# Cop: "License and insurance card." WTF? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 4, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-license-and-insurance-card-wtf/573524 "2011-03-04T22:05:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-license-and-insurance-card-wtf/573524/21 "2011-03-05T20:27:39Z")
> [@Snnipe\_70E](#): > > If you are in an accident you are required to show your proof of insurance to the other driver. Yep. Recently my daughter was in a fende-bender and I brought her the insurance card so that she wouldn’t get ticketed. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-license-and-insurance-card-wtf/573524/22 "2011-03-05T20:52:20Z")
> [@Frazzled](#): > > For as long as I’ve been driving in Texas (about 20 years) it has been license and proof of insurance. Sad to say - I got to hear it again last month so I can confirm it’s still in use here. In Texas, though, the form with your registration comes with that blue month/date sticker that you’re supposed to put on your windshield. As soon as he sees that, he knows you’re registered. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-license-and-insurance-card-wtf/573524/23 "2011-03-07T17:50:45Z")
Here in Virginia, they don’t seem to ask for proof of insurance. I got pulled over a few years ago for expired stickers (flat out forgot, and it was a couple of weeks after the deadline) and he asked for license and registration. Nice about it though, he let me off without a citation. And recently I got a speeding ticket (first time in my life… um, yay?) and was asked for license - wasn’t even asked for registration. I’m very glad he didn’t ask for insurance, as, well, I couldn’t find it! I had one from the previous year… and my insurance WAS indeed paid… ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-license-and-insurance-card-wtf/573524/24 "2011-03-08T03:12:20Z")
I haven’t been pulled over in MA in a long time but when I was, it was license and registration. I have never been issued an insurance card in MA. From a very brief google check, MA doesn’t require you to carry proof of insurance but your insurance company will give you an insurance card if you ask for it. I probably should do this since the registration is in my boyfriend’s name but I am fully covered on both vehicles. When I lived in NY, an insurance card was issued automatically. The one time I was pulled over in NY, I was still driving on MA plates but the cop still asked for an insurance card. When I reminded him that MA didn’t require them, he did :smack: and asked for my registration. I think it was deeply ingrained habit for him to ask for it. I have never been registered or pulled over in any other states so I don’t know what other states do. I do know that NH doesn’t require auto insurance so I imagine they probably don’t ask for it. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-license-and-insurance-card-wtf/573524/25 "2011-03-08T13:14:30Z")
I’ve always carried my registration with me, it’s in the center console with one of my insurance cards (the other being in my wallet, just in case) but nobody has ever asked to see it. I figured that it was some sort of an anachronism that I’d picked up from old TV shows. For me it’s always been “license, insurance, and please turn down the radio and put your pants back on sir.” Every single time. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-license-and-insurance-card-wtf/573524/26 "2011-03-08T19:58:03Z")
Leprechauns wear pants ?!? ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-license-and-insurance-card-wtf/573524/27 "2011-03-08T20:04:54Z")
Not while we’re driving, but generally yes. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-license-and-insurance-card-wtf/573524/28 "2011-03-09T14:52:21Z")
😃 ---
**Author:** ![Soliloquy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Soliloquy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soliloquy)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-license-and-insurance-card-wtf/573524/29 "2011-03-10T22:18:23Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I’m not sure _that’s_ true, but the reason they probably don’t ask for your proof of registration is because its _already on_ your license plate in the form of a little registration sticker that’s color coded to the year. So they can either look at or run your plate and know if it’s properly registered and to whom, and if the registration info matches your license info, they don’t need anymore on that. > > They ask for proof of insurance because without it they likely don’t know if you are insured or not until they see valid proof. I don’t think they can get that info off of your plate. In California, yes, cops can see if you’re insured or not when they run your plate. And they determine your registration status by running the plate, as well. The tabs (colored stickers) can be stolen or faked. No good cop only looks at the sticker on the plate to make sure someone’s car is registered. ---
**Author:** ![luckyboyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8dc957/32.png) [@luckyboyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luckyboyd)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-license-and-insurance-card-wtf/573524/30 "2011-03-10T23:58:55Z")
In Texas, you are not required to have the registration of the vehicle you are DRIVING. However, you ARE required to have the registration of a trailer you are pulling. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-license-and-insurance-card-wtf/573524/31 "2011-03-11T00:08:05Z")
Here in RI, license, insurance, and registration seem to have become voluntary. Get stopped, and if your missing any or all of them, and you’ll get a ticket, and might get to drive away. Pay the fine and you can keep doing it forever. ---
**Author:** ![Marc\_Xenos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Marc\_Xenos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marc_Xenos)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-license-and-insurance-card-wtf/573524/32 "2011-03-12T20:59:31Z")
> [@the lone cashew](#): > > It was my understanding that if no insurance proof could be presented to officer, a person would be issued ticket, but would also be allowed brief period of time (like a week or ten days or something like that) to present proof to the court. And if subject could do that, ticket would be waived. (This actually happened to a friend of mine while I was a passenger in the car.) > > Has the law been changed? Or was my friend given extra leniency? - by allowing them grace period to present proof of insurance to court - even though they failed to do so during traffic stop? (I am in MI, btw) MI originally would ticket you for failure to carry PROOF of insurance, but since the INTENT of the law was simply to make sure drivers were insured, the ticket would be dismissed in court if proof were shown that the driver was properly insured on the date of the ticket. But, the LETTER of the law was that every driver must carry proof of insurance. So, for a few years, tickets were not dismissed for showing proof in court. The violation was for Failure to Carry Proof upon your person. Compound that with MI’s peculair Driver Responsibility Act, in which violators must pay addiitional, annual fees to SecState for 1-3 years (depending upon offense), and MI started getting lots more money. But, you can only fleece the sheep painfully for just so long before the sheep start biting you. And many politicians realized they’d better change the law back to the original INTENT. So, you can save yourself some grief by carrying your insurance card in your vehicle, but at least today you won’t pay a fine for simply forgetting the card. (How about the woman who’s ticket was valid and had to pay the fine because her MI REGISTRATION wasn’t signed on the back, as it specifies? Either the registration is current, signed or not. What’s a signature got to do with it?) The law, however, is different in various states. For example, in TX, there’s no registration card, just a sticker on the windshield. Therefore, no need to ask for “registration”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-license-and-insurance-card-wtf/573524/33 "2011-03-12T21:17:09Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > Traffic laws are state laws. It would vary based on that, of course. I currently live in Illinois. The only time I’ve ever been stopped here (for going 42 in a 30, and I received a speeding ticket), I was not asked for proof of insurance. Just license/registration. I live in Illinois, too, but I don’t ever recall being asked for registration. I only remember license and insurance. [It’s not required for most passenger vehicles in Illinois.](http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/vehicles/title_registration/reg_idcards.html) > [@](#): > > Illinois law requires the registration ID card to be carried in all second-division vehicles weighing more than 8,000 pounds. Because some of our neighboring states require the ID card to be carried in all vehicles, we suggest that all Illinois motorists carry the ID cards in their vehicles. I’m not even sure if I have a registration card in the glovebox. I probably do, but I couldn’t say for certain. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-license-and-insurance-card-wtf/573524/34 "2011-03-14T00:53:08Z")
Last time I got pulled over in NH (about 7-8) years ago, it was still license and registration. NH doesn’t require car insurance (or didn’t then). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-license-and-insurance-card-wtf/573524.md?page=1)