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Beware of the Division of Motor Vehicles fine print because the only legal place to put your temporary vehicle registration certificate is in the rear window. I placed it in the front window and received a $10 fine.
On July 28, I realized my vehicle registration sticker would expire in just four days. Life’s been busy. It happens to the best of us. So I immediately went to the Lehi Checker Flag, in Lehi, Utah, an on-the-spot vehicle registration location and got the mandatory emissions and inspection done in 30 minutes, including a needed oil change. But when I went to pay, they told me they had run out of the registration stickers.
Although it would have been nice for Checker Flag to have told me they didn’t have any more stickers before getting the service done, I remained positive, went home and paid the registration online. I even printed a temporary registration certificate so cops wouldn't write me a ticket.
I placed the certificate in the front window feeling at peace that I obeyed the law. On Aug. 4, seven days later, my stickers still hadn't come, but I felt OK because I had my temporary certificate -- so I thought.
I drove to work in Salt Lake City and during the day received an “expired license plate” ticket with a note on the bottom that said the officer “checked all windows” for the temporary certificate. The officer even placed the ticket on my front window under the windshield wiper, just inches away from the temporary registration certificate.
I immediately went to the Salt Lake County City Justice Court and visited with a hearing officer who said that even though I had a temporary certificate, it was displayed in the wrong location: it needed to be placed in the rear window.
I didn't recall any instructions indicating the rear window was the law, but upon further investigation, there it was, in the really, really small fine print: “Cut along dotted line, place bottom portion in the rear window of vehicle.”
I had just read the bolded areas at the top of the certificate that said, “Detach bottom portion and display in the window of your vehicle.” But I hadn’t noticed the fine print.
To make me feel better, the hearing officer told me that this happens to a lot of people at the beginning of the month and that he can reduce the fine from $30 to just a $10 “Improper Placement Of Temporary Registration Certificate.”
I vowed that next year I wouldn't wait till the last minute, and always read the fine print.
Aaren Humpherys graduated from Brigham Young University in 2001, is a CPA, emergency preparedness expert, and father of 3. Contact him at alhumpherys@gmail.com
