How bad is it to have an expired tag on your car?

[soupcxan]

My job has required me to move to a new city every 6 months, and I haven't gotten a new tag for my car each time I moved because the taxes/fees would kill me. I've kept the Florida plates, since that's where I started out. However, it is time to renew my FL tag and they won't give me one without proof of florida insurance. The catch is that my insurance isn't in florida, it's in georgia, since that's where I'm living until January. The insurance company won't change my policy, and I don't want to register the car in GA because I'll have to pay several hundred dollars for the tag and ad valorem tax, which is a complete waste since I'm moving to Texas (permanently) in January.

1) How likely is it that I'll get busted for having an expired tag during the next 4 months? Are cops even looking for that on out-of-state tags?
2) If I do let the FL registration lapse, will that cause problems when I finally do settle down in Texas and register my car there, since I'd have to get new plates anyway? Or do they not care?

 

[Andre1969]

Your mileage may vary, of course, but I once went about 5 months on an expired registration sticker. I had renewed my registration over the internet and gotten my stickers in the mail, but I also moved around that time and the stickers/registration got lost in the shuffle. The police never caught me, but one morning coming in to work one of the guards at the gate brought it to my attention.

I don't think an expired tag is that big of a deal, but just make sure you keep your insurance up to date! If they catch you with an expired tag you'll still probably get a ticket, but if they catch you without insurance they'll throw the book at you!

 

[JPatrick]

My job has required me to move to a new city every 6 months, and I haven't gotten a new tag for my car each time I moved because the taxes/fees would kill me. I've kept the Florida plates, since that's where I started out. However, it is time to renew my FL tag and they won't give me one without proof of florida insurance. The catch is that my insurance isn't in florida, it's in georgia, since that's where I'm living until January. The insurance company won't change my policy, and I don't want to register the car in GA because I'll have to pay several hundred dollars for the tag and ad valorem tax, which is a complete waste since I'm moving to Texas (permanently) in January.

1) How likely is it that I'll get busted for having an expired tag during the next 4 months? Are cops even looking for that on out-of-state tags?
2) If I do let the FL registration lapse, will that cause problems when I finally do settle down in Texas and register my car there, since I'd have to get new plates anyway? Or do they not care?

Probably the best way to get busted for plates is to get stopped for something else, like speeding.  The fines in some places can get hefty.  Also, be aware that some places have their metermaids surf about looking for these admin violations to pump the city coffers.  Of course, your chances of getting busted are greater in Smallville than in Bigcityville.
This link may help with the Texas question.
http://www.dot.state.tx.us/vtr/vtrreginfo.htm?pg=faq

 

[soupcxan]

On the plus side, I've never gotten a speeding ticket or been pulled over. I'm pretty good about not driving excessively fast.

And you'd better believe that I keep full insurance! Not only for myself, but also to be protected from uninsured motorists (which wrecked my previous car).

 

[Mountain_Mike]

If this is a short term situation, how about selling the car and renting for 6 months? If this is not an option, I think you need to get valid tags SOMEWHERE.

 

[SteveR]

It all comes down to how much risk you want to take. You may not get caught in which case your decision to not register until Jan. would have been a good one.

On the other hand, all it takes is one cop that sees your expired plate and pulls you for it. The ticket will cost you $$. Also, if this same cop happens to see you again he may check to see if you have gotten it registered. If not, another ticket and fine.

How lucky do you feel?

 

[haha]

On the plus side, I've never gotten a speeding ticket or been pulled over. I'm pretty good about not driving excessively fast.

Holy crap, how old are you? I never even heard of someone with no tickets. I'm Hawkeye on the road, and I use my cruise control at night, but I still get one every few years. And usually a warning or two to keep me on my toes!

I would never drive with expired tabs. You really don't want to invite a stop, and believe me, cops are not daydreaming about donuts and waitresses all the time. When they are behind you at a traffic light, they may well be running your plates. 


Ha

 

[HFWR]

Been driving for 35 yrs...

Got one "unsafe start from a stopped position" ticket about two months after getting a license. Thankfully, the cop was fired soon after, and dropped the charges, so to speak.

Got tickets for no inspection two weeks in a row in 1986, during a stint of dreadful poverty.

Have NO other tickets!!  8)

 

[Outtahere]

I'm 51 have only had 2 parking tickets and one speeding ticket my entire life and those I didn't get until I started driving to Boston every day. I'm a little more careful now and I pay to park. I can say out here they look for expired tags and even more so on out of state plates. If I wasn't out of state I might chance it but as it is you already stand out in the crowd.

Cj

 

[KB]

Where I live in CA, I see a handful of expired plates every time I drive somewhere. So my opinion is that it must not be worth it for the police to bother to write the ticket.

It really bugs me too because I always pay my registration before it expires and put on the new tags. So depending on where you live....

 

[farmerEd]

I'm 41...never gotten a ticket either...nice thing about that is when you do get pulled over, the check your priors, and are much more likely to get a verbal warning than a ticket...but once you start getting tickets, you pretty much get one every time you are pulled over.

In my younger days (about age 28) I got pulled over for tailgating a marked state police cruiser...boy was he pissed..still, he gave me a verbal warning (and profanity filled explitives...)

 

[Martha]

I live in a city on the border of Wisconsin and Minnesota. Wisconsin gave me a ticket for expired Minnesota tabs. Totally spaced them out--about 4 months expired.

The ticket probably won't cost much. The bigger issue is having the state find out you were living there without registering your car. Many states require registration if you have the car there more than a month. So you could get fined for expired plates and fined for failure to register your car.

Me? I'd probably take the risk.

 

[brewer12345]

Also, be aware that some places have their metermaids surf about looking for these admin violations to pump the city coffers.  Of course, your chances of getting busted are greater in Smallville than in Bigcityville.

Obviously you have never spent time in NYC. This is a city that refuses to remove hundreds of non-working fire hydrants in areas where parking space is at an extreme premium because they don't want to lose the ticket revenue.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

My job has required me to move to a new city every 6 months, and I haven't gotten a new tag for my car each time I moved because the taxes/fees would kill me. I've kept the Florida plates, since that's where I started out. However, it is time to renew my FL tag and they won't give me one without proof of florida insurance. The catch is that my insurance isn't in florida, it's in georgia, since that's where I'm living until January. The insurance company won't change my policy, and I don't want to register the car in GA because I'll have to pay several hundred dollars for the tag and ad valorem tax, which is a complete waste since I'm moving to Texas (permanently) in January.

1) How likely is it that I'll get busted for having an expired tag during the next 4 months? Are cops even looking for that on out-of-state tags?
2) If I do let the FL registration lapse, will that cause problems when I finally do settle down in Texas and register my car there, since I'd have to get new plates anyway? Or do they not care?

I have had this problem several times. Don't sweat it!
Disclaimer: I am a natural scofflaw

JG

 

[laurence]

six months in CA is the key. My tags were expired, (I was a broke college student) for 9 months and I pulled out of a parking lot without turning my headlights on at night and got pulled over. Long story short, my car was impounded, but the officer felt so bad doing it, he gave me change to call a friend for a ride. For some reason, I just don't look the criminal type to cops...

 

[haha]

For some reason, I just don't look the criminal type to cops...

You do to me, El Laurence.

Ha

 

[laurence]

You do to me, El Laurence.

Ha

My homies know me as Gangtsa-L, or L-Dog!

 

[TargaDave]

Holy crap, how old are you? I never even heard of someone with no tickets. I'm Hawkeye on the road, and I use my cruise control at night, but I still get one every few years. And usually a warning or two to keep me on my toes!

Ha, Thank god. I thought I was the only bad boy here. Actually I think I still am. Used to get a ticket every 3-4 yrs then I got a spate of them working-traveling 60 hr weeks with my start up. I also live in PA, the ticket capital of the world (they gotta plug those funding gaps somehow). Went to traffic school at age 45. Haven't fallen off the wagon for 2 years now (save the speed urge for the autocross course) and no more 60 hr weeks. Never had the luck of a warning despite my politeness. Pretty good on plates, inspections, etc. No accidents either although I almost lost a parked car to an incoming tide while sailing

 

[kayelem]

I grew up in PA and haven't gotten one ticket since I moved out of that state. They are tricky there...I remember they used to have quarterly inspections (maybe monthly now). But on the first new day of ever quarter, you'd see the cops patrolling around giving people tickets for out of date inspections.

It was hilarious because they'd be so focused on it four days a year!

Ticket free since leaving PA,
Kay

 

[riskadverse]

I knew a security guard who drew his own renewal stickers. He actually wasn't a very good artist either, so it didn't surprise me when they impounded his car.

 

[BigMoneyJim]

I'm 35 and have only had one moving violation: speeding at age 17. When I was younger I got pulled over for expired tags or inspection a fair bit, but I've been pulled over maybe once in the past 12 years that I can recall, and most of that time I've been a field tech driving around 8 hours per day. I've never been pulled over in my unmarked work vehicle.

I think the car you're driving makes a HUGE difference. Dull colors of basic models are largely ignored. I've only been pulled over once in a plain white truck, van or blazer, and it was because the cop thought I was drunk because I changed lanes to give him room when he had someone else pulled over. Maybe I've just been extraordinarily lucky.

I'm a safe driver but not a perfect one. I've blown by cops at 70+ mph several times in a 55mph zone and been ignored. Go figure.

As for expired tags, I never seemed to get away with that when I was younger, but then my cars weren't dull white fleet vehicles, either. Last year I let my tags lapse thinking I would move out of state soon. I didn't and finally renewed, but during that time several police were behind me and didn't notice. One made a call on the radio and I was sure I'd be pulled over, but nope. My current car is a silver basic 4-door sedan with no fancy add-ons.

I am currently running with lapsed tags again as I again hope to move out of state soon. I am nervous because a local police department is using the lot next door to work for some sort of driving training, and several times I've been driving away from work with 20+ police cruisers exiting training. A coworker said he was stopped for expired tags and got a ticket. I guess my tailing officers have been less attentive so far.

 

[CyclingInvestor]

I was on a long ride, going thru Mississippi, when a frontage road which was on the map
failed to appear. I had to take a 5 mile (illegal) detour onto the freeway at that point
to avoid a 30 or more mile backtrack. Of course, midway thru it, I pass a cop car,
writing out a ticket to a motorist. I expected to get waved over for my own ticket, but he
just looked at me and went back to writing. I do not know if he had ever seen a bicycle
on the freeway, or, like a leopard digesting a fresh kill, was in a good mood and decided
to let one get away.