QUESTION
What are possible charges he could face if he does get caught for using an unregistered car?
Asked on Sep 02nd, 2017 on Criminal Law - Missouri
More details to this question:
My friend bought a car and hasn't been able to get it registered. He previously had a vehicle and sold it. He kept the plates from his previous vehicle and put them on his new car, after his temporary tag expired. What possible charges could he receive? Also, he asked if he could borrow the plates off of my car, which I know that's illegal but I did not give them to him. What are the charges for using those plates as well? I ask because I don't think my friend fully understands the severity of it and almost seems like he doesn't care.
1 ANSWER
Your friend could be charged with displaying plates of another vehicle and failure to register a vehicle. If the car is not insured, he could also be charged with driving without insurance (which is common in this type of situation). Driving without insurance is a 4-point ticket, and if he gets into an accident while driving an uninsured car, his driver's license would be suspended until he pays for all the damages that he is responsible for. Failure to register and displaying plates of another vehicle are non-moving, no-point violations, but he risks getting repeated tickets for those violations every day if he continues to drive an unregistered car using someone else's plates. Police cars have license plate readers to check for stolen cars, so he could easily get pulled over if they see that the plates don't match the car or that the car is not registered.
Answered on Nov 05th, 2017 at 4:21 PM