroudsburg, PA. Lots of people from NJ either work in PA or shop there. NJ started sending "inspectors" to record license plates a few years ago and "estimating" your purchases. Didn't matter if you bought nothing or just a snow cone; NJ residents started getting "estimated" sales tax bills. This did NOT go over well, and I think it was stopped or suspended before and upcoming election.
NY residents routinely shop for clothing in Pa., because there's no sales tax on clothing in PA. I believe it's the same for Jersey. I know the :outlet you speak of outside Stroudsburg.
My last visit to Massachusetts was also a nightmare. In 1989. Not for the same reasons - you just can't make this stuff up - but yes, very much a nightmare. I have no plans to ever visit MA again. And they can certainly try to extradite me for saying so! And, just so you know, insanity is the definition of governments. In my experience.
You realize the people running the government in Massachusetts in 1989 are likely dead or retired now, right? Seems kinda nuts to write off an entire state after a single bad experience.
Many taxis with, say, Ohio or Indiana license plates on the back have a special KY - AIRPORT plate on the front. The airport plate has a white background with pale green letters and numbers. As you may have guessed, KY taxi drivers were upset about out of state taxis coming to the Cincinnati airport (located in KY) and taking business away from KY taxis. So now these Ohio / Indiana taxis pay an airport tax to get the special airport plate on the front so they can carry and pick up fares there.
In the mid 90's I was pulled over in GA a few years after I was stationed there, I'm from TN. The cop who pulled me over noticed the license was from TN and had all zeros (00-00-0000) for an expiration date. He asked how long I had been in GA and I told him a couple of years. He started raising his voice and saying I was required to get a GA license within 30 days of moving there. I kindly said that was not true due to the Soldiers and Sailors Relief Act. Then he got so boned out on the expiration date and the fact that I challenged him he arrested me for driving on an expired license, not changing my license within 30 days, not registering my car in GA within 30 days, and speeding 5-10 over. Luckily I had an advocate called a First Sergeant who got me out of jail and brought a JAG lawyer with him. After their interactions ALL charges were dropped and the police chief made the cop deliver my truck to me at the entrance and he had to take it to the car wash. Mnny laws are stupid, and sadly many more cops are more stupid.
When a cop starts yelling you know you are dealing with a bully, not a professional. Pros don't yell, they simply act according to the law. And for CIVIL violations (no crime was committed) they are especially out of line acting like that. It should be a firing offense since if they get so upset about a license plate just imagine an actual crime.
I drove for almost a year without realizing my new car's registration had expired. I wasn't sent a renewal notice because the new car had been reported as sold by mistake. To make matters more interesting I was in a KIA but had re-badged it and that looked a bit like a Lexus badge. So when the cop ran the plates it came back as a KIA and he said, how is that possible since it's a Lexus? I explained the reason, he looked more closely and just gave me the expired registration ticket and away I went.
He was courteous the entire time, never any issue, just as it should be. But I can imagine a bad cop hauling me out of the car with claims that I'd stolen it or something.
My dad said that cops wear their badges either over their hearts, or on their foreheads. As in the power of the badge went to his head. That cop sounds like the forehead type.
cop should have been desk jobbed from then on, if not fired... treatinag aus service men station in the state adversely can cause problems..
I am from Washington State and was stationed in California in the late '90s. I was heading to a mountain ski area when I was forced to stop at a snow chain inspection check point. The officer wanted to know why my Jeep wasn't registered in CA. I told him I was in the Navy and not a California resident. He immediately got an attitude and told me I needed to register my vehicle in CA. I decided it was best just to play along with him and he quickly cut me loose. It's important to remember that in the U.S. only 6.4-percent of the population are veterans. As a result, a large portion of the population, including law enforcement officers, do not have a clue about the special privileges afforded to active-duty members of the military. You were lucky enough to have a state which afforded you a vehicle registration which didn't expire. My state provided me with a driver's license which didn't expire. I had that license for more than 15-years, and only replaced it once I retired.
@@CitEnthusiast Quite a few years ago, my friend had a GMC "SAFARI" mini-van. I tried to convince him to go to the wrecking yard and get a few more letters, then re-arrange them to spell "FERRARI"! He wouldn't do it.
An interesting counter suit to this would be to charge the RMV with criminal coercion. By forcing him to register in Mass they are essentially forcing him to commit a crime in another state. (in Virginia your registration has to match your license) The coercion charge could also be argued that this action unlawfully restricts his freedom of action to his detriment. I just looked it up and the legal definition of residency in Mass is "A resident is a person who maintains a permanent place of abode in Massachusetts and spends more than 183 days of the taxable year in Massachusetts. Whether a person maintains a permanent place of abode in Massachusetts is a factual determination." I think the threats toward Ben are pretty flimsy and he should certainly retain a lawyer and counter sue for damages (time and trouble in dealing with this frivolous action)
And your best evidence is that they sent the letter to your Va. address there by admitting that you live in Va. Steve would this fly ??
This is key. When I stayed in another state in the northeast (not MA) for the winter to help my mom out after she moved, I would have had to register my car there if I had established residency. Establishing residency is defined as taking a new permanent job, maintaining a permanent abode, etc.. I did none of those things. Since I didn't legally establish residency, I didn't worry about it.
What about the interstate commerce act? there has to be 100's if not 1000's of tractor trailers that are afoul of that state law but are 100% in compliance otherwise.
Sy Bernot: You cannot sue another state as a non-resident unless you have that state's permission. Catch-22.
@@TheLoiteringKid As an interstate truck owner/operator in the late 80s and early 90s, I had to report my milage in each state I drove in and paid road use fees out of my settlement to each state according to miles driven. Now, I am sure it is all done electronically. Although, I also had to have several different "authority" plates on the front of my truck.
A CBS news article says “However, Ben’s car insurance company informed him that he would not be able to register his car in Massachusetts because he’s not a resident and therefore is unable to get the necessary insurance policy required to register the vehicle.”
An excellent point. No way he can get insurance in MA as non-resident, not garaged in MA. How’s he supposed to register?
However - if he could register in both states - wouldn’t it be less expensive and less shit-and-bother just to do so ?
@@michaelashley2855 This kind of thinking is how rights get slowly eroded away. "It's too much bother to fight it, I'll just pay it and move on with my life." Give them an inch...
@@michaelashley2855 not really, considering issues with insurance, duplicated fees, etc. Also it isn’t likely to stop with 1 year. MA is likely to try to keep forcing a non-resident to register their car in MA for the fees year after year under threat of action against the license. What I don’t get is how MA can possibly suspend another state’s license over vehicle registration from a nonresident.
@@anonymouse14 they can and they do. It happened to my son.
I was a cop in California while attending college over four decades ago. Our philosophy was unless there was another traffic violation we wouldn't bother enforcing license tags at all. In patrol. versus traffic (motor cops) our primary job was to protect the public from crime, arrest those with warrants, reckless driving, and emergency traffic accident response. I remember we once pulled over an elderly man who happened to be black. He had failed to stop fully at a stop sign in a part of town that had very few cars, or people for that matter. As I approached the driver, I asked the gentleman why his tags were expired. He explained a month earlier he had lost his job and was in the process of getting another. In the meantime, he said he had to take care of his sick wife who was bedridden. He was scared we were going to give him a citation. I remember walking up and addressing the man respectfully, Sir you have enough problems and we don't want to make things any more difficult for you. We gave the man our business card with a note on the back in the event he was stopped by another officer, to show him compassion, courtesy and understanding. He was very grateful and said he would take care of it as soon as he was paid from the new job. I remember how happy he was that we didn't cite him, and since he said he was hungry, we sent him over to a locally owned diner where he could get a meal. To me, that is what a police officer should do whenever he could. The man later contacted our watch commander to thank him and let us know he finally got his tags.
Thats awesome. Youre the 1%
🕶️
Whether this is true or not, this is what America should be about! Not trying to nail others for every cent they have in a traffic fine or giving citations for ludicrous things trying to hurt these citizens. Be fair and try to help them not hurt. Thank you Alex !
In about 84 I lived in CA and worked with a girl who had relocated from IL. She drove the freeway to get to work so I assume it was the CHP saw her out of state plates and she ended up getting a ticket /demand she register sent to the IL address of record.
you are verry clearly not from the LOSD and I do apricate your report of this stop and am sure that this is how you conducted your self to everyone not just those that are fearful of your potential as documented often from those in your profession.
The fact that they are threatening to report this to Virginia tells you everything to know about how ridiculous situation is.
I don't think they're specifically threatening that; they're just threatening to "revoke his license", and a side effect of that is that _generally speaking_ that will cause every other state to also revoke his license. (That isn't a hard guarantee, but he does _not_ want to be going to the bureaucracy of every other state individually and asking them to not take Massachusetts' word for it that his license should be revoked.)
@@Tzizenorec correct. In general, if another state issues you a moving citation or similar violation, the state which has issued your license will also be informed. And based on that state's laws, you'll be treated accordingly.
@@Tzizenorec He doesn't have a Mass license to revoke.
He should get down to the VA dmv and talk to them to see what their stance is .
I just say screw it trying catching when I drive through Massachusetts if you don't pay the ticket and keep going but you better have every cop on the road looking for me every single day because you never know when I'm going to pull through
I had a friend that moved from Massachusetts to Rhode Island and he tried doing the right thing to register his car, get a RI license, etc. The people at the DMV told him that he needed such-and-such so he left and returned with it. Then they said you need this and that so he got it and returned. This happened several times and he finally told one of the woman at the RMV that he was done and would simply leave his car registered in MA and park it in his driveway because they were too difficult to deal with. The woman was like "Fine, give me the forms" and she did everything he needed. It just goes to show that these people make things difficult just because they can.
I said at the beginning here that The most important #1 qualification for employment at the
Ma. Registry of Motor Vehicles is you have to have the personality of a Rattle Snake. I guess Rhode Island acquired this requirement also, or maybe it's just New England.
@@CorbinAce I lived in MA when I was a kid and had a Mustang for my summer car and a junker for my winter car so twice a year I would be down at the registry transferring plates from one to the other. I used to teach karate and one of my students worked at the RMV. I would go there on a Saturday and the line would be out the door and around the building but I'd stick my head in the door and get her attention. She'd scream "SIR... SIR??? COME ON UP" to me and people would be freaking out. She be yelling at people to shutup because I was in earlier and blah blah blah. She'd hook me up real quick and be like "get out of here before there is is a riot" since it was at least a 3 to 4 hour hour wait. Haha.
@@rhoonah5849 Yeah yeah, you had connections. Flaunt it for the world to see.
@@SarafinaSummers Yeah I was "connected" like Tony Soprano because I knew someone who worked at the registry. SMH...
Were the employees there BLK? Because I'm sensing a stereotype here. Might be just my experience, though.
I had a Massachusetts cop drive extremely reckless in rush hour traffic to chase me down and stop me for having an Alabama plate. He didn’t understand that we only have one plate on back and don’t have front plates. I still can’t believe how aggressive he was driving like a maniac trying to get to me in eight lanes of traffic at rush hour. I was a travel nurse so I wasn’t about to switch plates when I worked in several New England states and stayed at a friends in Rhode Island.
Many years ago my Father in Law was driving in Nebraska in a vehicle with Kansas plates. He got pulled over by some small town cop for not having a front plate (Kansas doesn't have front plates but Nebraska does). He almost got arrested by the Nebraska cop who refused to believe that Kansas didn't have front plates, and it wasn't until his supervisor was called out to resolve the issue. Apparently he looked at the young cop with disgust and chewed him out in front of FIL "What the f is wrong with you? Kansas don't have front plates." (apparently his supervisor was off duty and had his supper interrupted to come out and address this issue).
Some cops really give the rest of them a bad name.
Report it to the FBI
Putting the public in danger over nothing - only works if you have immunity.
California had a problem ticketing oil workers and requiring them to get a California plate, even though they were only in the state for a few months.
Could he reverse it back on them with a fraud lawsuit ?????
Years ago I visited my brother in Virginia from Texas. My car had Texas plates and registration. Got a ticket for not having a Fairfax county personal property sticker on my car. Went to court, spent the whole day, got before the judge. Presented my driver's license, voter registration, gas and electric bills and other proof of my Texas residence. The judge said he didn't believe I would come all the way from Texas to fight the ticket. I said I was an airline pilot and could fly there for free. He dismissed the case and I went to the clerks office and since I elected to go to court the "court costs" were $50 more than the ticket.
Pay in pennies stuck in gum. ;)
Sounds like something the Virginia Secretary of State needs to get involved in.
Yeah, I'd be calling the state I live in and pay taxes to. They're probably the ones who can tell Massachusetts to go f-off and leave their citizen alone.
Yeah, if Massachusetts doesn't back down then all of the Massachusetts police's (or perhaps DMV) license plates need to be revoked by Virginia to keep them out of the state.
No the Virginia national guard.
My point is that there definitely are laws that require reciprocity (that's the magic word) in vehicle and driver licensing between states, and the Secretary of State's job (maybe the Attorney General) is to handle matters between states. A legal registration in state X _must_ be accepted by state Y, full stop.
absolutely, a 5-minute phone call where VA reminds MA that honoring VA's records is not a choice its legislature can make, and that it would be glad to assist its citizen if necessary
Constitutionally, Massachusetts has to recognize Virginia's registration unless residency is established. I cannot envision a Federal court allowing Massachusetts to force this. This whole situation begs the question of just how stupid have we become?
Well it's democrat run.
I'm not sure where the attorneys heads are in this case but it is astounding. You could strike down this application of the statute on statutory and constitutional grounds with little research.
Have you seen the movie “idiocracy”? We just about there in some places.
@@totallyjonesin Right, because nothing stupid like this ever happens in Republican run states...
Federal court: It's a state matter. Next.
In 2021, registering a normal private passenger vehicle in Massachusetts costs $60 and is good for 2 years. In MA, the Certificate of Title fee is $75. You'll also need to have your vehicle inspected, which costs $35.
=========
I think we can guess why they have implemented the law. It's a shakedown.
"The object of all despotism is revenue." -- Thomas Paine
... land of the free and the home of the brave, eh?
@@FHL-Devils Braves are in Georgia!
That's much cheaper than my state. Maybe I'll just register to MA instead.
Guess what's next. They will "ask " you to pay state taxes.
.....you obviously now live there.
That is in violation of the requirements for states to have reciprocal agreements to recognize other states registrations. It is an interference with interstate commerce. Sue in Federal Court.
Reminds me😂. Virginia tried to force me to pay state income taxes because my wife, who worked there while I was in the Navy, paid taxes. They said it's all or none. Whatever. It got so bad they put a lien on the house I lived in...as a renter!! Too funny. Owner sued the crap out of them. I moved to Japan. 😂😂😂 Some states are crazy.
The state runs afoul of some federal laws, active duty is strange with how they interact with that state is considered 'home'.
You know that the Japanese hate the US Navy? 'Yankee go home!'
@DaVile But they love the money the US brings to their economy...all while hating us. 😆 Not sure what this has to with anything, though.
@@toolbaggers They hate Marines even worse.
should have asked if you could vote there too if they want you to pay taxes..
He needs to file a federal lawsuit involving Interstate Commerce regarding this foolish law.
10/4
Is it even a law, or is it a rule that a local government official pulled out of thin air?
That was my thought too.
This has nothing to do with interstate commerce... are you a sovereign citizen or something?
Probably doesn't even require a lawsuit. Just get the US Department of Transportation involved and have them handle it.
My state also has a 30 day law, though it is consecutive. A couple years back the mayor in my town announced a massive enforcement effort after claiming to have received a flood of complaints from residents about cars with out of state plates. Note: My town borders another state, so you know, out of state plates aren't exactly uncommon. They were going to have officers making daily rounds noting what cars were parked in what driveway. This was shortly before primaries. The incumbent mayor lost badly and we never heard about the supposed enforcement again.
So he did that when he was close to re election? Sounds like the dumbest mayor ever. Not sure how he wouldn’t have known that it was going to harm his re election chances
@Robert Smalls He also "cut taxes" and "balanced the budget" by withdrawing the legal maximum from the city's cash reserves every year...
Virginia it's 30 consecutive days. Fairfax county tries to crack down on it from time to time. The problem is how do they prove that the car wasn't driven over the bridge into Maryland or DC during that time? I have a car registered at my vacation home in MD. It makes the trip there or to my Mom's in MD at least once a month.
We've been in Mexico for 5 weeks now. Our permit is good for 6 months.
The "c" word caused deficits in municiple budgets even before many gvmnt employees gave themselves handsome raises for all of their *demic suffering enforcing and finger wagging their constituents at the behest of their governmental big brothers and sisters. They decided to run tons of these safety and licensure enforcements. Coincidently, only those with the most promising revenues. There was some scandal with one of my local city officials, and they demoted him to Parks and Rec management with a raise that nets him $106,000 a year.
A few years ago, a cop pulled me over in another state because my Pennsylvania license plate didn't have a registration sticker. He embrassingly had to apologize after verifying that my state no longer issues physical registration stickers. Police can simply verify the legality of the plate by using a plate reader. The Pennsylania DOT saves millions of dollars per year by not printing and mailing out stickers. As drivers, we just download and print out our annual renewal info. I'd like to know how this Massachusetts case turns out.
The entire sticker is a useless thing anyway today. Much like having a registration in your car. If you pulled me over, you already ran my plate. lol
@@davidroberson1962 I don't get the American "you need to register your car every year" thing. In Europe, car is either registered to a person or not, once. What is yearly is insurance.
@@dustojnikhummer Do you pay taxes on your car every year? Registration in the USA is a tax. I pay like $50-80 a year per vehicle. That is my completely cost, aside from insurance, for owning a vehicle in the USA.
You don't have a yearly tax stamp or anything?
I bought a truck this year. I payed like $300 for tax, title, and registration. In Europe, just the tax would have been a couple thousand dollars. We pay a couple percent tax on a vehicle purchase in most of the country(Outside of NY, CA, and other far left states).
I don't have to get my car inspected ever. I pay less than $3 a gallon for gas today.
Governments play shell games with taxes but my total burden is much less than anywhere in Europe.
@@davidroberson1962 Nope. I paid 20 Euros for a title change. I could pay 30 if I wanted license plates from my city. We had car taxes like you, but that got removed in like 2008. My gas is 6.5 USD per american gallon. Car inspection every 2 years, which can range from 40 Euros to 80 Euros, so I guess you can consider that a tax. I did not pay any taxes when purchasing the vehicle, since sales tax was paid by the first owner of the vehicle.
@@dustojnikhummerWe are under $3 a gallon. Most if that is tax.
I don't have any inspection. I only have registration. You are paying $4-5 per gallon in taxes.
You pay more taxes than I do. Moving it from one column to the other doesn't change that.
3.50 per gallon in taxes means you are paying more taxes than me after driving 400 miles a year in a 30+ mpg car.
"Registering a motor vehicle [in Massachusetts] automatically triggers the assessment of excise, which is calculated at a rate of $25 per $1,000 of value." Damn, so that's why they do it.
I pay about 6k in property tax for my house in Massachusetts and a yearly bill of about 400 in taxes for parking my car in the driveway I pay property taxes for.
@@rolanddeschain965
Park your car in your neighbors driveway so they have to pay it. 😝
@@rolanddeschain965 400 for parking in your driveway what a scam
I feel for you it's the same in CT. 5k a year tax for a 1000 square foot house plus the cars. My brothers Ford truck is around $1800 tax par year.
@@rolanddeschain965Double taxation and illegal... someone should file a lawsuit over that.
I live on Martha's Vineyard and as you'd imagine, in the summertime there's almost nothing but out of state plates when people come to their vacation homes for MONTHS at a time. There's an older gentleman down the street from me who's too old to commute anymore and he's being driving around on FL plates for maybe 3 years now. MA's laws are outrageous but people need to mind their own business.
If people were capable of minding their own business, we'd have a Libertarian society.
the rich live by different rules.
"Your freedom to swing your fists around ends at the tip of my nose"
Not, if you have your nose ever encroaching up the crack of my ...
rules are different for the rich.
Sounds like Massachusetts really doesn’t want ANY tourism or commerce coming into their state. Because I’m sure a lot of people hearing about this is going to cause them to rethink travelling to or through them.
Do not reply to the person saying contact them on telegram. ITS A SCAMMER!!
Seriously. Hell, if I were in a position of power with my state and found out a neighboring state was doing this to my constituents, I'd start warning people in my state to avoid going through or visit that state if at all possible, because they have and enforce a law that in my eyes does something they do not have the right or authority to do to visitors. Or at least should not have the authority to do. Like mess with my people I mess with your economy. Want that tourism revenue? Play nice with everybody else.
Then again, that's probably why I'm not a politician. God forbid there exist a politician in office that might actually do something useful or helpful. Or moral. But I digress.
This could be on national news for a week straight and it still wouldn't put much of a dent in the tourism trade.
I don't believe that story kinda odd never once happen people I known who visit here
Who cares ? I went to Mass once, no need to go again !
When these things happen, it seems one option is calling the local news to see if they'd like to help you with some exposure and getting people of authority to look into it and bypass the red tape.
Many years ago, I was a cop in Santa Fe, NM. I made a traffic stop for speeding on a vehicle with out of state plates. I cited him for expired registration and expired driver’s license. When we went to municipal court, the Judge threw it out. The Judge stated that we could not enforce the laws of a different state. Thank you, your honor, you have just made my job a lot easer.
Makes a lot of sense actually.
That’s what I was thinking too in regards to the “out of state expired” story.
That would be BS in DC. Cops will ticket VA cars with expired inspection stickers.
In va you can be ticketed for expired registration with an out of state plate, instead of an “expired registration” ticket it’s a “improper display of license plate” ticket.
@@extremerc76 surely you can then argue that it's a catch-22 since you're not allowed to display no plate, and you don't meet the requirements to get the other state's plates...
In the mid 1990s I was in California serving in the US Air Force. I got pulled over while turning into military family housing. My license plate light was out, but I was questioned as to why I had an out of state plate. I told him that I was USAF, gestured to the base sticker in the windshield and told him I was in California temporarily. A low level of harassment, but harassment none the less.
Must've had a girlfriend that cheated on him with a pilot. Sorry you probably suffered for some of the sinning of one of your brothers.
@@maebandy LOL! I was enlisted. And driving a 24 year old Plymouth Duster. Cop probably thought I had no business being in a high cost of living area.
@Joshua Skinner well ok, that sounds probable. And to the point you made at the end of your last comment, I think the career enticement of warranted or unwarranted harassment of any civilian they see driving down the road has to stop. I mean we're all just bigger humans playing the same games we did as children. The girl who cheated playing the bank during Monopoly or the boy who still tried to tag you once you were safe on base can't be allowed to win the games as adults, we certainly didn't let that shit fly as kids.
One of my coworkers had a similar experience. His son lives in Massachusetts and he would fly into our office there every 2 months for a week or so. He got a ticket over a decade ago visiting his son. He was ordered by the court to maintain two separate registrations, plates, and the court even ordered him to have a Massachusetts drivers license. His residence is in Florida. So he actually has a Massachusetts ID with a Florida address on it. It has caused him a ton of issues, every few years the state sends tax officials after him because he isn’t paying his Massachusetts income tax and property taxes; but he has a binder full of paperwork, court orders, letters from various state departments, etc that he always uses to get out of it.
He appealed the original courts ruling, but it was upheld. Of course I asked if he has ever voted twice… he refuses to answer.
Oh and yea Massachusetts loves it reciprocity relationship agreements, they will totally send notice to the other state if he doesn’t register, keep it active, etc.
That just sounds like extortion. Seems like other states should cancel their reciprocal agreement with such a corrupt state.
Why didn't he rent a car like everyone else? - Said the RMV official.
WOW.... sad
I'm shocked that this is allowed to happen. Imagine if Florida did that to everyone who visited Disney World for a few weeks out of the year. Or imagine if two states did that to each other. And trying to make him pay income tax to a state he neither lives in nor works in every few years probably costs the state more money than the license registration cost so I really don't see the point. Plus, well, you can't be compelled to pay income taxes in a state you neither live in nor work in.
I know one state I’ll never visit. It’s pretty scary just how little people know about the laws.
I had a friend who moved to CA and when he registered his car there they said they would send him his new license plate but it would take a while and not to worry about not having one in his car as he had the paperwork. It took THREE YEARS for them to send him the plates.
The license plate is just the first step. Once they get him to register his car there, they’ll consider him a state resident and then they’ll come chasing after him for income taxes!
I knew some workers from Mass.They called the state Taxachusetts
Thanks Steve instead of booking our campsite in Massachusetts during our New England trip this summer we will spend longer in New Hampshire.
More money for New Hampshire businesses, less for Massachusetts.
I spent nearly 2 years in CA taking care of my elderly mother, yet had my vehicle licensed & registered & was voting in OR. On the way home, after winding up my mother's estate, A CA cop asked me why I didn't have CA plates. I told him the story & he condoled me instead of writing up a ticket!!
Sounds like it's time for a letter to the Attorney General's Office...
Virginia did the same thing back in the 90s. I had a Sgt that wife had a baby in Virginia. The sister-in-law came to help with the baby.She was pulled over for speeding and the police officer asked how long she was in the state it was well over the allotted time. She got the speeding ticket and a ticket for not registering in the state. Asinine!
"The object of all despotism is revenue." -- Thomas Paine
Va. Is 90 days.
She broke the law
And that's why you don't talk to the police.
I was born in Massachusetts, and grew up in Connecticut just a few miles from the border with Mass., where I have lived for nearly 60 years. I even worked in Massachusetts for five years while living in Connecticut and...not only did I never get a Mass. registration...I never even heard of such a law!
We here in Connecticut refer to Massachusetts as "Taxachusetts"...and hearing this story just gives us one reason more for doing so!
ok that's funny!!
They don't call them Massholes for nothing!
Shameful to think that Massachusetts is the same state where the battles of Lexington and Concord were fought.
@@ostlandr
Indeed.
"The People's Republic of Taxachusetts"
If he registers in MA then VA is going to cancel his registration.
Yes and then he gets to re-register in VA so both states get to double-dip.
Most definately
Then they'll add the caveat that he'll need a MA license for the registration, which he won't have because he's not a state resident. And if for some miracle they do let him get a MA license his VA license is forfeited for the MA license like the registration. What a mess.
Registrations in two states simultaneously? Good question.
@@sparkyUSA1976 That's a good one - voting rights. You could vote twice for president and once for each state's congress and senate candidate.
Just set up a mail drop in MA for MA voting.
How can another state suspend your license because they want you to register your out of state vehicle? I smell a scam.
It is even more ludicrous if Steve's explation is the full law without any carve-outs. Federal laws and international agreements supersede state law, but that wording would apply to foreigners and company vehicles as well.
You are correct.. It IS a scam. Massachusetts may be the most expensive state to own a vehicle. Title transfer 75$ registration 80$ it varies. There is a 25$ fee for this,, a 40 dollar fee for that, State inspection is 'just' 35$ PLUS all the repairs and emissions testing.. Good luck at getting out of the office for less than 300 or 400,,, plus the inspection and required repairs PLUS there is an annual excise tax on the value of your vehicle 25$ per 1,000 valuation,, payable to the city in which the car is parked. (pronounced 'pahcked') 250 to 1500 per year. And trust me,,, there are a few dozen other charges. 250 to 2000 per year is normal. THE REASON IS,, There are 120 plus schools and universities in just the Boston area. Students from all around the country and the world bring an out of state vehicle into Mass. And it used to be,, no one ever got caught. Heaven help you if you did.
they arent suspending your license, they are suspending your right to drive in their state. they are allowed to do this.
@@gasad01374 I could be wrong,, but a suspended license is a suspended license in all states. Laughing,, even though he may not have a license in Massachusetts, Virginia will honour the suspension. Be aware,, Massachusetts is weird. They also deal with a difficult problem,, 120 something schools and universities in the Boston area. Hundreds of thousands of students come there for school. And Mass is so freaking expensive to own and insure a car.. those students maintain their out of state license and registrations. Which costs the Commonwealth a bunch of taxes.
@@Sailor376also "suspended license is a suspended license in all states" There are shades of grey to this. The determinant factor is which two states we are talking about. Revoking your permission to drive in the "not home state" only hinders the permission to drive to that state. Revoking your permission to drive in the " home state" applies the permission to all states. (And more generally, most of the world.) The issue becomes if the two states in question have an agreement to honor each other's permission revocation. So in the case of agreements, getting permission revoked in "not home state" cascades into getting permission revoked in "home state" which in turn gets permission to drive revoked to most of the world.
I'm 71 years old, the laws by Which we live , have become a nightmare in recent years, we now live in a crazy world, lucky for me my days are limited in this crazy world.
kingdomfor1 : So true. You nailed it!
@kingdomfor1: I agree. I'm 60 and I grew up in what was a free country (i.e. the USA). LEO tyrants and left-wing politicians are turning the USA into Nazi Germany. "Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it." We're currently going down the well+travelled road to Hell! 🤬
if your days are limited to need to make sure you connect with the Lord; John 3:3 states Except you be born again (christian), you will not see the Kingdom of God.
@@Lauren-vd4qe and if I'm a Muslim?
@@kingdomfor1 John 14:6 Jesus said "I AM the way the truth and the life; NO MAN comes to the Father (God) BUT BY ME.
I had a friend who drove his motorhome all over the continental US for more than a decade with expired PA tags and no PA inspection. At the time, he claimed that the lack of inspection was a "Pennsylvania matter" that non-Pennsylvania police can't enforce. When he was pulled over (for bad driving) and the Florida police officer noted his tags were expired, my friend told the police officer that he was on a 48 state tour and hasn't been home for years and years. The Florida police officer cited him for the bad driving, but not the expired tag.
According to the RMA, the vehicle has to be permanently based in Massachusetts in order for this to apply. Also, how can someone even register a vehicle in a state where they have no proof of residency?
This is exactly right. A quick browsing of their website shows that you must prove you reside in the state to register your vehicle. I hope he goes to the DMV and tells them he does not reside in the state but he would like to register his vehicle and record the interaction as the person behind the counter vehemently denies him service because he cannot register an out-of-state vehicle.
3/27/23...COPS + JUDGES + STATES DON'T CARE! THEY ARE BLEEDING OUT $+ MUST CHARGE EVERY "SUCKER" THEY CAN FIND!
PLUS THEY HAVE FREE LAWYERS---THE "SUCKERS" DON'T!
It's also common for people to have multiple properties in multiple states. Most states have the language PRIMARY RESIDENCE when determining where to register vehicles.
There are many states you can register a vehicle without having residency. This is used to the benefit by some people and business and to the benefit of the government by other states. Getting a drivers license in a state usually requires residency and some states have very lacks laws for residency. Many New York people have a vehicle licensed in Florida to them; they store when not in Florida. People try the Montana one often but South Dakota has the most vehicles licensed to out of state people. I could see if he spent extended time in Mass. every year they would require him to register the vehicle. But if he spent less than half a year there they will have a tough time forcing residency.
I had something very similar happen with IL. I was an Alabama resident and visited friends in Chicago. I got a parking ticket while there which I mailed payment and a self addressed envelope to have the receipt sent back to me. The cook county clerk failed to mark my ticket as paid and pull it from the docket. So unbeknownst to me I failed to appear. The judge issued a bench warrant and suspended my IL license (that I didn't even have). A year after this I tried to move back home to TN and discovered I had a valid AL but a suspended IL license so TN would not transfer my license until that was resolved. So a year after the original I learned about the warrant when I called IL to figure the mess out. I scheduled to appear before the judge and I show the receipt that it was paid and he dismissed the ticket and the warrant. He then stated I would have to pay a reinstatement fee for my IL license I never had. I then asked for clarification as I still had an AL license. He gave me a number to call the state as he didn't know how that even happened. Long story short it took 8 months of hounding IL to fix their mistake so I could transfer my license to TN.
A friend of mine had a similar experience in Kentucky. He lives in Alabama. He got a speeding ticket in KY and mailed in a money order. He got a receipt. A couple of years later, he went to renew his AL license and found he had a warrant for his arrest in KY. AL told him he had to resolve the issue with KY before they would renew his license. He still had the receipt. He called the court in KY. He was told the warrant was still active and that he was being penalized $30.00 a day which would have been around $10K. He finally was able to email a copy of the money order and the receipt. They dropped it all.
By issuing a liscense in the data base the state could then create a voter registration. Use your imagination on the rest.
This is pure craziness! Husband and I were remembering all the time we spent in a special seaside town when we were young. We'd take off for a few days and spend so much money at all the quaint little shops we'd come to adore. It's wild that a state would actually work to prevent that kind of constant revenue from coming in to an area.
It's wild that if I visit relatives in massachusetts, I could be required to register my car in a state I do not live in.
Cops are a business too(extortion), why should only citizens get all the tourist revenue?
They aren’t trying to prevent that, they are just being greedy and trying to extort money out of people. Even people who don’t live in the state.
Yeah, this happens all the time. I personally have the issue of not being able to transfer my lic and stuff because some city in PA that I never lived in or been to has suspended my license. To this day after hundreds of calls, the only thing I have been able to figure out is that if I pay a lawyer thousands of dollars it will go away. These systems and laws are just so much fun to deal with....
Take that same money & Sue the city & state & force them to say in open court what nonsense they're holding you back with. It'll be worth it.
@@RtistiqSkubieHe will most likely also get a big payout for the trouble. Lawyers fees and some compensation for the trouble.
This exact same happened to me when I went to school at ft devins Massachusetts for two month course back in the late 80's when I was sent on orders from ft bragg where I lived. It took the US Military JAG to get the assholes off my back and stop the threats of suspending my license.
The US military should have invaded Massachusetts, captured it, and made it a part of the United States.
@@MrTruckerf mass has no oil reserves.
@@charlebrownga It's got plenty of "natural gas" from all of the bullshit that the state produces.
@@charlebrowngaThey have plenty of slaves, though 😂
@@charlebrownga I want to point out something today we get more than 50% of our oil from Canada. From the 90s to 2000 opec and person gulf supplied about 50% of our oil. Since the peak they have dropped to the low single digits. Most of the wars fought over there might have been about saving the oil. yet in the last 20 years we moved from buying from them to buying local. We could 100% stop buying from everyone and produce as much as we need with what we have right now or we could just buy 100% from Canada. Couple other things to consider is the shutting down of the pipelines which likely would have made the cost of fuel cheap. Also buying 100% from canada could make the price stable and low. Because we would not need to worry about market price. Sell the us all the oil it needs then sell off the extras to make profit. Would have worked great for everyone.
our state and federal governments have went off the rails
One of the happiest days of my life was when I took MA plates off my car. I hated living there, for a lot of reasons.
Said no one ever 😂
I moved out of mass in 1983 and have lived in NH since. I too was happy to leave the place.
So stick it, Nick S
@@TheRealMrPeach it's funny. I grew up in NH, and we had a low opinion of MA, and an even lower opinion of people who specifically moved in from MA and brought their MA voting habits with them (considering those voting habits are how MA ended up so shitty to begin with)
But, when I left New England, I felt a similar joy. That whole part of the country just sucks. Full of snooty assholes who look down upon everyone who doesn't appear to have lots of money, and can't keep their noses out of others' business.
Alabama didn't work out, but now I live in the central-upper Midwest, and short of moving out to the mountain west somewhere (except Colorado, too expensive now) I doubt I'll ever make a significant move again. It may not be as pretty, but the people out here are so much more laid back. One thing's for sure, I'll almost certainly never live in New England or even the Northeast in general ever again.
@@lt1caprice57l Hey, cut me some slack, i was only 23 and starting a small family. Mass taxes were not to my liking and i wasn't big on voting at the time.
Also, making gross generalizations based on a small sample is absurd.
I was born and raised in the N end of Idaho, I'm 75. When I was young guys needing work would go over to Noxon or Libby, etc, MT and get work at the mills. The MT state cops would sit at the exit to the parking lot at quitting time and write up ANYBODY without a MT plate. Growing up, it was common to see vehicles in town with ID plates as well as a MT plate stuck up in the rear window.
Frankly I think all this is illegal.
Why isn't he talking to his state of Virginia to have them hash it out with Massachusetts?
Virginia doesn't care if another state rolls him like a drunk. They already have his money
@@MrTruckerf Maybe not the State's department of Motor Vehicle, but I suspect the Attorney General's office might react differently. I live in Vermont. I contacted my State's Attorney twice regarding fraud. They took care of it both times. The first time they took care of it quickly, and the second time I was told that I was speaking to the wrong department; they said they'd notify the proper people. They did, and that department took care of my issue.
@@swyzzlestyx There were several states who did something similar when New York had their Covid checkpoints at the boarder
There are some videos from a exotic car enthusiast youtuber from Vancouver B.C. Canada, getting pulled over in California, issued a ticket because he "didn't have a california drivers license" which the idiot cop asserted he absolutely had to have in California, even if just visiting. He thought the situation was quashed when he went to the stations and spoke with a Sgt......Nope a few months later, finds out California issued him a temporary license, so they could proceed with tickets and charges, and convicting in absentia. Absolutely insane.
I was looking through the comments, hoping someone had posted this story. Thanks!
Daily Driven Exotics.... DDE. Good channel.
When a state turns into a 'Police State'..
Great Channel! That video was wild and weird!
His lawyer should be fine asking who signed the permit. That would be a federal crime in both u.s. and canada
The legal issues with dual registrations for law enforcement would be an absolute nightmare. When they run a plate it comes back to a car. If they check the vin it will come back to either plate. Their fisrt assumption would. Be a stolen plate.
That is where are federal government is supposed to step in.
I ran into this recently. I moved from one state to another and had 20 days to register car and 60 days to get a license. However, I needed the license to register the car first, so I really had 20 days to get a license also. My bank has the car title and could not find it. Suffice it to say, it took many months, through no fault of my own with many emails and phone calls to the bank, to finally register the vehicle.
Sounds like Mr. Dover has is a constitutional (Commerce clause) case. He needs to take this to court and declare this as unconstitutional, because only the United States Congress shall regulate interstate commerce.
What part of the Constitution says Congress can regulate interstate commerce? Sincerely asking.
My understanding is that Article I, Section VIII, Subsection III states: Congress shall have power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes.
With means: accompanying, along side of, next to.
Among means: in association with, in joint action of, through reciprocal acts.
Sounds like they have power to regulate commerce in the event the state consents. If the state doesn't consent then they don't have that power.
You would be right in that the state of MA doesn't have the power to regulate commerce of another states inhabitants.
I don't disagree, however, that would fail for two reasons.
First, his appeals aren't finished. Thus he can't get a court to intervene.
Second, he would need to hire a lawyer and that can cost thousands. That is money he could never recoup from Massachusetts.
The US Supreme Court in Gibbons v. Ogden gave the Federal Government particularly Congress the sole right to regulate interstate Commerce.
Regarding the color coded expiration sticker, Indiana cared enough in 2015 to (wrongly) stop one of the vans on a University Choir tour. Despite the fact that the tag actually was current, the officer also illegally extended the stop (which he had no legal basis to make in the first place because the tag wasn't expired, the color just didn't match with Indiana) for a drug dog search.
He must've forgot his contribution to the Fri night cop BYOD potluck and hoped one of your choir students might've packed some for him. He'd have more luck stopping the theatre kids bus. Those moody little narcissists always have party favors or at least their creepy directors do.
What utter stupidity, but not a surprise by officials in Massachusetts. If you’re not a resident of that state you don’t have to register in that state. This is a violation of Article IV, section 1 of the Constitution (“full faith and credit” clause).
This reminds me of a complaints I heard from other residents of a community I used to live in. Basically, they said that if you had a visitor stay over more than a certain number of total nights (not in a year but the entire time you live there) that the association considered them a resident and would tow their vehicles for not having a resident parking permit. It sounds crazy, but given some of the other stuff they did and seeing the security person walking around documenting visitor plates at night, I believe it.
@@patfrederick7327 : There are cases that I would consider them necessary, but most of us don't live in an apartment tower, have a neighborhood social club, etc. The only legitimate purpose for them in ordinary developments is to keep the roads maintained until the government takes over road maintenance.
@@absalomdraconis I live on a private road with 6 homes without an HOA of any kind. When the road gets snowy, we clear it, when it gets full of potholes, one of us grades it. It probably takes 60 hours a year to maintain. Id' much rather do the work than pay the free and have to deal with an HOA
Failed, power hungry politician: What will I do now?
Satan: (whispering) How about HOA president?
Wouldn't surprise me, some such communities have really weird ideas of what they can do, especially when a HOA is involved.
I went to college in California in the 80s and I had Alaska plates on my truck for the first two years I was there and never had an issue. I sold the truck and had California plates on my new vehicle until I returned to Alaska, at which time I immediately got Alaska plates because I didn't want anyone to think I was from California!
"because I didn't want anyone to think I was from California!" , Says everyone who moves out of Cali.
Massachusetts is so needy for money that this is common. Moved out of the state in September and changed over my license and insurance. Got a notification that my registration was revoked because of not insured in state. Sent me a tax bill for the car for the following year.
One of the New England states had a law that said, you must have “white” sheets on your bunk in the sleeper. Their reasoning was that in case of an accident, the sheets could be used for bandages. I think that rule is still on the books. And why you can’t use blue or any other color sheets for bandages is beyond me!
Well, red or dark blue or purple sheets would camouflage the blood from the accident or murder or whatever.
@@EXROBOWIDOW Probably because those dyes used to be poisonous
My state can beast that one, ( or at one time it could as I don’t know if this law is still on the books)but at one time in my states capitol city, you weren’t allowed to walk down the street, at night, while whistling a certain tune( I believe it was the Happy Birthday tune, but can’t swear to it)🤣🤣
@@kansascitybob2430 Of course, there were 'laws' NOT on the books, for instance, 60 or so years ago in the South whistling "Marching Through Georgia".
Heard it was Connecticut but same area of☭👮♂️👮♀️👮
I’m from Texas and have Texas license plates on my car. I went to college for five years out of state, spending nine months of the year in that state without ever changing my license plate tags. This is ridiculous.
I wonder if Ben could contact the VA AG's office and see if they can intercede on his behalf? Or maybe petition his state reps to revoke Virginia's reciprocity with Mass. for reported suspenions?
great idea
When I lived in New Hampshire many of the jobsites I worked on were located in Mass. There was not a single year in which I did not operate my vehicle in Mass. To think officials in Mass could demand I register my vehicle in a state I don't live in, yet often works in is totally nuts. Presently, I reside in a city that has what amounts to a twin city located in another state immediately adjacent to limits of the city in which I live. Literally, one can drive down one side of the street and be in one state, yet driving on the other side of the same street means operating a vehicle in the adjacent state. Many, many, many people commute for work between the two states. Even more people travel regularly between the two states to shop, recreate, or simply dine out. Were one of the two states to suddenly require the visiting driver to register in the visited state absolute chaos would surely result. Threats to suspend licenses would mean literally thousands of unlicensed drivers were such threats made good. Suspension of driver's licenses would also mean adding thousands of uninsured drivers traveling the roadways on both sides of the state line. WTF kind of sense does this make?
Note to self never visit Massachusetts 😮.
I moved to New Hampshire. A few months in, my car was broken into. I reported it, and the responding officer was more interested in my lack of NH tags than the actual crime. 😂 they call it Taxachusetts for a reason, and NH is not much better.
This from the state whose license plates proudly state "Live free or die!" A sad, sad joke.
In regard to driving with expired plates in CA, when I went to update the year after my latest car registration, I realised I had never updated it the year before. The sticker was still sitting in a bag in the glove compartment. And yet despite driving regularly for that whole year, I was never once pulled over for it.
“The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe.”
- Dr. Leonard McCoy
exactly
Back in the day (I know the 1970s and earlier, I just don't know when it ended); a semi truck had to have a plate for each state that required it if you traveled that state. Which is why in old movies you would see trucks with many plates on them.
I remember seeing trucks like that as a kid... was always a jackpot when playing the "license plate" game. 😂🤣🤣
Those were tax stickers .....1993 The states got together and created a central tax authority for Commercial Motor Vehicles.....all companies pay a fee / share of tax to it.
@@bw1357 Someone or several folk actually had some common sense, almost amazing.
@@mattwilliamson1714 I remember the plates, too!
I was a licensed insurance agent for MA. I can verify they have some very crazy regulations.
The locals call it Taxachuetts
Washington has Taxlee as it's goobernor. You'll have to fight it out, pay taxes on the fight
The fact that this was all descended from a PARKING ticket is just unbelievable. They have no idea that this vehicle wasn't actually there TWICE - on two different days - visiting the same person two different times, parking only overnight. I would advise the state of Virginia's motor vehicle bureau of this malpractise.
Your story about your friend driving on an expired MI plate in CA reminds me of what happened with my license when I moved to MD from PA. I did an internship here and lived in my parents' vacation home. All my bills were sent to their vacation home address. When my PA license expired, I had gotten my own place, but my mail still went to my parents' vacation home. I could not get my MD license, because I needed mail from a utility bill with my name and current address, but after many calls and emails, none of my mailing addresses got updated (Even though the address they were sending the mail to was not the service address). After 9 or so months of driving on an expired PA license in MD, I finally got pulled over for a dead headlight. I explained to the officer the situation and he let me go. Probably helped me that I had explained to him I had just left Walmart after buying the replacement headlight bulb and showed it to him with the receipt. Took almost a year, but I finally got my MD license.
With how long it took the bureaucracy and companies to get around to giving me the stuff I needed just to prove who I was and where I lived, I'm surprised MA can get away with this garbage. My father lives in MA, and this is something I will have to keep in mind every time I visit. Course, in the end, I think this is a case of an overly nosey neighbor.
I remember when they started doing that stupid dual registration in Massachusetts. If I remember correctly, it was aimed specifically at students in college. I guess they decided to go all out tyrant greed monster and apply that law to everyone.
So they just made a tax for a bunch of people that don't have jobs and are up to their ears in debt? Sounds like a great move to me!
Wonder how many people died in jail/prison in MA because of this law and inability to afford bail, lawyer, and courts overbooked with countless cases over this law being used as grounds for arrest. All the problems of the for profit justice system, arrest quotas, and private prison industry problems make this law even more insane. Imagine catching whats effectively a life sentence in jail because you got arrested for not registering in MA while too poor to afford innocence.
That actually makes some sense. College students spend the majority of the year residing at college. That means they are consuming an inordinate amount of state run infrastructure without contributing their fair share. If I were a college student though, I'd just unregister in my home state to avoid the double registration.
@@ColonelSandersLitebut their parents do!
@@LimitedWardit really should wash out .. lots of kids go to college in another state.
In Florida full time students don't need to register a car in Florida if they are residents of another state. But I think if they start working a job they have to get FL tags
One of the curiosities I learned while on assignment in NYC was a skirmish between NY and a Florida retired couple. Part time residences in both states, NY insisted the couple pay NY state taxes. I do not know the particulars of the case. I was told it went way up in the court process. The result was that residence is established by the preponderance of nights spent in the state of claimed residency. One more day a year in Florida than in NY made them Floridians.
I came to ponder this 20 years later when I became an OTR driver.
Do I keep a running list of what states I slept in during a year?
It's in my log book . . . But . . . Is some crazy state law going to force me to be a resident because I spent 28 overnights?
Actually, no
But Straight Talk cut my phone service off claiming I had moved to South Carolina.
I (not so politely) told the customer service center located somewhere in India that an act of Congress allowed me to keep my phone number no matter where my company sent me. And that my legal commercial driver's license was from Utah. Did Straight Talk want federal restraint of trade lawsuit? And that my attorney was a retired Judge.
I still think the kindest person I ever knew in Utah was Earl
10 years ago, I relocated from NY to Houston and did the right thing by immediately applying for a registration for my vehicle in TX. A week later I got a letter from the mail from the NY DMV demanding I mail back my old NY plate and that failure to do so will result in my drivers license suspended. I was taken aback since my plate was custom with my initials and my son’s nickname so I have every intent of keeping it. Having no choice because of the threat to lose my license I had to mail it.
I can foresee how this could become a problem in the future. with automatic plate readers, being connected to computers at the DMV. The computers could count the amount of times it has seen the plate- and when it hits 30, automatically issue a ticket for out of state plates .
As a side note; Chicago has been looking into doing the same thing, to charge those who DON'T live in Chicago a toll for using the Cities streets.
In 1985 I bought a new car in Wisconsin, where I'd been living for six years, but a few months later, moved to Washington State. Obedient to the state law, I re-registered my car in Washington, and was hit with an "excise tax" that "coincidentally" was exactly the same as the sales tax I'd just paid on the car in Wisconsin! Just sayin', sales tax on a brand new car is not a small amount of money. I appealed, and lost. This is literal and legal highway robbery.
You should have moved to Oregon, where there is no sales tax, yes even on cars.
@@howardmarkert8150 ...but Oregon's state income tax is nothing small to cough at.
Like 50% of Americans that wasn't an issue for me since I'm poor.@@CloudSportracer
My Dad had the same thing happen in the 90's when he moved from NJ to MD with a car he had just bought a few months previously. He essentially had to pay MD the excise tax equal to the NJ sales tax. MD told him it’s a tax based on the present book value of the vehicle when he first registers it in MD, regardless of its age.
Then New Hampshire should be your tax haven solution.@@CloudSportracer
When we moved to Florida in 1995 specifically Jacksonville the Jacksonville Sheriff's Department (and yes I did say Sheriff's Department as they combined the sheriff and police departments into one when years earlier they unified the City of Jacksonville with Duval County into one governing body) would on a weekly basis go through the parking lot in our office complex looking for plates just to write them up for that..
Until last year you could register multiple plates to a vehicle in Oklahoma (a standard issue plate + any number of vanity or specialty plates) and as long as you kept up with the registration of each plate you could theoretically swap the plates whenever you wanted. The primary plate would get a colored year sticker and the secondary plates would get a silver sticker. I'd never heard of registering a vehicles to multiple states however.
I visited some friends in San Diego for a couple of months. CA sent a letter (to my actual home, in NM) stating that I was required to register my car. I called the number on the letter, that my roommate read to me, and said, "Hey, look, I got this letter, but... I don't *live* in CA. I live in NM. At the address you mailed the letter to. I still pay rent there. All of my stuff is there. I'm just visiting." They said, "OK. Have a nice visit." and that was the end of it.
CA is insane, but clearly MA is even worse.
I had to dual-register a car at one point. I was living in Texas, with a Texas Driver's License, driving a car owned by my father. The state of Wisconsin, where my father lived, required that cars be registered by the owner of the car based on where the owner of the car lives. One evening when I was pulled over by a Sheriff's Deputy, I found out that Texas requires that cars be registered by the usual driver of the car based on where the car is typically located. I had lived in Texas for more than six months at this point; after six months, they can no longer give you a ticket for that offense -- they have to arrest you. He didn't want to arrest me, so he let me go, but told me to get my Texas plates. I checked to make sure he was correct, and he was -- the rationale was/is that registration fees are used to help maintain roads and bridges, and a car puts wear-and-tear on roads and bridges where the car is, not where the owner is. So I ended up with two sets of legal plates for the car -- one set for Wisconsin, one set for Texas. In Texas, thirty days is also the limit, but, unlike Massachusetts, it is thirty *continuous* days. Texas aggressively enforces this is because Texas does not have a state income tax, so all other sources of revenue for the state, such as auto registration fees, are taken *very seriously* -- not registering a car in Texas when the car is usually in Texas is perceived as a form of not paying taxes.
How the fuck did the cop know you had been living in texas?
Back in the day when I was
Driving truck I was informed my Utah driver license was suspended by the state of California when at a inspection in
Colorado. Thanks to
PRE PAID LEGAL SERVICES for helping.
Can't believe states can get away with that crap.
This is insane, don't they check complaints out? I never heard of such a ridiculous situation?
No, you have not! And neither have I.
@@MrTruckerf it another reason to avoid The Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I believe that they believe in let's see how stupid we can make our laws
When I moved from Arkansas to Louisiana and went to register my vehicles I was shocked when they told my I must pay sales tax on my two cars and two motorcycles inspite of having proof that I paid the sales tax in Arkansas when I purchased each vehicle. And no, it was not refunded when I moved out of Louisiana.
That's INSANE! It's a money grab by the state for sure!
What if you've owned the car for 3 or 4 decades with no proof of what you paid for it?
Buddy of mine was military, working at the Pentagon. He lived in northern VA, but the plates he had on his vehicles were all from GA, where he was born. He was able to renew them by mail, which he did for seven or eight years.
That's the law in VA. He could even buy a new car in VA and register it in GA.
I moved to Michigan from Pennsylvania about 30 years ago to attend school. I intended to return to Pennsylvania after graduation. I kept my PA plates and license for about three years without any problems. I got a job in Michigan, got married and decided to stay there. That’s when I switched my license and plates.
I live here in Boston. The area where he lives has bad street parking. Someone got butt hurt because his car was in the same spot most likely or always in the general area they want to be and called it in. We have a lot of college kids here and when they can move out of the dorms this becomes a issue for them. As a landlord I rent out extra spaces so people can avoid this. Taxachussetts at its best
He doesn't live there. He was just visiting.
Another great reason to never visit Massachusetts.
This is interesting timing. My brother found out yesterday at lunch before a funeral his son is still driving on 2020plates. He is in N Carolina driving on Nevada plates on a car in my brother's name. We couldn't believe he hasn't been pulled over either since it's a convertible red Mustang.
Damn, when I was growing up, red convertible used to a be a cop-bait trope like you say. Really goes to show how drastically lax cops of the current era have become towards citizens they perceive as wealthy vs how they choose to treat regular people. :(
You know what else they do in Massachusetts? When you register a vehicle they give you a plate with an expiration date that is only 20 to 22 months away. Your registration is supposed to be good for 2 years. This happened to me twice. I purchased a vehicle in February and the registration expired in October.
Sounds like a government shakedown.
The reason that your friend didn't get stopped is that they don't know what out of state plates look like when they have expired registration. I was living in Alabama and visiting California and I got a lot of double takes from cops when the noticed that I didn't have a front plate as required in CA. The AL and CA plates looked similar enough that many CA cops would make a U turn to pull me over and get close enough to see the AL plate and then stop. They were certain that they would be able to cite me. I am certain that cops don't recognized plates from other states unless they happen to be in a border city where they frequently encounter people from the neighboring state.
I would guess the same thing. And even a nerdy cop that can identify out of state plates in seconds would now that running the plate and license would take extra time, and that guy is likely just passing trough, so... why go trough that?
So why do all your rego plates look the same, then?
I had a CHP officer outright admit to me that he and most law enforcement officers are not familiar with out of state plates and the tabs in different corners as to when they expire. And their automated license plate readers were only tied into the CA DMV, not other states. This was 10 years ago.
My brother is from Michigan. He worked for Roush and they lent him to Roush Racing. They gave him an apartment, per diem, yada yada yada... anyway, North Carolina was sending him notices threatening him and telling him he needed to change from Michigan plates and license. He traveled back and forth and refused because he still resided in Michigan. He continued to ignore the threats and after three years he stopped going to NC. Nothing ever came from it, but what a pain.
Insanity! Please do a follow up.
In North Carolina you not only have to notify the DMV of moving even within the state but you also must notify the tag office separately. These are two separate entities unless you get a DUI. I actually got in trouble because of this and it really sucked and took a long time to clarify so if you live in a place that has a separate tag office from the DMV that lets you do registration and such but not driving test then you probably need to notify both of them when you move. Otherwise you won’t get revocation letters in the mail.
As Someone formally from Taxachusetts- I understand what happened. Public parking is tight (JP might very well require a parking Permit). I guarantee, parking enforcement officers keyed in the out of state plate & address "daily" & it caught up
In Ca. it's only 10 days, and - - get this - - applies even if you have NOT moved there! I was doing some consulting for Polycom (they make those triangular speakerphones in all the corporate conference rooms throughout America) in San Jose, when I was cited for this. And in California, the citation isn't for not changing over to the California license: they ticket you for UNLICENSED operation - a MISDEMEANOR [not a traffic infraction] - as if you had no license at all! And I had a completely clean & valid license from Florida at the time. So, imagine that, a CRIMINAL charge that is based entirely on, essentially, disregarding the sovereignty of the other 49 states in the Union.
It was also a CRIMINAL charge based only on my own testimony.
This is just a shake-down for cash from unsuspecting visitors.
So consultants, students, all out-of-state visitors beware: the correct answer to "How long have you been in California?" is always, "I just pulled in last night, officer."
No, the answer to the question, and every question asked by the police, is “I don’t answer questions.”
They trust that you won't come back for the court date. If you did, you would be able to just point out that you wouldn't be able to fulfil the insurance requirements of registration, so therefore have literally no ability to comply with said bogus law.
I can see this being a nightmare for cape cod visitors visiting with family.
It seems to be something that happens mostly around the northshore and surrounding areas.
I don't know why, but closer down here near the cape, it doesn't seem to happen as often. I've lived in this area my whole life and I've never heard of this, despite knowing many that have Florida plates from six months ago.
Exactly why so many MA residents are forwarding this to the State tourism board.
Seems like it would have a cooling effect on tourism to any state that would require visitors to do this, and would hurt the economy of that state much more than collecting registration fees.
I had a similar situation in California. I borrowed a car from an out of state family member for a month (I didn't have a car at the time). I was pulled over and told I had to register the car in California, despite the fact that I didn't own the car. The explained the situation to the cops, but they were very insistent.
Mass has never been a state where common sense was known to be a trait of any government employee or official.
Similar things even happen within a state... in Virginia, we have a sticker tax collected by the towns/counties/cities, but in recent years, many localities stopped issuing stickers, even though they still collect the sticker tax. I've received tickets for not having a sticker on my employer's vehicle while parked at my home, so my employer got to pay 2 separate localities their sticker tax. One based on the vehicle registration, the other based on where it's parked most of the time.
I have a friend that right now has been driving around with his expired Nevada plate for now over 2 years in California, daily driver, no trouble! Interesting to hear such a similar story from your friend, Steve.
They don't pull you over in California for a expired California plate. 40% of cars in California don't have front plates installed ether.
This must be a nightmare for college students.
Playing off of some of the stories I've seen posted here: As far as cops/government checking plates and registration: There's an outlet just outside of Stroudsburg, PA. Lots of people from NJ either work in PA or shop there. NJ started sending "inspectors" to record license plates a few years ago and "estimating" your purchases. Didn't matter if you bought nothing or just a snow cone; NJ residents started getting "estimated" sales tax bills. This did NOT go over well, and I think it was stopped or suspended before and upcoming election.
Yea it would be called use tax now and conveniently it's the same rate as sales tax. They love using that for online purchases too.
NY residents routinely shop for clothing in Pa., because there's no sales tax on clothing in PA. I believe it's the same for Jersey. I know the :outlet you speak of outside Stroudsburg.
My last visit to Massachusetts was also a nightmare. In 1989. Not for the same reasons - you just can't make this stuff up - but yes, very much a nightmare. I have no plans to ever visit MA again. And they can certainly try to extradite me for saying so!
And, just so you know, insanity is the definition of governments. In my experience.
You realize the people running the government in Massachusetts in 1989 are likely dead or retired now, right? Seems kinda nuts to write off an entire state after a single bad experience.
@@LimitedWardno, I'm a mass resident. She made the right call, I'm attempting to deal with the state about what should be a simple matter right now🙄
Many taxis with, say, Ohio or Indiana license plates on the back have a special KY - AIRPORT plate on the front. The airport plate has a white background with pale green letters and numbers. As you may have guessed, KY taxi drivers were upset about out of state taxis coming to the Cincinnati airport (located in KY) and taking business away from KY taxis. So now these Ohio / Indiana taxis pay an airport tax to get the special airport plate on the front so they can carry and pick up fares there.
Hawai'i had a sticker system for rentals when I lived there in the late seventies, basically a large "Break Into This Car" sign.