Why don't police walk around parking lots and give out tickets for uninspected vehicles?

July 22, 2005 6:24 PM

Why don't police walk around parking lots and give out tickets for uninspected vehicles?
posted by jeremias to Law & Government (29 answers total)

Because they have better things to do.

I'd like to see them walk around parking lots (and people parallel parked on the street) and give out tickets for idling engines. But sadly, they don't.
posted by duck at 6:44 PM on July 22, 2005

what is an uninnspected vehicle?
posted by delmoi at 6:51 PM on July 22, 2005

because they can't give out tickets on private property ... at least, if you get in a fender bender with someone and you call them, that's just what they'll tell you
posted by pyramid termite at 6:51 PM on July 22, 2005

PT: really? That seems strange. Does that mean you're allowed to break the law on private property or is it ticketing specifically (so there's some other mechanism of enforcement if you're on private property)?
posted by duck at 6:52 PM on July 22, 2005

I think the law is that one is not allowed to operate an ininspected vehicle on city streets. If I park my car on private land, the inspection expires and I never take it on the road, I'm not breaking the law, am I? The same basic principle applies to cars parked on private land; if the officer does not see the car operating on public rights of way, there is no infraction.
posted by Doohickie at 6:59 PM on July 22, 2005

crap. uninspected.
posted by Doohickie at 6:59 PM on July 22, 2005

BTW, around here they usually check inspection stickers at highway off-ramps. This is actually easier than checking parked cars, since the officer can stand still and wait for the cars to come to him!
posted by smackfu at 7:16 PM on July 22, 2005

I was given a ticket on private property for backing into someone else car. The cop didn't see it happen and just took statements.
posted by nimsey lou at 7:38 PM on July 22, 2005

They do. When they don't, the first reply is correct: They have better things to do. In Boston, meter maids regularly ticket for both expired registrations and uninspected vehicles.
posted by cribcage at 7:49 PM on July 22, 2005

New York too -- late at night. You will sometimes see a cop car (er, law enforcement vehicle) driving down the wrong side of the street at 3 AM here, in order to be able to shine the spotlight on the driver's side of the windshield of parked cars where the cop can see the sticker easily. It's a hefty ticket too.
posted by realcountrymusic at 8:06 PM on July 22, 2005

I've had my car towed in Boston because of an expired registration (a bit more serious than uninspected). The cop was driving around looking for cars to boot (due to excessive parking tickets) and happened to notice my expired registration. I had moved twice in a month, so missed the notice.

The cop said if I had been parked in a private lot he both wouldn't have seen it and if he had, couldn't tow it.

He also couldn't just ticket me and let me go to the DMV to register it because not being registered equals uninsured. If I had an accident on the way to the DMV, the cop could've been sued for letting me drive off uninsured.

Sorry, long answer -- essentially yes, they do stuff like this when they have time.
posted by jdl at 8:11 PM on July 22, 2005

Response by poster: Lapsed inspection stickers seem to fit under moving violations so I was wondering if there was some sort of prohibition on law enforcement searching for these. (Not to give The Man any ideas but most penalties seem to be around 35 to 100 bucks, I'm thinking any shopping center would have dozens of uninspected vehicles on any given day).
posted by jeremias at 8:14 PM on July 22, 2005

Right, it's a moving violation, which means it doesn't apply to parked cars. For instance, in CT, all the relevant crimes are named things like "operation of vehicle with expired or suspended registration".
posted by smackfu at 8:37 PM on July 22, 2005

As others have said above, they do check parked vehicles. In NYS police can also issue a UTT (your moving violation) if the vehicle is being operated.
posted by mlis at 8:37 PM on July 22, 2005

The UTT is a violation of the NYS Vehicle & Traffic law while the ticket placed under a windshield is a violation of a local parking ordinance.
posted by mlis at 8:39 PM on July 22, 2005

In my country, parking wardens (city employees who enforce local parking rules) do exactly that.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:53 PM on July 22, 2005

Not American, so could someone please tell me what an "uninspected vehicle" is? What kind of inspection do your vehicles need to get?
posted by madman at 9:59 PM on July 22, 2005

Safety and emissions testing. Safety is making sure things like tires, brakes, suspension components are all up to snuff. Emissions is to make sure your car doesn't pollute too much. If your car can't pass both tests, you aren't legally allowed to drive it on state/town roads. (Some states still don't do emissions testing.)
posted by knave at 10:06 PM on July 22, 2005

And the inspection has to be done once per year. auto repair places generally have the equipment and licensing to do it.
posted by Doohickie at 10:14 PM on July 22, 2005

And it is defiantly more of a State thing then an American thing. in MN they do not do either of these tests
posted by edgeways at 10:20 PM on July 22, 2005

duck - one simply goes through insurance companies or civil court for damages on private property ... at least in michigan

that doesn't mean that if some kind of gross negligence or bad injury was involved, there couldn't be a criminal case ... and there seems to be an exception for handicapped spot tickets

but as far as tickets for accidents, stuff like that ... the cops will take a police report if someone insists but they won't write out a ticket ... i used to work at an all night gas station ... i've been through this drill many times
posted by pyramid termite at 11:12 PM on July 22, 2005

And the inspection has to be done once per year

Like so many things, depends on the jurisdiction. Since Motor Vehicle Departments (in the US) are run by State governements, there are differences. My recent experiences involve DC (annual emmision and safety inspection) Virginia (same, although everything in the Old Dominion is pushed down to the County level, with the added cosmetic annoyance of the mandatory property tax sticker also cluttering up the windshield) and California, where all they seem concerned with is emmisions, known as the Smog Check, required every other year -- and of course, no stickers clutter up our windshields. The DMV requires that you send along the Smog Certificate (obtained after a test at a licensed service station) with your renewal fee. (Away from metropolitan areas, I hear the smog requirements are waived.) But if you're missing a tail-light or something you may receive a 'fixer-upper' ticket.

How a lapsed inspection sticker could be construed a moving violation is beyond me.
posted by Rash at 11:13 PM on July 22, 2005

In the states I've lived in, you have to have documentation of any required inspections to get your registration renewed, so if you don't have the inspection, you're driving the car with expired license tabs and you WILL get pulled over for that.

(There are states where your inspection isn't tied to your vehicle registration? That's pretty dumb.)
posted by kindall at 12:24 AM on July 23, 2005

Response by poster: In at least two of the states in New England (possibly more), registration and inspection are two totally different things. Registration is done at the state level and a car needs to be re-registered every one or two years. You get a sticker which needs to go on your license plate. In Massachusetts we usually pay $36-$40 dollars for that. Inspection is separate and is done by service stations- my last inspection cost $29 I think. That needs to be done each year and a sticker placed on your windshield.


(Of course in Massachusetts we also have the "privilege" of paying an excise tax on vehicles every year (whether or not the car is registered or not). This tax goes to the local (city) government, and is $25 dollars for every $1000 dollars of valuation. So a $20k vehicle will set you back $500 bucks . . .)
posted by jeremias at 5:08 AM on July 23, 2005

I got a $100 ticket in Philadelphia for having an expired out of state registration. The PPA is a ruthlessly efficient organization.
posted by mbd1mbd1 at 6:11 AM on July 23, 2005

duck - one simply goes through insurance companies or civil court for damages on private property ... at least in michigan

Well yes, for damages, but I wasn't thinking only of things where there would be damages, but things that are just plain illegal damages or not: idling your car (which I said above, I wish they would ticket for more forcefully), and parking in fire routes, lets say. You don't get to do other illegal things on private property, why should illegal things involving cars be some exception?
posted by duck at 7:37 AM on July 23, 2005

When I was in Germany for study abroad, we totally confused our German instructor over there, who thought it was pretty ridiculous that different states had different laws -- most of the class was American, about half from Pennsylvania (where they have inspections) and the other half from Michigan (where we don't).
posted by dagnyscott at 7:42 AM on July 23, 2005

In Nebraska there was no inspection required, which explained the glut of 60s and 70s muscle cars running with straight pipes all around town. Registration was an annual event, and cars parked on public property (the streets) could be ticketed for expired registrations. On private property, the cops had no jurisdiction.

In Maine, you have to have your vehicle inspected and registered, as well as pay an excise tax (as jeremias points out, Massachusetts does this, too). In addition, if your car is purchased in a state that does not have sales tax, you must pay the sales tax on your car before you can get it registered in Maine. Yes, it's some happy horseshit.

In Massachusetts, your registration is directly tied to your insurance. If you lapse on an insurance payment, your registration is automatically voided, which means you'll be driving around without insurance or registration. See also: happy horseshit. If you're pulled over, your car is immediately impounded, but you usually get a free ride to the police station. :)

Parking tickets are usually handled by an outside agency, and not the police (at least in Massachusetts), and I believe they get some kind of cut of the profits, which explains their zeal. Five tickets in Boston and your car can be towed/booted. The only reason they'd boot you instead of immediately towing you is because you're parallel parked and they can't get your car out. If you are booted, you have to pay an additional fee when you go and pick your car up. I've probably paid somewhere in the vicinity of $1500 in parking fines when I lived in Boston. I was on first-name basis with the folks down at the lot on Frontage Rd.

In New Hampshire, insurance is optional "but recommended" as they'll say. But then, New Hampshire's a funny place. No sales tax, no excise tax, no income tax. Live free or die, and all that.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:04 PM on July 23, 2005

For example, you can put a race car on a trailer, and truck it from your garage to the race track, and as long as you don't drive it on the city streets, it never needs to be inspected.

Which is a good thing, because most race cars can't make the smog test.
posted by ikkyu2 at 11:44 AM on July 24, 2005