JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: My friends, I am here to confess to you; I was stopped by my town police while driving to church last Sunday. Not, like, all of them - this wasn’t OJ’s white Bronco chase. I knew what the officer was going t
o call me out for. Maine requires two license plates, fore and aft, and at some point while racing from store to store last December finishing my Christmas shopping, my rear plate had fallen off. I don’t know how many stops I had made - and how often I had slammed the trunk again and again tossing in gifts - but by the time I noticed, it was long gone in some forgotten parking spot.
I was embarrassed to be stopped, of course, because I knew I should have gone to the town hall and gotten replacement plates and unscrewed the remaining old one in the front and screwed in two new plates… but I was busy, darn it. And now seven weeks had gone by.
I was so flustered, I first tried to hand the officer my credit card instead of my license. Then I had to go digging through my glove box, hauling out paper, oil change receipts, the emergency bag of almonds (thanks to Hank, I always carry some) etc. etc. It felt like forever before I spotted my registration. He went to run my info while I frantically searched through my phone for my insurance info. (Pro tip: actually download it and store it somewhere well marked instead of leaving it in your mail, where a search turns up every email your insurance company has ever sent you.)
I triumphantly showed him the card when he returned. He then informed my my registration was overdue.
By two years.
TWO YEARS!!!!
Twenty-one months, to be accurate, but let’s not kid ourselves. The last time I had registered my car was May 2022.
You know what was even more mortifying? This isn’t the first time I’ve forgotten. I went five months over back in 2020, although the state was being very lenient due to the Covid shut down. I forgot again in 2018, and got a ticket for it. I didn’t want to spend half a day in county court to argue it, so I just checked off the “guilty” box and mailed in the fine. I think this means I now have criminal record.
There’s something about car registration that completely escapes me. I can track my inspection, because the sticker has the month peel off; I see it every time I get into my car. I’m very good about oil changes; not only do I have the Prompto reminder right on my windshield, but my oil gauge shows me the percentage if - actually, I don’t know what it is. But once it goes below 50% I’m on alert.
The state of Maine, meanwhile, relies on a little sticker on my license plate and my memory, which is always a bad thing to bet on. I mean, how often do you LOOK at your license plate? I was in church the week before the registration fiasco and my car was blocking the old-folks home bus. (Another mortifying instance.) Someone made an announcement in the parish hall during coffee hour and only mentioned the license plate number - and I didn’t recognize it! Friends, I’ve had the same damn plates since 2016. It wasn’t until the priest came in and said, “A black Honda Accord” that I shrieked, swore, apologized for swearing in front of Fr. Worthy, and dashed off to move it.
The state of Maine sends me a reminder about renewing my drivers license. The town sends me reminders to pay my taxes and license my dogs and subscribe to the ambulance service. How had could it be to mail out a postcard?!? “Hey, Julia, we want you to know you need to pop over to town hall and renew your registration.” Isn’t that more important than a dog tag? (Okay, I do also have to provide proof of their rabies vaccine, and that is important.)
The story ends well. The very nice cop told me to go to church, come straight home, and hit up the town hall Monday morning. All of which I did. Now I have to figure out how to remind myself to get that registration NEXT year…
Dear readers, have you had E.V.I.L run ins? (Embarrassing Vehicular Incident w/t Law?) And how do YOU keep track of when you have to register?
Oh, dear . . .
ReplyDeleteHere the registration renewal form comes in the mail; I write a check and mail it back; no remembering involved.
No run-ins . . . when I had car trouble on the parkway, the state police came along and took care of everything . . . .
I broke down at night on the Maine State Turnpike back before the era of cellphones, Joan. I was never so glad to see those flashing lights pulling up behind me!
DeleteWe get our renewal notices in the mail every 2 years in FL. My embarrassing moment was I was leaving work for the day and got pulled over by the NH State Police as there barracks were across the street. He asks me if I knew why I was pulled over and I said that I had no idea. He said one of my tail lights was out. Like I would know that when I'm inside the car driving. So I assured him that my son would fix it for me when he gets home from work. I ended up with a verbal warning. The embarrassing part was all the people on the same shift as me got to see me being pulled over and the next day I heard all about it. Some of the clowns asked if he pulled me over to ask me for a date. This happened in the late 90's.
ReplyDeletePaula, I'm laughing, because... a date? Talk about a misuse of taxpayer funds!
DeleteThis is really interesting. You’re the last perso I’d expect to be on a crime spree like this!
ReplyDeleteIn New York I get an e mail registration reminder, go directly to the website, pay by credit card, and within a couple of minutes I'm done for another two years. Inspection is every year, always in February. I have a reminder in my iPhone calendar that lets me know when I need to schedule it.
I only get tickets for exceeding the speed limit when driving while under the influence with a suspended license, a beer in one hand and phone in the other, no seat belt and no glasses. When I go in a crime spree, I make it court! (Before anyone calls the smokies , this last paragraph is a poor excuse for a joke.)
Ann, thanks for the morning giggle. Elisabeth
DeleteAnn, I can't stop laughing at the image of you speeding with a beer, etc. etc. You can tell we're older because I don't think a kid would add "No glasses!"
DeleteThank goodness for lenient cops! As usual, you make the whole experience into a funny story, so thank you. I have had a crime spree of my own in the past but it's too embarrassing to mention.
ReplyDeleteLike Ann, I get a registration notice in the mail, and then I renew it and pay for it online. Easy peasy.
When I went on my town's police ride -along on a Saturday night, the young officer told me that they do keep an eye out for things like tail lights out and missing license plates, because sometimes the guilty party is also guilty of much more.
I know that's why they do it, Edith, and it makes sense. I suspect the nice officer knew I wasn't that type of brazen criminal when he saw me dressed in a go-to-church outfit with my readers on so I could see my paperwork!
DeleteI'll buy you a drink at the next conf and tell you all about my crime spree!
DeleteDearest Julia, we are kindred hearts. Ohio mails our registration each year. But renewing my license every four is a memory challenge for me. I once drove the library van filled with library employees to Chicago for the ALA conference, came home, hoped in my car for a two week driving trip, got pulled over in Michigan for going the wrong way down an alley, then got a ticket for expired license as I was four months past the date. On well. At least no points were assigned to my record.
ReplyDeleteA double, Michael, like me and my license plate/registration. Oh well, at least you know the difference between Chicago and Bowling Green, and can navigate from one to the other...
DeleteOh, Julia. I laughed out loud. What a great story. I have such a horror of being "bad" that any time I am stopped by police -- no, I'm not a serial criminal, it's happened about four times in my life due to minor traffic violations -- I burst into tears. This is not a deliberate ploy. It's out of my control. Something about shame and fright (though the last time it happened, the officer was younger than my son, barely shaving, and he was horrified to come to the window and find an old lady sobbing).
ReplyDeleteNew York State has a number of downsides, among them extremely high taxes. However we do, as Ann says, have an automatic email alert system. I never worry about registration, but always worry about inspections. I have to watch the windshield sticker. My deadline is coming up. (Selden)
Selden, back in high school, my daughter was in a car with several other girls being driven by a friend who had just gotten her license. She got stopped for something extremely minor, and was SO freaked out she couldn't stop sobbing. They actually called her parents to come get them and drive her home!
DeleteI use Quicken for my bills and set an annual reminder about these things. Plus, we do get reminders in the mail. Reminder or not, I did once forget. In my defense, I was juggling my own car's assorted due dates and my mom's car's stuff at the same time. I renewed Mom's registration and my brain somehow checked that box as completed. I was blissfully ignorant until I had to drop someone off at the airport and the security cop stopped me to point it out. No ticket, thank goodness.
ReplyDeleteRegarding our local police, my husband got pulled over for speeding one morning, and the officer let him go with a verbal warning. The same cop stopped my nephew at the same spot and wrote him a ticket. My nephew has a different last name than ours. I suspect my husband benefited from the copy of one of my books that sits in the police chief's office because I'd mentioned him in the acknowledgments. Having the last name Dashofy apparently paid off for dear Hubby.
Ooo, Annette, I need to give a copy of my books to the town's police chief!
DeleteJulia, I don't know if it would help, but for things I must remember in the future each year or more, I put it in my computer calendar. On my Mac there's a recurring date thingy... Every month, every year or on specific dates. It gives you several prompts. You can go years ahead. So our dog always gets his heart worm pills etc. (Even weekly things... don't ask!) :-) Joyce W.
ReplyDeleteIt does help, Joy - Celia got me in the habit of putting EVERYTHING in my Google calendar, and it's really paid off. I'm going to do it now for my registration, and set up several reminders!
DeleteJoyce, I have a whole list of recurring tasks on my phone, everything from giving Koda his heartworm pills to paying my property taxes. It's a life saver. :)
DeleteIt's Jay Roberts here...the system won't publish my comment when I put my name in this morning.
ReplyDeleteJulia, I've heard of method acting before but method writing? I mean, it does give you some form of street cred to be writing murder mysteries with a criminal record but you didn't have to quite go so Jared Leto as the Joker. HA!
Like Joan above said, I keep track by the state mailing me the registration renewal in the mail. Then I just have to come up with the money, write a check, mail it back and they send me one of those tiny colored stickers to stick on the corner of my plate.
Jay, I can only think Maine must be the only state in the Union that doesn't send out a reminder. Or maybe it's because it's a town thing? What's funny is that when I had my driver's license renewal up, they sent me several reminders, by email and regular mail.
DeleteAs I was reading your essay this morning, aloud to Irwin, I was wondering if you could sing it to the tune of Alice's Restaurant! We both especially enjoyed the bit about your glove box.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who has seen my recent posts with photos of Rob's apartment, knows that I am the last person on earth who should be chuckling about digging through a mess.
Yesterday a kindly State Police canine officer helped me schlep 6 bags of pharmaceuticals to their drug disposal bin.
Thanks for the chuckle, Julia.
Holy cow, Judy. Six bags!!
DeleteAlice’s Restaurant! Perfect !
DeleteJudy, this comment makes my day. Alice's Restaurant was one of Ross's favorites, and he could recite/sing it complete from start to finish.
DeleteJulia, you scofflaw, you are bad to the bone. You know that calendar I gave you? How about putting a reminder on it, then transferring it to next year's paper calendar? Or as others have suggested, use a digital one, like Google's. You can ask it to recur annually, and give you a reminder as far ahead as you need one.
ReplyDeleteWhen my middle daughter, who started asking for a car for Christmas in third grade, was old enough to take the learner's permit test, she asked to borrow Grandpa's car on the exact day she was able to. (Our cars were both manual shift.) When they got to the testing center, all aquiver with excitement, the testing officer noticed Grandpa's license plates--two years out of date. No test that day.
The last couple years have been especially, shall we say distracting to you. So glad to hear the law gave you some grace, my dear.
It's true, I'm a bad influence on the rest of you. *hangs head* Actually, I think adding it to the paper calendar as well as the Google one would be very useful. When I get a new one at the end of the year, I always go through the old one and copy important stuff like birthdays. So I would see the registration reminder as soon as I flipped the page to that month!
DeleteMost embarrassing moment for me was getting stopped by 2 Key West police officers while I was on my Bicycle! Everything is material though, right? that went right into a book!
ReplyDeleteIn what way were you misbehaving on your bicycle, Lucy - Fess up!
DeleteThat KW bicycle stop still makes me laugh ( not AT you) because in all the years visiting here I had never seen a bicyclist stopped even though many flagrantly don’t adhere to rules of the road. Then two weeks ago I saw a KWPD car stop a bicyclist on Duval! I would have loved to know the details.~Emily Dame
DeleteAllegedly the police in my FL town stop and ticket bicyclists not riding in the bike lane but on the side walk. And, at least every three days, as I avoid being hit by a cyclist (often motorized) on the sidewalk, I mutter “where is the cop when you need one?” Elisabeth
DeleteI'm trying to imagine what illegal biking might be in Key West, Lucy. Not wearing sunscreen?
DeleteHi Julia and all, Paula B here. So, I add my own reminder to my cell phone calendar that has a recurring yearly option. Always reminds me. However, I’m paranoid about it, so I check it often when I put groceries in the trunk when the weather is hot. It renews in the summer. anyway, embarrassing time, well, I was driving to a restaurant for breakfast with my guy after working graveyard shift and was pulled over in front of the restaurant! All gawkers and mostly men. When I walked in all eyes were watching and laughing. BTW, I had just gotten engaged. The worst was my now fiance’ was celebrating the day after I said yes (and he knew I’d be sleeping) so he sped by honking his horn. Got a ticket. Did it again later that morning. Another Ticket. Did it again early afternoon. 3rd ticket. I never heard a thing. The judge just shook his head. My fiance’ was just 20.
ReplyDeleteOh, Paula, that's the exceptional judgment and foresight those 20 year old men are so known for... :-D
DeleteAs a non-driver, this car license renewal thing doesn't apply to me, and soon won't be an issue for many other Ontarians!
ReplyDeleteTwo days ago, the Ontario government announced they are scrapping license plate renewals. It will be done automatically as long as you have insurance & no outstanding fines.
https://globalnews.ca/news/10291197/ontario-eliminating-licence-plate-registration/
Oh, that's so smart, Grace? How will the provincial government know you have valid insurance? I remember it being a problem way back when I worked for a personal injury attorney: people would pay for their insurance just long enough to get the car registered, and then they'd let it lapse.
DeleteIn my province, British Columbia, we don’t have stickers any more either. When we pay our insurance, it registers online somewhere (??) and supposedly any police officer can find out that it is valid. I still have an old expired sticker on my license plate and have yet to be pulled over. Supposed to work if I ever drove my car in the USA too.
DeleteI join the 'put an alert into your calendar' chorus, Julia. I used to put sticky notes on the wall calendar that I would then carry over to the next year; now I use iCal on my Mac and phone. Very handy. But before I was so savvy, I, too, was pulled over for an expired plate. Ridiculously, the little stickers were at home, on my desk, buried under papers. All those decades ago, I didn't realize that I not only had to pay the cost, I had to actually affix those stickers to the license plate. Sheesh. I learned fast!
ReplyDeleteIn Ohio, if you lose a license plate and order a replacement, a "computer glitch" registers your license plate as a stolen vehicle. Police cruisers have license plate scanners and pull you over in heartbeat. I finally went to the village police station for advice: go to the BMV with a shopping bag of documents (passport, car title, registration, insurance info, DL, and vital cardboard social security card) and buy a new set of plates. When I registered the cars in Ohio, I put my name first. The registrations roll over on my birthday. I remember. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI wish my registration was near any event I can already remember, Margaret!
DeleteWow Julia! Glad it worked. As others have said, the State of Oregon mails us reminders. Because I now have an electric vehicle, I don't have to go the DEQ for a clean air test, It makes sense that my EV costs more to register since I'm not paying gas tax, but I can still grouse about it. Two days ago, one of the news stations put together a story with the headline, "Nearly half of Portland drivers have expired plates." I guess many never renewed their registrations after Covid? The City is planning to hire more parking enforcement people to write tickets for expired plates and raise revenue.
ReplyDeleteI've only been stopped a couple of times--twice for speeding and once for expired plates (I wasn't able to get my old honda through DEQ). I went to court and told my sob story about getting my car repaired for a lot of money and still not being able to get my clean air certificate--and the judge let me off with no fine.
Mike, my retired detective friend tells about patrolling one morning and seeing my sister driving her car. He tried to get her attention to say hi, but she was oblivious. He turned on his overheads and pulled her over. It freaked her out until she realized it was just Mike.
Your poor sister, Gillian! They both got a surprise. And it's interesting to note the city's plan to bring drivers into compliance isn't sending out postcards or emails reminding them - it's to wait until they get ticketed. You can see what the priority is right there...
DeleteIt also will raise revenue for the City's Transportation Bureau, which is in a budget crunch. All the drivers got one reminder mail from the state when it was time to renew their registrations. but for some that was 3 or 4 years ago. Because it was on the news, some may be motivated to avoid the citation and do the registration.
DeleteSadly, I can relate. Fortunately the State of Massachusetts is pretty good about sending out reminders .
ReplyDeleteI got stopped once for running a stop sign (I slowed, really I did) and told the cop he was absolutely right, I was in a rush trying to get to the train station so my daughter (cutie pie in the passenger seat) could get to the train station on time. He looked askance. Where was the luggage? he asked. I popped the trunk and voila, there it was. He let us go. And she made her train.
I'm envious. I got caught for speeding - once. I was 21. I was driving two friends to the Buffalo airport for a pre-holiday flight. I tried to explain to the very nice NYS trooper, all while looking innocent as possible. It was, after all, my first ever time getting stopped.
DeleteHe told me I was a good friend, to be careful, and gave me the ticket anyway.
Hallie, I got stopped for going through a red light back in '92. When the cop rolled up to my window he was visibly taken aback by my enormously pregnant belly. I was, in fact, overdue at that point, and explained I was paying attention to my Braxton-Hicks contractions instead of the light. He let me go with the advice to head straight home and let my husband do the driving until the baby was born!
DeleteIn Nova Scotia, the replacement event (license, registration) happens on the last day of your birthday month. Since both our birthdays are in November, we get double nicked. Unfortunately, we moved here in November, so all insurance things also come due in November – it is a very expensive month. “For your birthday this year, you will receive a driver’s license, and a Mars bar. That is all I afford – enjoy!”
ReplyDeleteOn being arrested – almost, The Harrumper was coming home one evening (5 o’clock-ish) on a back road – the only way home when he was pulled over for something mundane – no red flag on his truck or something. He passed them his license and then reached in the glove compartment, and brought out the registration, etc. The cops went to their car to do whatever they do to check the license, and then came back, asked him out of the truck, and put him in the back of their car. Do-do-do-do, do-do-do-do…
After a very long and anxious time, it appears that his name was the same as an escaped killer – what are the odds. Never mind that the other fellow was supposedly in another province on the other side of Canada, he was held suspect. He had to wait until many questions were asked, and papers checked, and beard hairs counted – not really knowing what was going on and what he could do. Meanwhile, I was at home cursing him out for being late for supper – again.
Interesting times…
Julia - are you snow-buried? We got another 2 ft yesterday - today's Olympic event will be moving it somewhere else. I am thinking of moving in with Jenn - I love heat!
Margo the Big Storm completely missed us - not even flakes! We're supposed to get snow starting tonight, but they keep dropping the forecast amount, so who knows.
DeleteGetting pulled over due to the same name must have been quite alarming in real life, but it would make an EXCELLENT part of a mystery novel!
My daughter, then a competitive ski racer at age 22, was returning to the U.S. from a world circuit. She was detained in customs in D.C. because of her biathlon rifle. Unbelievably, the serial number on her German rifle was the same as an American one used in a terrible crime! Eventually she was released but she missed her next flight. (Selden)
DeleteJulia, you have all my sympathy! Owning a car is almost more trouble than it's worth. My plan, if I am ever luck enough to win a zillion dollars in a lottery (even though I hardly ever buy a ticket) is to have a chauffeur at my disposal 24/7. It will be his, or her job to handle such pesky details, as well as anything else car-related. Especially washing the car.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard for me to forget the car registration though. Ever since I gave the DMV my email address they send me reminders, months in advance. That's actually very annoying, after the first one. I then put it on my daily calendar. I suppose it's nice it can be done by mail, or at least it is convenient.
A suggestion, for what it's worth; since this is something you have to do annually, can you somehow combine it, at least in your mind, with something like a dental appointment, or haircut? Good luck, in any case.
Judi, I no longer am able to drive … old eyes. The next best things to having great Uber service where I live are: no insurance renewal, no registration renewal, no annual pollution inspection, no pumping gas. Yes, owning a car more trouble than it is worth. Elisabeth
DeleteElisabeth, my mother gave up driving at almost 91, which meant no need to renew her license. Except, in order to vote she needs a valid, state-issued ID. She was desperate a couple years ago to make sure she had one she could use. It's not that easy, either.
DeleteJudi, that is actually an excellent idea. Years ago, I started scheduling my annual physical as soon after the start of the new year as possible; it became a habit and I never missed an appointment. I could do something similar with my registration.
DeleteKaren, yes, I still have to get a valid state issued id. But just one thing on my calendar is easier than all the rest which had multiple renewal dates. Congratulations to your mother’s longevity as a driver. When I gave it up at 75, I had already been unable to see for night or stormy day driving for about 30 years. Elisabeth
DeleteHere on Nome St there are currently two(2) delinquents. My car tags are close to expiring, always happens on the last day of the birthday month. Amy discovered her FL ID had expired 2 years ago. She has to go in person now, so we are reluctantly leaving the house sometime soon. Procrastination is the byword on Nome street -- pray for us.
ReplyDeleteAs far as my adventures with the men in blue. All my conversations with the traffic folk happened after I got sober. I was able to talk my way out of most of them. The latest was receiving a notice of a violation mailed from Arizona showing me running a red light in Florida. Can't argue with automation I paid for that one.
Wow, you two are a regular Bonnie and Clyde there, aren't you, Coralee! :-D
DeleteOnce a million years ago I got stopped for making an illegal left turn. There was a sign, after all, the police officer pointed out, that said, “no left turn.”
ReplyDeleteThe police officer ask me why I would disobey that, and I told him the truth: I had decided the sign said “left turn only.”
I have never seen such an expression. And he said – – what?
And I said, I was really sorry, but I had just read the sign wrong.
He just shook his head and said be more careful and let me go.
He must have decided that was the dumbest excuse he’d never heard. But honestly, it was true.
I still have trouble with those signs that say no left turn with an arrow. It looks like you’re supposed to go that way. To me.
Julia, you are hilarious. Our very own Menace2Society.
I need to start my own gangsta rap group, clearly.
DeleteJulia, I feel your pain. Pennsylvania used to have the sticker. They don't even have that any longer. But they do mail you a "letter" about 3 months prior to expiration. I use Quicken, so I put in the payment when I get the letter, even though it's not due. Registration can be done online and printed so it's a pretty instantaneous thing. I did forget once - although I was managing registration for four vehicles, so I cut myself some slack. We get the same advance warning for license renewal.
ReplyDeleteMy car tells me when I'm due for an oil change/service.
I bought a lifetime license for Koda, so I don't have to remember that one, but the county treasurer (who collects the money) sends an annual bill. I remember that from my last dog.
We signed The Boy's car over to him last fall. Here's hoping he figures out how to remember all this stuff.
There are just SO many little details to keep track of, Liz. I should check and see if my town can email me a reminder, because it seems like EVERY other state does so.
DeleteI just keep coming back to the fact my vet sends me two reminder post cards for all the vaccines for both my dogs and my cat. If they can manage it with a staff of, like, seven, why can't the state of Maine?
Oh, Julia, what a way to start your Sunday. In Washington State, circa 1985ish, we used to get tabs to stick on the plate. They were very expensive (as I remember included property tax for the vehicle). My tabs were stolen. Never noticed. Got a call from the police in a small town a hundred miles away, asking if I knew they were missing. All I had to do was go to the licensing bureau and buy a new set…not pay the tax again, just administrative fee. The thieves got stuck with the big bucks. Elisabeth
ReplyDeleteOoh, Elisabeth, that's an interesting type of scam. What were they trying to do, not pay for their own registration?
DeleteOur fees also includes "use tax" or as many a Mainer calls it, the useless tax. It's based on the value of your car, but it only goes down to a certain point, and then no further. When your car is fairly new, it's a big hit to the pocketbook.
Yes, on the not pay own fees…lots of less than honest folks did that. Unless you were actually stopped by the police and the tiny numbers on the tab run you were safe. Computer systems are more efficient and, I think, WA changes the system. I moved from there in 1992. Elisabeth
DeleteWe get a renewal notice every year when we need to renew our registration in New Jersey. I put in front the computer as a reminder and of course my husband is always reminding me. Then every two years I head to the Inspection Station and pray the car passes. Candace
ReplyDeleteCandace, I am familiar with the car inspection prayer! "Am I going to pay $20 for the sticker, or $1,000 because it needs a new transmission to pass?"
DeleteI'm guilty of not renewing my registration, in a timely manner, though I do get a reminder in the mail. I get more than one notice until it is paid. You think I'd pay as soon as possible because the fee increases when it is paid late but I don't. And, yes I've been pulled over for it. Yes, I pay the fine and the late registration fee.
ReplyDeleteDeana, you and I are sisters from different mothers!
DeleteJULIA: So glad the story ended well. How do I keep track? I keep files on everything, including everything related to my car.
ReplyDeleteHow long is the wait at the Town Hall, if I may ask?
Diana
I live in a very small town - around 8,000 people total, so there's almost never a line for anything at town hall, Diana. So I can't even use that as an excuse!
DeleteJulia, loved the oppsy at the church. So funny!!
ReplyDeleteI don't know which I was more embarrassed about, Anon, keeping the senior citizens from getting home, or loudly saying "S---!" in front of the priest!
DeleteLOL - I can relate. Florida, where I lived for 40 years, not only sends you reminders, but you can renew by mail OR online! Genius. And registrations expire on your birthday - so much easier to remember you have to do something on a day that's embedded in your brain. In Maine, I've always managed to make it to the Town Office some time in October only because I have it as a calendar reminder on my phone and on outlook. I link the annual inspection to the appointment to winterize the car. I have to be there anyway - might as well make it a one stop shop!
ReplyDeleteVehicular faux pas? Yep. I once waited for two turn signal light changes that never came at a very busy intersection. The light never changed so I waited for a safe moment and turned. I hadn't noticed that the empty space behind me had been filled by a car with a lightbar on top. So my next stop was roadside talking to the cop. He let me off because he lived on that street and knew the light was out. Said he had to stop me in case anyone had seen me blow the light and him follow me out. He gave me the best advice. "Check your rear-view before you do something creative." Yep, always look behind you!
Excellent advice, Kait! And I'm going to add my appointment to the Buxton Town Hall to both my Google and paper calendar.
DeleteMy inspection is this month, so it's never convenient to add it to a regular service, like winterizing the car - which is a great idea.
Yup! Had the same thing happen to me just outside Brunswick a few years ago. We’d just arrived for our annual 1/2 year in Maine and hadn’t checked all (any of) the automobile boxes. Hadn’t even re-upped our insurance yet! The fine was huge, and deserved. I remember thinking, as the very polite young police officer issued the ticket, how different the encounter might feel if I were not an older white lady.
ReplyDeleteVery, very true, Katherine. I'm always aware of my "nice white middle class lady" privilege.
DeleteDorothy, I had never heard that explanation for why they want you to look so serious in those photos, but that makes (macabre) sense!
ReplyDeleteHello Dorothy: I am a sister Manitoban! Nice to 'meet' you here :)
ReplyDeleteMe, too, Mark, especially as I get comprehensive notices when I have to renew my drivers license. But we only do that every seven years, and maybe the state erroneously assumes I've got my act together for something that happens every year in the same month...
ReplyDeleteI was stopped years ago after driving from San Diego to Santa Barbara and almost all the way home again by a CHP officer for expired registration tags. I couldn’t understand because I knew I had paid for and received the tags. Turned out I was right - there they were in my glove box (which did not have a bag of almonds in it!).
ReplyDeleteIn terms of police officers pulling someone over for a burned out taillight, the ultimate true story that I ever heard occurred in the 80s, I believe, in the SF Bay Area. Two police officers pulled over a truck with a camper shell on the back because one of the taillights was burned out. As one of the officers approached the vehicle, he heard a gunshot. The driver had just killed himself! The officers were shocked, of course, but when they looked in the camper, found the body of a woman who had been missing for several days. Further inspection at his home revealed that he had a hidden torture chamber where he had been holding and killing young women. — Pat S
Yikes!
DeleteThis is one of the few minor annoyances about living in Maine, no reminder about car registration. My registrations are often overdue and sometimes by almost a year! And my town does NOT send me a reminder about dog tags or property taxes. My dog tags are always overdue. My taxes not, but only because there's a huge sign outside the town hall (on a road that EVERYBODY travels EVERY day) about property tax due dates.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised you don't get reminders. That might be something to lobby for. We can renew online also (except, annoyingly, at the scariest part of the COVID outbreak, before vaccines. MO decided to issue new plates instead of just stickers. My alderwoman went in to pick mine up for me, as I feared the crowd. I was prepared to have expired plates). Most embarrassing, and one of the few times I couldn't skate out of a ticket, was being stopped for speeding on the way to school (no one had warned me of the speed trap at the bottom of a hill). I was barely in time to open my classroom door, and I expected some teasing from students, but they said not a word. We had such kind students.
ReplyDeleteWe can opt to renew for three years, so I do.
ReplyDeleteJulia, you wild thing! I don't worry about missing my registration deadline, as I get both email and paper mail reminders. It's due the end of my birthday month and can be paid online. Also, with hubs being a retired cop, he would never let me drive with expired tags. Inspection is easy, too, as we have a great place right down the street from our house.
ReplyDeleteI am the keeper of all four of our family's vehicle registrations. The state of AZ emails me reminders and I put them on my office calendar otherwise it would be chaos. I did forget once and Hub got a ticket but I told him if he wanted to take over the secretarial duties of the vehicles, he was welcome to it. He did not and the complaining ceased :)
ReplyDeleteCalifornia makes sure you know! But when I moved from the golden state back to NY State for a job, I think I wasn't wholly committed to staying there. A year after I took up residence, a cop near the university where I worked pulled me over. "You've had CA plates for a long time. Unless you plan on heading back next week, you have 30 days to get NY plates." He'd noticed me and my secret love letter to CA for a long time and was not amused! (I got the plates but 18 months later, I moved back!)
ReplyDeleteDarn it. I can't remember how Virginia works. I think I'm good on registration for a couple of years. Car inspection though is an annual affair. But I can remember it is May without having to look at the windshield sticker. Not long after I moved here I heard a knock on the door. Opened it up and there stood a county sheriff's deputy. He was looking to serve someone who had listed my address as his. I told him the name wasn't familiar. It wasn't the people we bought the house from. I had been there only a few weeks. He was very pleasant and ended with "welcome to Lexington."
ReplyDeleteMy husband's in charge of the car, so no stories about registration deadlines from me. My sin is forgetting to renew my annual public transportation pass, also because I don't get a reminder. There's a $100 fine for driving on the bus or tram with an expired pass, which I find perfectly fair but still annoying. All I need to do is write the annual renewal date in my calendar (which is still a little black book and has a "next year's dates" section in the back) when I renew. But do I do it? No.
ReplyDeleteNice to meet you too, Amanda. 😊
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention earlier this morning about my run in with the law. It was in the 1970s when my friend and I were driving in Europe just prior to the Olympics in Munich. We parked our green Volkswagen Beetle in another city in Germany and went to a restaurant for lunch. When we left the restaurant we couldn’t remember where we had parked our rental car. We looked all over and finally ended up at the police station. Neither of us spoke German other than to say yes or no, and thank you. II spoke both English and French but that didn’t help either. By the time I finished explaining where we had parked the car, the landmarks near it and that our car had been stolen, we were surrounded by a number of young police officers! They were chatting away in German, pointing at us and laughing! We were there for at least two hours. It must have been a slow crime day! Finally, one of the officers beckoned us to follow him and he took us right to where we had parked the car! As we left the station a number of officers said in English: Thanks for entertaining us you pretty young things!!! I said, Danke and smiled with embarrassment. Next time, I will remember to ask if there is any officer that speaks English before I begin my tail! 🤣
ReplyDeleteOh wow! Yes I got stopped at a road block when I bought my new car and had a temporary inspection sticker and registration sticker on it. I actually got irritated because I was legal. In my state the reg sticker is next to the inspection sticker and the state sends me a reminder a few months ahead of time when it is due. I would NEVER remember to renew the reg if I didn’t see it every time I drive AND receive an email.
ReplyDeleteJulia, Your post today is hysterical. I was pulled over about six months ago on the way home from a book signing event, no less, because my auto registration was canceled that day. The EZPass for Maryland revoked it. We had been dealing with almost daily conversations along with emails because our device was, first, defective, and then our credit card on file was stolen in Costco and the payments were not processing. I cannot tell you how many reams and reams of paper the state mailed to us for months on end while we tried to get a human being to talk with us. The tolls added up to about $125. The fines for unprocessed payments was $1100! We wasted so many hours trying to get the problem corrected. It was a nightmare. Ezpass finally removed the fees. The officer was very nice. I pulled up my phone to show him the litiney of emails to and from EzPass and the voice mails, he gave me a warning and off I went. The following day, the state reativated my registration. Ugh, and ugh.
ReplyDeleteThe left turn arrow had turned red so I stopped. My Mom said "You can go, nothing is coming". I did, and the cop car behind me stopped me. Mom paid half the fine. I think that was when Adult Me finally realized that Mom didn't always know best.
ReplyDeleteoh dear! NH has the registration of your car come up on the owners birthday month, about the the only thing that makes NH preferable to Maine. The town also sends you a renewal form and for a extra fee they send your tags back to you by mail. While growing in Maine in the 60's and 70's I think everyone's car had to be renewed by March. I remember my mother being frustrated by DMV lines on St.John Street in Portland.
ReplyDeleteLuckily every state we have registered our vehicles in send renewal notices one to three months in advance of the expiration date. The only problem I had was a parking ticket. I had a meeting at city hall, parked, and went in. We had a lot of snow that year and it was pushed up all around the parking lot. A couple months later I found a parking ticket that had jammed down at the base of the windshield. I went right down to the office and explained it was out of site. In addition, I noticed when I went back that where I parked was indeed a reserved spot. However, the sign was covered with snow the day I parked there. No problem. They dismissed the ticket.
ReplyDeleteSo glad it worked out. In Ohio, USA we do get reminders. May I suggest a reminder in your phone calendar in advance of the deadline??
ReplyDeleteOnce a classmate and I went to Georgetown to go to Emerson's (buy a four-dollar steak and get all the salad you can eat plus all the beer or root beer you can drink). Afterwards we trotted across the street in the middle of the block and we're ticketed for jaywalking! To avoid a fine we went to Pedestrian School, where they reviewed the rules about crossing streets and such. Several members of the class were passed out in the back. I suspect there had been some bad publicity or something that made them emphasize it for a brief time, and we timed our visit poorly.
ReplyDeleteDearest Julia,
ReplyDeleteI was pulled over twice in one night by the same trooper for the same infraction; a light on my sister’s car was out.
The first time he pulled me over was when I had taken her car, packed to the brim with junk for the “four-family-garage-sale” at my parents’ house in Argyle (not far from Miller’s Kill😉) right on Rte. 40 about, 5 miles from my house. He appeared to be about 12 and while I wanted to question the validity of his qualifications as a State Trooper, I thought better of it and complied with his request for registration and insurance information. Luckily for me, my sister compulsively organizes import documents so I easily produced what he had requested. As promised, I was delivered a citation to fix the said light within 10 days and then take the vehicle to any police station as proof that I had complied with the “righting the wrong”, “repair of the non-working light”, making it safe for me to once again, drive in a manner pleasing to NY Sate authorities for the safety of all. I placed the citation on the dashboard (which was the only area that wasn’t already occupied by garage-sale junk) and went on my merry way to unload my treasures that even Junkyard Dogs wouldn’t want. I visited for a few hours with family and headed back the 11 mile route to my home. As I approached the area where I had previously been pulled over, I met another state trooper going in the opposite direction. By chance, I glanced in my rear view mirror to see his brake lights engage and then a rapid u-turn took place. “You have got to be kidding me,” I said to myself with an adjective or two thrown in for emphasis. Sure enough, the lights came on and I was pulled over again, about less than two hours past the time of the previous “pullover”. And wouldn’t you know, it was “Sonny-Jim” again approaching my window.
“Good evening ma’am. Do you know why I am pulling you over?” he asked as authoritatively as a 12-year-old could.
I snatched the citation from the dash board, thrust it out the window and with nearly belligerent confidence, I stated, “Probably for the same reason you pulled me over two hours ago!”
His adolescent frame recoiled and even though it was nighttime, I’m sure I saw his face flush as he tried to step back.”Oh, I’m sorry ma’am. Have a good night!!” He nearly ran back to his car, tureens off the blinding lights and took off in a flash. I headed home, shaking my head in disbelief.
That is the only “pull-over I will share.😉
Autocorrect is not my friend; “turned” not “tureen”!
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