

Have you been pulled over for driving a vehicle without license plates? I have. I know there are several people in California who can lay testimony to this same event. The law indicates, that a peace officer has probable cause to pull you over under penal code 5200 {cvc}. Under the law they have reason enough to pull you over, and possibly detain you. This law only furthers the misconduct of lawmen throughout California, and all across the nation. Though many people do remove their license plates to avoid being stopped for lack of vehicle registration, many others are stopped and detained simply because they have purchased a new vehicle. You would assume by having your registration sticker in the window that you would be safe from this particular law enforcement. This is not the case. Whether you have this original purchase registration or not, you are still subject to the stop, and possible search. This law is a blatant violation of your civil right to privacy. Those of us who have purchased a new vehicle know that it takes up to two months to receive plates from the DMV. Yet and still you must pay for vehicle license, tags, and registration prior to taking ownership of said vehicle. During the time that you are waiting to receive plates, you are officially driving illegally until your plates are received. In turn, this seems to be a judgment call by the particular officer who has stopped you. It is by choice if they decide to pull you over for not having plates since many people purchase new cars and never run into this problem. How can a vehicle dealer sell you a car that is illegal to drive? The fact is no one will purchase a new vehicle if they are told they can not drive it until plates are provided by the DMV. This is a fact of life. In many instances people trade in their old vehicle in order to make the down payment for their new vehicle. And if you are in a one vehicle family as many people are, how can law makers expect you to get from point A to B if you are not allowed to drive the new car that you have purchased. At times people who are detained under this particular law subsequently are arrested for other penal code violations. (i.e. DUI, drugs, etc.), without any other probable cause for the stop. This is also a manipulation of the law since in some cases, speeding, swerving, etc. were not the official reason for the stop. This law gives the officer reason to "fish" for any possible wrong doing even though there is no reason to suspect it. This particular law seems to effect minority's the most. Especially black and hispanic males between the ages of 18-35. When it is assumed that most male minority's between these ages have committed some sort of penal violation, and or are on probation or parole, the whole "Racial Profiling" factor comes into play. As you are aware this accusation would be contested by any peace officer by indicating they were only doing there job. As the law stands, this is true. But on the same note, why isn't everyone who purchases a new vehicle stopped. What is to keep the law enforcement from camping outside of car dealerships in order to stop and detain any and all new vehicle purchasers. The reason is simple. They do pick and choose who they decide to detain under the law. It is enforceable to some, but not to others. If we took a stand against this law, we can have it changed. The fact remains that law officers can earn up to $50,000 more per year doing overtime appearing at court cases. The fact also remains that by having you entwined in a legal struggle not only puts a burden on YOU the individual, but your family as well. The times spent going to court, hiring an attorney, and seeing the process threw can be very expensive, and time consuming. They know this, and expect most cases to be plead to or dropped due to lack of resources. Who would stand to lose if we took this case to court and won? 1. Vehicle Manufacturers 2. Car Dealerships. 3. The DMV 4. The cities, counties, and state officials Who would stand to gain if we took this case to court and won? 1. Us. The People. If we did not purchase vehicles without proper information from the dealerships, they would in turn lose millions of dollars yearly. Most new vehicles are sold without license plates, and they would subsequently be required to provide these plates upon deliverance of said vehicle. Since dealerships are the middle man between the manufacturer and the consumer, the manufacturer would in turn need to have the license plates applied to the vehicle prior to transport to the dealership. If anyone should be penalized for this law it should be the manufacturer, not the consumer. We are simply the pawns in this game they have. The manufacturer/dealer should be required to provide appropriate information for all vehicles subject to sale. By not having this information, they are leaving YOU, the consumer, unprotected. You are required to insure the vehicle prior to leaving the dealership, but they do not tell you that even though you have paid for everything (i.e. tags, license, insurance etc.), that you are still driving the vehicle illegally, and run the risk of being detained. Let's send a message to the world that this is a complete violation of our rights, and we will not tolerate it. Let's MAKE them change the law. Let's hold the dealerships, and manufacturers accountable. YOU should not be the one at fault simply because you have contributed to the machine called "ECONOMY". If you or someone you know have been stopped and/or arrested under these circumstances, please send us a mail explaining the complete situation. We will be forming a Class Action Law Suit in regards to this, and the more people we have, the better our chances of getting this law changed and being compensated for the wrong doings that have been bestowed upon us. Let's stop being the victim. Let's see some change! |






