Current license plates? important?

[iris lilies]

Many citizens drive around my city with expired license tags. A large majority of those expired tags are long expired by months and even years.

For those unfamiliar with this concept, the state of Missouri earns revenue for road upkeep by charging licensure fees to car owners.
Millions of dollars of revenue are lost to the state because some citizens don’t take it seriously, the current licensing of the vehicle.


Every few months on Nextdoor, the online forum for our city’s neighbors and neighborhoods, There is a discussion about this topic.

Some people are annoyed by that action saying it is failing to take responsibility for driving.Others see any negative talk about these citizens as persecution. “Why does it matter to YOU!!???” Is a common retort.Since I am a moderator on Nextdoor I have to keep my mouth shut.


So here’s my question to the social justice warriors of the world who claim this issue is not important: Since road maintenance is a socialized service for everyone, why is it ok for some people who use roads not to pay for those roads?

[Teacher Terry]

It’s not okay and here if your tags are expired you will be pulled over and given a ticket. The color changes yearly so easy to spot if yours are out of date. Plus the date is on them in big letters.

[catherine]

Don't the non-compliant worry about getting stopped by a cop? As it is, I actually have an expired NJ registration right now, because when I tried to renew in July remotely, my PIN didn't work, so now I have to deal with it when I go back. I was hoping to transfer my registration to VT, but you have to have your VIN# verified by a law enforcement officer before registering, and I was afraid they'd impound my car when they saw the NJ expired registration. What a hassle.

But beyond that, when DH and I were in the crapper we were chronically non-compliant because we were broke all the time, and we got stopped more than once, and it's a big PIA. It's one of those things that I look back on and say to myself, "Thank GOD those days are over!"

In general, I certainly have no problem paying to renew my registration and upholding my responsibilities as a person who uses the roads. I don't see not complying as any serious or meaningful act of rebellion.

[pinkytoe]

There is a whole segment of population now that don't follow rules and regs. People here just steal other people's license stickers off the plates if they don't want to pay. Back in Tx., stickers were on the inside of windshields so that didn't happen so much.

[LDAHL]

A lot of the people driving around with expired plates are also driving around without insurance. I consider that a bigger worry, so I have no problem with the cops being as aggressive as they like in stopping people with bad tags because so many locations ask for proof of insurance at the same time.

[bae]

We have a strange related issue here.

There are no state roads in the entire county. The entire county is made up of islands, not connected to the mainland by bridge. All roads here are paid for by the county (out of property taxes) or are privately owned and maintained.

The state still collects our car tab fees, even though not a single dollar of that comes back to the county. Some residents here, who may *never* take their car off the island (which is a pain and expensive) get a bit grumpy about this.

The state used to send the county some amount of the funds to be applied to our local road needs, seeing that there was an issue, but about 10 years ago during some budget crunch, they decided we didn't matter anymore, so they take our money, but return nothing.

I'm also curious about another fairness issue: I have 6 cars/trucks, and 3 trailers, all of which require tabs. I only drive one at a time. I'm sure paying a lot in fees, for zero benefit. I suppose the fact that the people down in Seattle have nice things is a comfort though.

[Alan]

We renew our plates each year by mail and once, about 5 years ago, mine somehow didn't get sent in for renewal. In Ohio your registration expires on your birthday and that year mine fell on a Friday. That afternoon I realized I hadn't received my new sticker to place on my plates so I did a quick search of paperwork and found that my renewal hadn't been sent so I decided to just run down to the local BMV office the next morning as they are open half days on Saturdays.

I got pulled over along the way but got away with only a warning, although the only reason I wasn't ticketed was because I had the paperwork on the seat beside me along with a check already made out to the BMV to cover my car, our motorhome, my motorcycle and a trailer. I'm not sure how anyone gets away with going for months or years when I couldn't get away with one day.

[JaneV2.0]

I've been stopped twice for expired tags, and ticketed once (in my defense that was while I was shuttling back and forth to Portland to attend to an ailing parent). I certainly have my "SJW" moments, but license tags are not an issue with me.

[Tybee]

My brother lives on an island and a lot of people keep island cars that they don't bother to keep current.

Some of them also keep mainland cars which they do keep licensed.

We keep ours licensed, as you will get a ticket if you don't. Or worse, maybe?

My dad drove my car once years ago and the registration was expired in my state, and he got a big fat ticket in his state. It was a mistake on my part, but my ex-husband had failed to register it, and the mail about registration was addressed to him.

[KayLR]

I've been stopped twice for expired tags, and ticketed once (in my defense that was while I was shuttling back and forth to Portland to attend to an ailing parent). I certainly have my "SJW" moments, but license tags are not an issue with me.

Move down here, Jane....no one gets pulled over for expired tags. It's my husband's hobby to note them as we sit at red lights. Many years expired, some of them. Not to mention the Oregon plates that "commute" to PDX every day from WA and back....and parked in apartment complexes all the time.

We can't complain too loudly I guess, with the initiative that just passed to lower the tags to $30 again. We can only complain about the lack of services and increasing potholes.

I don't blame you, Bae, for your complaints up there.