MASSACHUSETTS DRIVERS : DON'T ASSUME YOUR CAR IS LEGALLY ON THE ROAD!!

“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” (Romans 13:1)

If you own an automobile in Massachusetts, is there a legal and valid state inspection sticker affixed to your car’s windshield? Don’t be TOO sure!

I can’t help but notice things like license plates and inspection stickers. My father, Eugene A. Baril retired as a Supervisor from the old 100 Nashua Street Registry of Motor Vehicles headquarters back in 1982 after a distinguished career. He was presented with Mass. license plate #280 upon his retirement. Today, that plate is affixed to the Honda that my wife drives. Dad also was known as the “honorary historian” of the Registry of Motor Vehicles. He was often cited in local publications during the early years of his retirement. (If you do a little on-line searching you’ll find the Registry’s history page which includes a photo of him holding up the first license plate issued in Massachusetts.)

Dad left me a number of collectible license plates and inspection stickers upon his death. Decades ago, Massachusetts had (frankly) very boring looking license plates, but the COOLEST inspection stickers of probably any state or province! I actually sell these “mint” stickers at classic car shows. My favorites are the stickers from 1957 through 1981. Stickers of that period are glossy and colorful. In those days, Massachusetts alternated between rectangular stickers and square stickers, based upon the year. The stickers were glossy and bright and colorful. Some are green, some orange, some blue, some red, even some PINK!

Back in the pre-1982 era, it was very easy to tell if a car was not legally inspected. For example, if the current inspection stickers were green and square and your car sported a rectangular and orange sticker, it would be unusual for you to drive around much more than two days before an officer would stop you and issue a ticket. Cars without legal stickers were very rare in those days.

Today, non compliant automobiles ABOUND. Walk through ANY parking lot, and you’ll notice that typically one out of every fifteen cars displays an out-of-date inspection sticker. They’re harder to spot. The stickers are now always the same shape. They do change colors from year to year, but the MAJORITY of the sticker is white and black, AND people may not notice that the large number in the middle of the sticker indicates the sticker has actually expired.

Recently, I wrote to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation pointing out the above facts. My recommendation was a public relations campaign using television commercials warning drivers to check their stickers and to get the car inspected if the sticker is expired.

A few days ago, I received an e-mail from Erin Deveney who is Chief of Staff
of the Registry of Motor Vehicles Division of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Ms. Deveney states that there are no funds to pay for such a public relations/public education campaign, BUT that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is seriously considering:

“...additional measures that may be employed to compel compliance, including the implementation of a vehicle registration suspension process for the owners of vehicles that do not obtain an annual inspection. “

Did you catch that? SUSPENDING the car’s registration! While that WOULD get many unsafe automobiles off the road, can you imagine one out of fifteen cars having their registrations suspended? That means the plates are gone. That means violations to pay, insurance surcharges, and certainly fees to reregister the cars. The state makes a ton of money, and much of it from decent people who just plain don’t realize their sticker has expired. This reminds be of the fact that a couple of years ago, the state stopped notifying licensed drivers when their licenses were about to expire. NOW, if they’re stopped and the license is expired THERE IS A HUGE FINE!

I think there ARE ways to have a public relations/public education television and radio campaign about the expired inspection sticker problem. What about businesses or foundations who’d FUND such a campaign?! I think a number of the larger auto dealers in Massachusetts would be willing to do this, as well as a number of foundations and some philanthropists.

I don’t think we should let this get to the place that people’s car registrations are suspended. Nor, should we continue to allow for so many uninspected cars to be on the road, risking the safety of us all!

If you care about this, please contact your state representative and state senator. You can also e-mail Ms. Deveney at
erin.deveney@state.ma.us

Let’s do all we can to pass this information on to EVERY Massachusetts car owner!