Why don police walk around parking lots and give out tickets for uninspected vehicles?
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.
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 fr
