Question for the US people...

[deathpixie]

And this one actually relates to my job. *grins*

I have an American guy, from Texas, claiming he didn't know he had to register his car. Now, AFAIK, registration is kind of universal, in developed countries at least, so is he trying it on?

Also, do you guys have a sticker on the windscreen of your cars that tells you when the registration is due to expire like we do? Because that's what my answer will be - you could have checked the registration sticker to find out if you were registered or not.

Edit: Thanks a bunch, guys - I reduced his costs as he never received notification, but refused to cancel the fines because he should have seen the rego sticker on his windscreen.

Comments

[threnody.livejournal.com]

What she said. Also, in Texas, the registration *is* in the form of a sticker on the windshield- I found this out from driving with Pook. :) Everywhere else that I know of, it's a bit of paper you keep in the glovebox. Unless this is a particularly stupid-ass clueless person who's never driven at all before/so much as been in a car, he's pulling your leg.

[wgsarah.livejournal.com]

Registration is kind of a universal thing. There might be a weird configuration of stickers and cards depending on what state you're in, but you have to be registered because the government needs to know what you're driving for tax and safety reasons. New York registration involves license plates, a sticker for your windshield, a card for the glovebox and a fee. Which reminds me, I have to pay for my renewal and change the sticker on my car by Sunday. :)

The guy is either completely oblivious to reality or pulling your chain to avoid fees and fines.

[trishalynn.livejournal.com]

Agreed with the above three. Now, I'll say that my friend mattrah got away with not registering his car for three years when he was living in California after moving to Maryland. I think the cops there weren't as conscientious as the ones in Australia. Knock on wood, it's how I'm managing to squeak by still with my California plates because I don't have time to go to the DMV. So my guess is that he was hoping the cops wouldn't notice.

In California, the sticker's on the plate, and you need to carry a copy of it in your glove compartment (or glove box? what's the Aus term?) at all times. They send you reminder notices, too, so you can pay to have it reregistered and in California, you need to have a smog check, too.

[ion-duck.livejournal.com]

The actual process for getting the sticker is hard though. You go down to the DMV, you fill in a form. Then you get in line. Then depending on what you want you go to one of two waiting rooms and fill out another form. THEN you get in one of two much longer lines. (One for first time licenses and regisistration and another for renewal/additional vehicles.) They take the form and enter it in the computer. Then they do the eye test and stuff. THEN they give you three more pieces of paper, tell you to go to a mechanic to get the car safety inspected. You give the form to the mechanic. He then looses them and you repeat the process. Then you loose them... but it doesn't matter the mechanic found his first one. (This won't happen till your second trip to the DMV no matter what.) Then you wait a week for paper work processing.

if you Austrailians do things similar to that, you're not as enlightened as I thought. Plus, I'm pretty sure that like the British, you drive on the wrong side of the street. Don't you know you could cause an accident? :0)

Uh, no.

[frito-kal.livejournal.com]

You go to the DMV, they give you a form, you fill it out. You get stickers.

Then you go to the mechanic sometime during the next month, and they do the inspection RIGHT THERE, and you -never- leave them with the papers.

There's no eye test for ownership of a car, licensing and registration are seperate events, and most, if not all of it, is computerized.

VA does it all online now - I haven't had to go to the DMV once for my car. Dealership gave me plates, I do the re-registering online.

There is -no- "paper work processing" its all done right there in front of you.

Sheesh. Look, I know its -annoying-, but its not as bad as all that. Hell, its not a tenth as bad as you make it out to be.

[deathpixie]

Plus, I'm pretty sure that like the British, you drive on the wrong side of the street. Don't you know you could cause an accident? :0)

Hey, you're the silly country who had to prove how independent you were of Britain and switch sides. Don't blame us if you insist on driving on the wrong side of the road... *grins*

Re:

[ion-duck.livejournal.com]

It's a good thing we don't do a lot of things different then the British. I mean come on, we're talking about a country that put a tax on TV.

[maeve77.livejournal.com]

This guy is totally putting you on. If he's ever owned a car in the US, he's had to register it. Of course, there are various combinations of tags and papers and stickers and such, and these vary from state to state. He's just trying to work the "I'm an ignorant foreigner" angle and giving the rest of us a bad rep in the process.

Also, do the registration people place the new sticker on the car, or do the car owners do it themselves? If the car owners do it (like here in some states) how could he have missed the print telling him when it expires?

[deathpixie]

Owners put the sticker on the car, and this guy was driving for two years without bothering to check his. Registration is renewed yearly here, and there, I'm thinking - you would have thought he'd have wondered what was going on when he didn't get a reminder notice... But yes, the sticker's there on the windscreen for all to see.

Ooops

[iamgerg.livejournal.com]

Mine expired on my birthday, when we where in Savanah and I didn't notice it until April...(being out of the country and not getting a notice and all) but Two years?