Can a car in Illinois have "In-Transit" plates permanently affixed?

April 25, 2012 7:55 AM

Can a car in Illinois have "In-Transit" plates permanently affixed?

So, aside from the fact that this guy nearly wiped into me this morning on the drive to work, I noticed that his car was sporting IT-D Illinois license plates.

I know that these plates are usually used to temporarily hike cars from one point to another, say from an auction to the dealer. But these plates were fixed to the car under license plate carriers from a local dealer. I'm guessing the dealer is using this car to move drivers to other places to rearrange cars, but this seems like license plate abuse to me. That's what dealer plates are for.

Putting the road rage aside, I'm still tired of paying more and more each year for plates while others get away with abusing things like these (and don't get me started on handicapped cards). Any thoughts?

posted by JoeZydeco to law & government (3 answers total)

The relevant section of the vehicle code is 625 ICLS 5/5-201.

The Illinois Secretary of State's Office has jurisdiction over license plates, vehicle registration, and title transfers and you would make a complaint to them if you thought a dealer was abusing his privileges. They have a pamphlet (pdf download) that explains dealer plate regulations and rules.
posted by crush-onastick at 8:28 AM on April 25, 2012 [2 favorites]

I don't know the Illinois license plate laws, but --- since you know the dealership, and I'm guessing you can either tell them the plate number or at least describe the vehicle plus the time/date --- have you considered calling the dealership general manager to complain about the driver's actions? Surely they don't want this kind of advertising!
posted by easily confused at 8:38 AM on April 25, 2012

Well, the application form [pdf] says they are supposed to be "attached to the front and rear", and if the plates already have a dealer frame, I think it would be logical to use them. I don't know that you have sufficient evidence to prove abuse based on this one encounter. In any event, I'm not sure that the penalty would really do much in this case to assuage your pique; it seems to be more of an administrative violation than any type of misdemeanor, so far as I can tell. My reading of the code is that the in-transit plates are there for vehicles which would otherwise be transferred in an unlicensed state, not as some sort of privileged status compared to other types of plate. In-Transit plates cost the same as Dealer plates, so they're not cheating the state that way.
posted by dhartung at 8:49 AM on April 25, 2012