Q: Jerry Seinturier of Riverside asked if drivers can legally park a vehicle with expired registration tags on a public street or road. “I’m seeing more and more vehicles with expired tags. If it’s not legal, what can a concerned citizen do?” he asked. A: If your vehicle has expired registration tags and is parked in public, any law enforcement agency can cite the vehicle for this violation, said California Highway Patrol Officer Dan Olivas of the CHP Inland Division. He said local code enforcement officers or police may respond to calls for enforcement if citizens want to report this. It should be noted, however, that vehicle owners get a grace period before being ticketed (it can take weeks or longer to receive new registration stickers in the mail). California Vehicle Code Section 5204 says that vehicles which fail to display current month and year tabs or display expired tabs are in violation of the law. Subsections say, however, “A violation of paragraph (1) shall not be the sole basis for any enforcement action before the second month after the month of expiration of the vehicle’s registration,” and, “If a vehicle is stopped for any other violation of this code, enforcement action for a violation of paragraph (1) may be taken before the second month following the month of expiration.” Officers also must verify, using available department records, that no current registration exists for the vehicle before citing it. “A citation shall not be issued for failure to comply with this section against any vehicle that has a current registration on file with the department,” the law says. Q: Brian Montoya of Chino Hills has a similar complaint. He said he’s tired of seeing so many people driving vehicles lacking current registration tabs, that have tabs expired by a couple of years, expired temporary plates, or “stickers that are purposefully made unreadable or missing to deceive if they are currently registered.” Montoya said he looked on the Department of Motor Vehicles website to see if he could report these vehicles by uploading a photo of them but he didn’t find a place to do so. “My idea is that if the state spent a little bit of money fining people that are clearly offenders, that DMV coffers would be paid back multiple times in fees that they would collect. All of us who follow the law would maybe see a bit of a break on what we pay to register our vehicles,” he said, and asked the DMV to comment. A: We heard back from DMV spokesperson Ronald Ongtoaboc: “Individuals who drive vehicles with expired registration are committing an infraction, which is a non-criminal offense that can result in a fine. For law enforcement to take action on a suspected infraction, they must witness it being committed (such as, see first-hand a vehicle being driven with the expired tag or plate).” So, if folks could upload a photo of a vehicle to a website for this purpose, every single one would have to be investigated. Related Articles News | Flashing signs in Rancho Cucamonga signal a reduced speed limit, but is it enforced? News | These Riverside Transit Agency bus drivers are being honored for their work News | Send us your traffic, commuting and road questions about the Inland Empire News | 2024 brought changes at DMV and to some Inland Empire roadways News | Will Route 66 ever reopen in parts of San Bernardino County? Since July 1 of last year, “state law prohibits law enforcement from using expired vehicle registration as the sole basis for an enforcement action before the second month after the month of expiration of the vehicle’s registration (which we explained above). Enforcement before the second month after expiration is allowed if the vehicle is stopped for any other Vehicle Code violation.” The DMV does not offer a grace period for paying annual vehicle registration fees and the longer someone delays paying, the greater the penalties will be. As we suggested in the previous question, citizens can report these violations to local police by calling the non-emergency number and asking for an officer to come out and cite the vehicle. Do you commute to work in the Inland Empire? Spend a lot of time in your vehicle? Have questions about driving, freeways, toll roads or parking? If so, write or call On the Road and we’ll try to answer your questions. Please include your question or issue, name, city of residence, phone number and email address. Write [email protected] or call us at our new phone number, 951-368-9995.