Does anyone know of any way to get out of a ticket for expired tabs? I know it is a lost cause, but I got a ticket (from a meter maid) for expired tabs. My tabs expired the end of April and I got the ticket May 13. I didn't receive the reminder notice in the mail (because I moved over a year ago) and for some reason thought my tabs expired in July. I know I am at fault, but it still would be nice to save $75.00

I got a ticket once for expired Coke, but not Tab. I got out of it by saying the Cokes were for an experiment, and showing 16d nails as proof.

Stub them out and buy a new packet? Even these days that should cost less than $75. Or you could get those patches, I've heard they're good.

Peter

Stub them out? Patches? not sure what you mean...

"Tabs" is a Northern (UK) term for cigarettes. For example: "he spent all of his dole money on beer and tabs, so I'm leaving him and going back to mother's."

If you go to court you will have the best chance of having the fine reduced. Admit your guilt but tell the judge that you would like to explain. Depending on the judge who hears the case, he/she may reduce the fine for you.

Of course, if you have to take a day off of work to do this it is often more cost-effective just to pay the fine.

OK, Ill admit my ignorance.
What are "tabs" and what happens when they expire?

I originally thought you had typoed the word "tags" as in "expired tags". That made more sense to me, and is a ticketable offense in the US. Not sure about tabs though...

I originally thought you had typoed the word "tags" as in "expired tags". That made more sense to me, and is a ticketable offense in the US.

So what are "tags" and what happens when they expire? I'm guessing they're some kind of road tax thing like a UK tax disc, but I'd never heard of them before, hence my admittedly slightly snarky post about expired cigarettes...

Edit: And, in fact, the tabs=cigarettes dialect only sets in rather further North than where I come from; I'm only familiar with it through the popular Geordie linguistics periodical, Viz.

Peter

Tags are USian slang for a license plate. You have to pay your vehicle taxes to get new stickers to put on the plate every year. In SC, it's usually it's just a warning if you forget, followed by a fine if you get caught multiple times.

Tags are license plates (as far as I know they're interchangeable terms).

Some states have stickers you put on your plates that indicate whether your car is currently registered and/or inspected. This might be what was expired.

In NY, you have a registration sticker on your windshield that tells when your plates expire.

I'm not sure, but I think the stickers on the plates in Virginia are for inspections. I don't think I replace those for the yearly registration change, so they must change the stickers at the gas station I get my inspection at.

I have a registration sticker and an inspection sticker in my front window, though. That I'm sure of. The registration one I get in the mail and put in myself. Unfortunately, the lazy inspection people don't feel like reaching down the dash far enough on my minivan, and I consequently have a sticker that's practically half the way up my windshield.

I did get a ticket once for an expired inspection sticker. That was about as expensive as you're talking about. Around $70 I think.

I recently bought a Trooper from VA and I haven't taken the VA inspection sticker off yet. Do you have any idea why it's in the middle of the windshield? Seems dumb to me.

one day I noticed my registration sticker was out of date, then realized that I did send in the check and that it was cashed.
I went to the (California) dept. of motor vehicles and asked them why I never got them. they said 'that happens sometimes, here..." and they had me fill out a few forms stating that I never received my new ones. then they charged me about $15 for (more) new ones.
when I got home to put them on my car, I noticed that the 'sticky' bit was no good at all on the new sticker. so I went back again.
you guessed it, more forms and another 15 bucks !!!

on a side note, I have also been told by the DMV that the notice you (might) get in the mail is not guaranteed and it's up to you re-register you car with or without any notice.

In NC, there's a month sticker and a year sticker on the license plate. The month sticker is permanent, indicating when during the year the registration expires. The year sticker is replaced once a year to indicate that you've paid the state your $25 (or whatever) for registering the car. Then there's a sticker on the windshield (driver's side lower corner) that indicates that you've had your car inspected (safety and emissions stuff) each year. In reality, a report is now submitted to the DMV (or whoever) that your car's been inspected, so that if you have a registered car that's not inspected, they send you a nasty note. They also changed the sticker itself so that it's impossible to see from a distance, rendering it basically useless. I wish they'd just get rid of them altogether. We used to have stickers for city taxes or something, too, but that was gotten rid of well before I started driving.

Do you have any idea why it's in the middle of the windshield?

All VA inspection stickers are in the middle of the windshield. If you're asking why the VA gov't decided to put them there, I don't know.

Yeah, I was wondering why they put them in the middle. Seems like more work for the cop that pulls people over.

I just did a quick survey of my office, and the consensus is the proper term for the license sticker here is "Tab."

Which I find kind of weird... until I read this thread, I didn't think twice about calling them "Tabs". I'm guessing it might be a regional thing.

That said, thanks for the reminder. My "tabs" expire end of next month...

EDIT: It appears I am not the only one who thinks they are called "TABS"

"Tabs"=tags. We say "tabs" up here Minnesota....

Frankly, I don't think they've ever come up in conversation in my life. The one time I ever remember them coming up, we just called them "those stickers on your license plate."

In the UK, they're called "tax discs". They're little paper circles with the expiry date mm/yyyy printed on them. They sit in a circular holder that you have to stick to the inside of your windscreen (passenger side). Each year is a different colour, to make it easier for the police to spot expired ones.

It's an offence to drive or park your car on a public highway without a valid road fund license.

The Road Fund License (as the government likes to call it -- we call it Road Tax) costs between £55 (for a low-emissions, "alternative" fuel car) and £165 (for a high-emissions diesel car). That's yearly.

IIRC, I pay £165/yr for my car.

You can buy either a 6 month disc or a 12 month disc. If you take your car off the road, you can return the tax disc for a pro-rata refund.

Well that explains it then.

If you were to come to Massachusetts though and say that your tabs had expired, youd be faced with blank stares.
But then if you asked for a "pop" you'd probably also get the same reaction.

I recently bought a Trooper from VA..

As in a state trooper? Did you buy a judge too?

My car is registered in VA where my parents live but I drive it down here in GA, so luckily I can put the stickers where they belong on the side and I only have to have one license plate. I still dont know for the life of me why they make you put the stickers in the middle.

...and I only have to have one license plate.

My Saab just passed NY State inspection today with no plate on the front. I have been stopped at inspection roadblocks a few times by the local police while only having the back plate on and have never been questioned about it. I have also been pulled over for speeding and have only gotten a ticket for speeding. That was by a NY state trooper and he didn't mention anything about the plate.

Apparently in NY, nobody cares about having a plate on the front of the car except in NYC. In the city meter maids [apparently] will often ticket you simply for having a missing front plate. That's fine though. I have an Isuzu Trooper that I use as my city going, airport long term parking, and daily commute whore.