<VV> Police Harassment / Antique Plates

[Tony Underwood]

At 02:32 hours 09/30/2005, UltraMonzaWest at aol.com wrote:
>What is this facination with Antique Plates?
>
>In Calif., who reportedly has high prices....Corvairs are $53  per
>year......Ore.  $55  for 2 yrs  Nev. $57 per year...

Holy shirt!   (battery acid spatters?)

Even custom personalized plates here are less than that.   Vintage 
plates in VA are ten bucks, and that's a one-time flat rate 
registration that's paid once and you're done, no renewal as long as 
you keep the car insured.   These here cost around 160 bucks a year 
under this vintage tags policy.


>Is it the Smog test??

No sniff test in SW VA.  However, some places in NoVA do require smog sniff.

There is another point in VA with vintage registrations.   VA doesn't 
require a tax stamp (aka "city or county" sticker) to be displayed on 
the windshield.  In VA, vintage vehicles are tax exempt (no property 
taxes or usage taxes) and there for since the city and county decals 
are a highway use tax stamp, vintage vehicles are tax-exempt and 
don't require the decal to be displayed although the city/county here 
will still be glad to sell you one if you want it and feel that local 
gubmint doesn't already get enough of your taxable income as it 
is.   Likewise the safety inspection decal seeing as how many vintage 
vehicles do not include equipment that modern safety inspections 
test/check such as airbags and safety belts and lights and defrosters 
and window washers whatever else a vintage car might never have had 
that would flunk a modern car if it didn't have the same functional 
equipment.

The understanding in VA is that since many vintage vehicles cannot 
meet a modern safety inspection because of the lack of many such 
pieces of safety equipment, they will not be required to pass a VA 
safety inspection, thus they need not display an inspection 
decal/sticker.   However, if for whatever reason the car is involved 
in an accident which was shown to have been caused by the failure of 
a piece of equipment that a VA safety inspection would have 
uncovered, it's your ass.

It is the vehicle owner/operator's responsibility to insure that his 
vintage vehicle is indeed roadworthy, or all bets are off.   Get into 
an accident because the brakes let go due to a busted hose that the 
inspector would have flunked you for, and you stand liable to be sued 
within an inch of your life and your insurance company may not cover you.

Check your vintage-registered car and make sure it's roadworthy, or else.

And yes there are still cops who don't know about vintage 
registration regs although they're getting fewer these days; I have a 
copy of vintage regs in the glovebox, so far so good.


tony..