A Conundrum: I Was Stopped For An Expired Car Registration But The Registration Wasn't Expired

[+ Gar1eth]

Background information for those who don't live in Texas.

 

1. Texas requires a yearly car registration.

2. To become registered a car requires a yearly inspection. The inspection includes obtaining data from the OBD Ii (On Board Diagnostic) Computer as well as checking things like tire tread, turn signals, headlights, windshield wipers, etc, etc, & etc.

3. Once the car has passed the inspection and shown current insurance, you are given a sticker to put in the lower left corner of the front windshield.

4. License plates are also renewed yearly. There may be some exceptions for this as I think in the past occasionally license plate registrations might be good for more than one year. But I'm not sure if that's still true.

5. Initially when you renewed your license there was a small tag (label) that went on the license plate. Then Texas decided to get rid of the license plate labels and instead have a sticker that went inside the car near the registration sticker. About five years ago, Texas combined the vehicle inspection registration sticker and the license plate registration sticker into one sticker.

 

Now that we have the background information, let's set the scene.

 

Time: A late night in FriscoC the first week of February in this the year of our Lord 2020 either shortly before or shortly midnight.

 

A weary Gman (he's just had an assignation) is beginning his trek home.

 

All of a sudden Gman looks in his rear view mirror and sees flashing lights. Gman pulls over. A handsome young cop comes over and strips naked. (Just wanted time see if you were paying attention.)

 

Actually the nice policeman says the reason he stopped Gman was because of an expired registration although he isn't looking at the car's registration sticker when he says this.

 

Gman then exclaims in a bewildered voice, "I do have a current registration sticker."

 

The cute (had I mentioned that before?) policeman ?‍♂️ asks Gman if he had just registered the car recently. Gman tells him that he had just had the car registered earlier that day. (yes, Gman was a bad Gman for driving around with an expired registration for 2 months as the registration had expired in November).

 

The cute ?‍♂️ said the system must not have updated yet (and eventually handed Gman a warning ticket (which he really shouldn't have done as Gman was all up to date registration-wise and had been for at least the last 11 hours and had the all the correct paperwork and sticker.

 

Gman asked the cute ?‍♂️ If the only reason for the stop was the "expired" registration? The ?‍♂️ answered affirmatively.

 

So the conundrum is what made the cute ?‍♂️ stop Gman's car. The cute ?‍♂️ Obviously hadn't looked at the au courant sticker on the windshield as it was au courant.

 

Does this mean the cute ?‍♂️ Was bored and randomly entered Gman's license plate number into his police computer as Gman passed him. Or is there something in the car or the registration sticker that can broadcast information to some receiver possessed by the cute ?‍♂️ . Or is there another answer not dreamt up in my philosophies as to how the cute ?‍♂️ Decided to inspect Gman'a car.

 

Gman

[MscleLovr]

Do you get out much ?

[jjkrkwood]

Get some Sleep ! Assignations are draining.....

 

[+ RJD]

(yes, Gman was a bad Gman for driving around with an expired registration for 2 months as the registration had expired in November).

 

The cute ?‍♂️ said the system must not have updated yet (and eventually handed Gman a warning ticket.

 

So, you drove around for two months with an expired registration and when stopped were issued a warning ticket, which I’m assuming means no monetary fine.

 

And the conundrum is.......??? ?

[+ poolboy48220]

I'm voting for "he was bored and put your license in the computer".

[gallahadesquire]

Alternative universe:

 

i was pulled over. Opened my glove box and pulled out a shit ton of syringes (atropine, succinylcholine, lidocaine ... im an anesthesiologist, its normal to have these). No registration.

“Good evening Sir, may i have your license and registration?”

I hand over my license. “I can't find my registration .... “

“Thats ok,sir. Your tail light is out. People dont always know that. Get it fixed, Sir, and have s good night!”

Fortunately, he missed that my inspection was six months overdue ... which was fixed the next day. I love my toewn!

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Cops in Texas use ALPRs.

 

https://www.eff.org/pages/automated-license-plate-readers-alpr

[+ sync]

Not being a person of color can be very beneficial in those situations.

[+ Gar1eth]

Cops in Texas use ALPRs.

 

https://www.eff.org/pages/automated-license-plate-readers-alpr

 

Thank you. This is the kind of thing I was wondering about. And actually when I posted this thread, it popped into my mind that if anyone knew the answer, @Benjamin_Nicholas, it might be you.

 

Gman

[rvwnsd]

I'm wondering whether there is some guilt being harbored around having been pulled over after conducting an ignation of some ass. There is no way the cop could have seen the expiration date associated with the newly-issued sticker as you drove past him. He would have to pull you over to do that. Speaking as one who accidentally let his registration expire and subsequently renewed it, I would not have expected the system to have updated itself within the day. That said, there's a reason most states (Arizona included) have the sticker on the license plate. The cop can see it.

 

Regarding the warning ticket, you received it because you put the good people of the Lone Star State at risk of experiencing untold atrocities for a period of sixty days thanks to your expired vehicle registration. Think of the children Gman, think of the children.

[+ quoththeraven]

Alternative universe:

 

i was pulled over. Opened my glove box and pulled out a shit ton of syringes (atropine, succinylcholine, lidocaine ... im an anesthesiologist, its normal to have these). No registration.

“Good evening Sir, may i have your license and registration?”

I hand over my license. “I can't find my registration .... “

“Thats ok,sir. Your tail light is out. People dont always know that. Get it fixed, Sir, and have s good night!”

Fortunately, he missed that my inspection was six months overdue ... which was fixed the next day. I love my toewn!

Would not have happened where I live. My car was totaled Christmas Eve day of 2015 by a woman visiting her family for Christmas and driving her brother's SUV into a one-way street the wrong way, also cutting across the lane I was traveling in opposite to her before she unexpectedly turned left right in front of me. Both insurance companies agreed she was in the wrong and 100% at fault. Yet she didn't receive a ticket. I did for an unregistered vehicle (my bad, I had forgotten to get it done on time, but I only paid the fine and didn't reregister because the car was totaled; I bought a used car of the same make, model and year from a dealership and they took care of the registration) and lack of insurance because I didn't have my insurance card with me. Resolving that took two court appearances and a $35 court fee.

[Monarchy79]

Alternative universe:

 

i was pulled over. Opened my glove box and pulled out a shit ton of syringes (atropine, succinylcholine, lidocaine ... im an anesthesiologist, its normal to have these). No registration.

“Good evening Sir, may i have your license and registration?”

I hand over my license. “I can't find my registration .... “

“Thats ok,sir. Your tail light is out. People dont always know that. Get it fixed, Sir, and have s good night!”

Fortunately, he missed that my inspection was six months overdue ... which was fixed the next day. I love my toewn!

Your town isn’t what made this experience a breeze... Thank your parents ?

[+ poolboy48220]

I was pulled over once for something minor, and after the policeman took my license/registration, he came back to the car *very cautiously* and asked if I was carrying a weapon. I'd had a concealed weapon permit years earlier, I'd let it expire sinceI had never carried my gun anywhere, concealed or not. After we cleared that up, the policeman strongly implied I should go fight the ticket he'd just given me. I did, and in court, the policeman spoke up and said he wanted to point out how polite I'd been during the stop. The judge pontificated for a bit about what a sorry state of affairs it was when someone being polite was worth mentioning, but he did dismiss the ticket.

[mike carey]

So, you drove around for two months with an expired registration and when stopped were issued a warning ticket, which I’m assuming means no monetary fine.

The only facts the policeman (cute or not) had was that G-man was driving at that time, that the computer indicated that the vehicle was not registered and that the sticker proved otherwise. He has no way of knowing whether the car had been driven while unregistered so couldn't make a judgment on that.

 

I suspect a contributing factor is that police forces in the US are atomised, and by that I mean that there are many of them with sometimes overlapping jurisdiction. This would make it more likely that one particular officer wouldn't have access to the latest data. Here, to register my car I have to get an inspection certificate and pay liability insurance. The computer won't let you register the vehicle until both come through. I have been able to do that within half an hour of completing the other two steps, so I assume that the [single] police force in the state would have access to the latest registration data in about the same time frame. We don't have stickers of any sort now, so I would need the paper certificate (annotated by me with the on-line receipt number) if I were pulled over. If I were to be ticketed, most likely the ticket would be cancelled if I wrote to them quoting the time I paid and the time of the ticket, without going to court.

[instudiocity]

Thank you. This is the kind of thing I was wondering about. And actually when I posted this thread, it popped into my mind that if anyone knew the answer, @Benjamin_Nicholas, it might be you.

 

Gman

This also explains why the?‍♂️didn't look at the registration sticker. The ALPRS can read and check up to 1500 license plates per minute. The computer told him to stop you. He was just following the computer's instructions.

 

As to the 11 hour time gap? Maybe DMV only updates it's database every weekday overnight? Just like banks update your accounts overnight, DMV is batch processing the day's events, overnight. At midnight, the system probably hadn't updates.

[BabyBoomer]

I'm surprised the PO didn't ask to see your driver's license.

 

~Boomer~

[+ Gar1eth]

The only facts the policeman (cute or not) had was that G-man was driving at that time, that the computer indicated that the vehicle was not registered and that the sticker proved otherwise. He has no way of knowing whether the car had been driven while unregistered so couldn't make a judgment on that.

 

I suspect a contributing factor is that police forces in the US are atomised, and by that I mean that there are many of them with sometimes overlapping jurisdiction. This would make it more likely that one particular officer wouldn't have access to the latest data. Here, to register my car I have to get an inspection certificate and pay liability insurance. The computer won't let you register the vehicle until both come through. I have been able to do that within half an hour of completing the other two steps, so I assume that the [single] police force in the state would have access to the latest registration data in about the same time frame. We don't have stickers of any sort now, so I would need the paper certificate (annotated by me with the on-line receipt number) if I were pulled over. If I were to be ticketed, most likely the ticket would be cancelled if I wrote to them quoting the time I paid and the time of the ticket, without going to court.

 

You register with the county. And then I'm assuming they upload it to a state of Texas database.

 

As to the 11 hour time gap? Maybe DMV only updates it's database every weekday overnight? Just like banks update your accounts overnight, DMV is batch processing the day's events, overnight. At midnight, the system probably hadn't updates.

 

 

That was my thought too.

I'm surprised the PO didn't ask to see your driver's license.

 

~Boomer~

He did. And my proof of insurance.

 

Gman

[cal]

Not being a person of color can be very beneficial in those situations.

Sad but true!

[+ sniper]

I was pulled over on a plate reader two weeks ago. The cop's lights went on so quickly I knew he couldn't have even flipped a switch to scan the plates, the scanners were just always running. I asked him about that and he confirmed.

 

I knew I had forgotten to renew the registration when it came in the mail. But the system in NJ is ridiculous - This is a car I bought new, and the initial inspection was good for 5 years while the registration was good for 4. They should synchronize them. Also, they know if you are insured, so not having the card should not be a ticket in this day and age(I had the insurance card, it just irks me that that is still on the books.)

[+ FreshFluff]

This sounds like a good plot for a porn scene.

[+ sniper]

I would have done anything my officer wanted. ANYTHING.

[+ Gar1eth]

I would have done anything my officer wanted. ANYTHING.

It's so sad the way we'll do anything to get out of a ticket. ?

Gman

[+ sniper]

It's so sad the way we'll do anything to get out of a ticket. ?

Gman

Who said anything about getting out of the ticket?

[geoffk]

This sounds like a good plot for a porn scene.

I was pulled over on a plate reader two weeks ago. The cop's lights went on so quickly I knew he couldn't have even flipped a switch to scan the plates, the scanners were just always running. I asked him about that and he confirmed.

 

I knew I had forgotten to renew the registration when it came in the mail. But the system in NJ is ridiculous - This is a car I bought new, and the initial inspection was good for 5 years while the registration was good for 4. They should synchronize them. Also, they know if you are insured, so not having the card should not be a ticket in this day and age(I had the insurance card, it just irks me that that is still on the books.)

Registrations are yearly in NJ. And you can do it online. How hard is that ? In the fifth year you have to get it inspected. Not sure what the time frame is after that for emissions inspection.

 

licenses are 4 years and now you have to go to Mvc to get your real id.

[+ poolboy48220]

This sounds like a good plot for a porn scene.

This *has* been the plot for many a porn scene :-)