I am so f'in pissed off right now that I have to vent.

Cop pulls me over and insists that my car has to be towed and he gives me a citation. At least he was kind enough to give me a lift to work (in a cruiser, so I asked him to drop me off down the street)...

I have personal plates in MA that need to be registered annually. I've had them since time immemorial. The MA Registry stopped sending out any form of notice for lapsed registrations a while back, and lo and behold I was expired.

And, to add insult to injury, I had just realized it last weekend, tried to re-register online, and been rejected and told I have to go to the Registry (because of the lapse)!

Unbelivable. The gods are not smiling on me today (perhaps they're laughing).

Sorry for the vent, but I had to.

 

Was the car your S Charlie?
Levi

 

Did he make you ride in the back?

That's lame. In NH, or in at least my town they mail me a renwal form once a year about a month in advance. GO NEW HAMPSHIRE

 

Yes, that was truly f'd up, Kenta. Sigh. I'm still smoking out my ears.

Did you know they've put hard seats in the rear of cop cars now? Apparently, criminals had been stashing drugs and guns in upholstery. Unbelievable.

 

Hate to add insult to injury, Charlie but that citation may be a "moving violation" and add bad points to your driving record. I could be wrong, check with your insurance agent.

MA does mail out the registration renewals, I just renewed the Subie. Did you just forget to renew? MA no longer sends reminders to renew your license. Cost savings measure or raising revenue opportunity?

Vent here anytime.

 

Nope, never got a registration renewal, Lainey. It must've been lost if the registry sent it. I doubt they did.

You're probably right. I'm going to fight this.

 

... still steaming ... this really f'd up my day.

 

Is the cop coming to work to bring you back home tonight?

And is it appropriate to NOT say THANK YOU when you were let out of the car to walk to work?

 

It really is ridiculous how long the various state agencies took to adopt internet renewals. But moreso, it's just stupid that registrations don't auto-renew with a credit card on file. It'd save EVERYONE time and money, but apparently that's just too complicated.

Back when I had my Audi, I had a registration that was *6 days* expired. I'd updated my license address, but apparently not my registration address. A midnight sobriety checkpoint got me a ticket. I was 3 miles down the road from my house. The cop was "nice enough" to let me drive home, but made a point to tell me he could have my car towed. Having a clean driving record, I fought the ticket (in CT you don't get points for that) and they dropped the charges, so I didn't even go to court.

It's just amazing to me. I'd understand if it had failed or didn't go through a safety inspection, or if you have no insurance, or the car hasn't been registered before (or you're not listed as the owner) but registration renewal is merely paperwork and a fee. Towing the car is an exercise of power for power's sake.

Many cop cars have cameras on board that automatically scan license plates and wirelessly check the DMV database. I have a smartphone and credit cards/paypal on me, where I could actually BUY AND PAY FOR FREAKIN' CAR (on eBay, for instance) from the side of the road in less time than it takes to send a tow truck. But for some reason, just providing a credit card # and clicking "renew with same information" is less desirable than towing the damned thing to impound.

 

Wow, sorry to hear about this and that's pretty extreme to tow the car. I have a reminder in my calendar when it comes to auto registrations and inpections as well. I don't need any more hassles than life deals out already.