And… at least look at the registration.
Yeah, I get it. The requirement that you keep your address in your car could be a problem for some people.
But in many cars, the garage door opener is the car itself.
Are they less likely to be stolen? Genuine puzzled question.
A smaller and smaller percentage of Americans know how to drive a shift. This stops the impulse thieves.
It factored into a lot of Perry Mason mysteries back then.
I’ve never, ever heard of anyone carrying their vehicle registration in their wallet. I cannot believe this is a common habit.
Write up a decoy registration with a fake address and hide the real one in the car.
This is a pretty good idea. I’d just keep a copy of the real one with the address blacked out. That would remind me there’s the real one hidden someplace instead of handing a fake one to a police officer.
Of course it is all unnecessary because they can find out everything based on the license plate, and it would be more up to date information.
How big are these registrations in IL and CA that they cannot fit (or be folded in half to fit) in a wallet? Are we confusing a registration with a title?
Hell, even New York registrations were the same size as a license for years and then it was enlarged enough so that you had to fold it in half. I cannot imagine any reason for that doc to be any larger.
In Maryland they’re 4.5 inches square and easily fold up (folded twice it is smaller than my license).
Either you misremember or they changed it back - my NY registration is the almost exactly the same size as my license - it’s just a little bigger to allow for what I assume is some sort of code at the bottom. I don’t think you’d have to fold it for any wallet- but you certainly could fold just the bottom quarter-inch or so…
Mine is an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper.
For those who carry the vehicle registration in their wallets, what happens when you let someone borrow your car, or you drop it off for service? What happens if there is a traffic stop? I doubt you remember to take the registration out of your wallet.
Mine too. It never occurred to me that some states use wallet sized registrations. Ignorance fought
I don’t really let people borrow my car - my husband and I each carry copies of both car registrations and when my son used to drive one sometimes , he had a copy as well. As far as repair shops, , they’ve never asked for the registration certificate because apparently the only consequence of not having the registration certificate is that the police will scan the registration sticker on the windshield. I’ve never heard of someone getting a ticket for not having the certificate if there was a valid window sticker. ( maybe it happened before the window sticker had all the info) I just looked up the VTL, and it actually says
so apparently the police cannot issue a ticket for driving an unregistered vehicle if you don’t have the certificate but do have a valid sticker. I haven’t been able to find anything that states not having the certificate is a separate violation from an unregistered vehicle.
I find this thread greatly amusing.
Me too. The OP is upset over someone stealing the car and potentially finding out where they live so they can use the garage door opener to rob them.
The vehicle still would have the license plates on it and it is simple to find out the owner’s name and address just from the license plate. That is why most people who post pictures of their car on-line obscure the plate.
And your state’s DMV, (Dept. of Motor Vehicles in my state), is probably selling your information anyway. I know that Oregon does. They made $11.5 million last year doing just that.
This is why when you move and put in a change of address at the DMV as required, you can be inundated with junk mail. The DMV sold all the people’s change of address info.
I really would not worry about the registration being kept in your car.
I just ran out to my car to check. It’s approx 8.5 x 11" and thicker than regular copy paper, more like a light cardstock. Maybe about as thick as a magazine subscription insert? It’s also got an area that’s even thicker yet since there’s a piece of label backing from when the sticker arrived.
But even if it was wallet sized, I’d still leave it in the car.
I looked it up: Illinois says:
https://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/vehicles/title_and_registration/regid.html#idcards
Sounds to me like the intention is that the registration is meant to be kept in the vehicle rather than on the driver’s person.
I’m not carrying any registration or automobile insurance papers on my person. What if my bag was stolen or a man’s wallet pickpocketed?
It’s safer in the glove box in the car. Where, IMO it’s supposed to be.
Now, how to assess my taxes? Since the courthouse is locked-down in both counties I own land in. :smack:
My registration is a huge piece of paper, so I don’t get this carry in your wallet stuff. When I graduated from high school we got a little wallet sized mini-diploma. Do you guys use some service that shrinks your registration to wallet size?
My bad, you’re right, that extra layer of protection does nothing at all. Go ahead and leave it unlocked at all times.
:rolleyes: