[7of9]

Hi there,
Got pulled over the other day, Thursday. I had recently mailed in my registration with check and all, I believe 2 weeks before the event. Very nice police officer came and told me he was pulling me over for window tint. It is illegal, I admit that but I like it and I have problems with Skin Cancer, he gave me a written warning for that.

I of course had ripped off the top part of the registration, put it on my desk, mailed in the rest of it and had no put the certificate part in the car yet. He went back to his car and came back with a ticket for 110 bucks and told me my car was showing not registered but he'd let me drive it straight home and not tow it. I thanked him greatly and drove the car back home.

I knew it was close, but didn't think it was that close. HOWEVER it turns out my check was cleared to the DMV the day before I got pulled over. This is the only way I know they got my mail as I don't think we get any other kind of notification in CT, right?

My question is - is there any worth to pleading not guilty, printing out my bank statement that clearly shows the check was cleared the day before I got pulled over and writing a short paragraph about it? 110 bucks isn't that much to me, but possible points, insurance increase, etc is.

Thanks for any help!

[poodlecamper]

I would fight it.

[kidyankee764]

Fight it, and have all of your paperwork when you go talk to the prosecutor. They'll likely give you a break if you're friendly and professional.

[7 Wishes]

They're also likely to give you a break if you have a clean or near clean record. You'll probably still have to pay a fine for something else (they'll make it something like "illegal parking" or something so you don't get points/insurance rise) so that they get their "revenue". Good luck!

[retiree2011]

I agree with the above person. It is not as if you didn't pay the registration fee yet, or were long expired. I do not like the new system for DMV renewals anyway. They mail you the registration with no new validation stickers to put on the license plate and there is a web address to go on to check when the registration is valid. I sent in my check as soon as I got the form, but it was about 2 weeks till I saw that the new registration period was in effect. I was still comfortably in my previous registration period, but if a person was away on vacation, sick or just real busy and did not mail the form right in, he/she could be in the same situation you were in.



When I first bought the car I currently drive, I got a temporary registration and waited and waited for the permanent one. I got it about a month late. I have a post office box address and the mail got into someone else's box and that person was away on vacation and did not pick up the mail for weeks, then got my registration and had the post office clerk put it in my box. So we are sometimes innocent and I think the court personnel will realize that.



Consider yourself lucky. Years ago a friend of mine had changed addresses and the forwarded mail had not yet caught up with her. A Yale University police officer saw her driving, pulled her over and had the car towed because her registration was expired. It was the first I ever heard of Yale police enforcing such laws.



Good Luck!

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by retiree2011

I agree with the above person. It is not as if you didn't pay the registration fee yet, or were long expired. I do not like the new system for DMV renewals anyway.

I don't like it either. Give us back the stickers, or at least send out a reminder letter(which they do for Drivers Licenses anyway) if your renewal hasn't been received by expiration. A $117 ticket for expired registration, and another ~$100 to have your car "towed" off the public roadway sucks.

[7of9]

Well I called in.

Because of the late emissions thing, I have a 20 dollar late fee holding up the registration. I guess I'll get that notice in the mail one of these days. Going to go pay it at closing and just pay the ticket.

As a side note. If ALL of this crap could just be done online, it would be amazingly better. CMON CT.

[PotterinCT]

Well, I paid on line and have all the paperwork and my son just received a ticket for an expired registration....UGH

[clutchrider]

The way the registration and emissions work in CT is ludicrous. They need to bring back stickers or tags or whatever. This system is broken. Check online, no paper to show police, just hope your all set.

[Stephy0519]

I wish we could do this all online! The only thing, registration related, you can do is check your registration status, when you renew. Beyond that, it's a joke!