That’s the practical point, but you missed my main point: there’s no point to needing anything in the car at all if it’s totally electronic. Meaning officers wouldn’t have to demand to see anything – it’s all in the tubes. Paperwork becomes redundant.
Don’t count on that in all states! In Georgia, when I was in college, I left the new insurance thing on my table always meaning to take it out to the car. I missed a stop sign in a bush and got pulled over, and producing my insurance proof at the courthouse only brought the fine for not having insurance down to like $75 instead of whatever astronomical amount it was going to be. In many states the law is that you must have it on you at the time.
Don’t assume that all the state’s computer’s “talk” to each other equally well either. It is a state by state thing and there is no national movement to interconnect every state’s motor vehicle databases with all the others. States that border each other usually share information but there is certainly no guarantee that a police office in Idaho will just be able to pull up information for a drive from Maine with a few clicks.
Officers don’t have wireless connectivity to those databases everywhere, and different states probably don’t have direct, in-car access to other state’s databases. Until that happens, there will still be a requirement to keep two pieces of paper in the car. Plus, it keeps the officer from having to go back to the patrol car to look up the driver actually driving the car against the registration/insurance info they got from running the plates.
Speaking as a person that works on large databases, I wouldn’t want it to be completely electronic. Database errors are far from rare and the paper provides a receipt in case someone accidentally deletes your registration and an officer is sitting with you beside a road late at night with no one at the DMV to call. I fail to see how keeping a couple of pieces of paper in your glove compartment inconvienences anyone.
Here is the killer though. You may need your registration yourself for a variety of reasons not the least of which is an accident. Other reasons include renting a car.
Do people really have an issue with this?
But it isn’t all totally electronic. How is the officer going to know my car insurance is paid up unless he sees the card?
Heh. The funny part for me is I get the card with my bill due. I could totally use the card to show someone while not having current insurance. Ultimately it won’t get me far, but all it proves is I at one point had insurance from the vendor.
Of course, insurance is not required in NH.
That’s a good point, esp here where criss-crossing the state line is so frequent.
Why would I need the registration for my car when I’m renting another one?
I am curious. Just how “bulky” is the UK paperwork on cars? 
FWIW, in Texas, you only need your Driver’s License and Proof of Insurance. I usually carry my car insurance card and car registration. Both documents are so small that they tend to get lost w/ all the crap I have in the car’s glove compartment (car hand book, tire gauge, etc.).
In some jurisdictions, the police do not need to be called in collisions that do not result in injuries, and if the estimated damages are below a certain dollar amount.
so, if I put a minor dent in another car in some parking lot, I can show the other owner my info. He won’t have access to multistate databases.
I think the real question is “Why don’t drivers in the UK have to carry documents?”
Over here, apart from the tax disc, I don’t need the vehicle licence document, the insurance certificate, the MOT (roadworthiness) certificate, or my driving licence.
Strikes me as a bit mad. While I applaud the lack of necessity for UK citizens to carry ID, the simple addition of an MOT and insurance disc (as they do in Ireland), and the requirement to carry a licence when driving, strikes me as much more sensible.
I do, however, think the car registration document shouldn’t be in the vehicle, as there’s too much potential for abuse.
You guys don’t understand. I’m not talking about travel to other states, or the current way things are this very day today. I’m saying that with computerized records, keeping things in the car is just silly. We’re progressing towards that – and I know that at least some departments in Michigan are already there. I still carry my paperwork, including that required for Canada – because I’m not always in my state, and in fact, the law here, too, requires me to present them as needed. All I mean is simply “that’s not the way it has to be.” There’s no need to carry paperwork with you (but there’s a requirement to do so).
It’s not his business whether or not your insurance is “paid up” or not – he only needs to ensure it’s valid. And he does that the same way your loss payee knows your insurance is invalid: waits for the insurance company to let him know.
This is actually a better system than an insurance certificate. As was pointed out above, I get my certificate with the anual bill, but it’s meaningless. Around here, most of the better insurance companies have an electronic relationship with the state. It permits things like being able to register your car online. I have to imagine that this is common enough in all states, right? I mean, do any of you actually have to go to your SecState or DMV for something as simple as a renewal?
Don’t know about other states, but in New York liability insurance in the name of the registrant is mandatory. If you don’t pay your premiums on time, the insurance company is required to notify the DMV immediately. At that point, your registration is suspended, and if you don’t have coverage for more than 90 days, your license is suspended too. AFAIK all that helpful info would come up electronically if the police ran your plates.
That’s a good point. But that’s not for law enforcement purposes. Actually, it’s meaningless, because you could show him a phony document just as well. And of course if you live in a no fault state, you don’t have show him anything, because it just doesn’t matter.
That’s probably not true, unless you automatically assume that payment = coverage (I guess for people that pay monthly it kind of gets into their brains that way). They’d be required to notify DMV when coverage lapses. Small point to make, and read your policy, especially if they have different payment plans. My insurance company has payment plans that are a single payment per year (cheapest way to do it), or single payment per six months (almost as cheap), but no real “monthly” payment plans. Instead, you can pay four consecutive months for six months of coverage, or (either) eight or 10 consecutive payments for a year’s coverage. Because you’re paying more than the pro-rated daily rate up front, you can’t necessarily equate “payment = coverage” because you’ve pre-paid beyond the next payment date. Or, you can equate them if your payment terms are written that way.
So you’re talking about the future then, Balthisar? Because right now there is certainly a need beyond the requirement. And don’t dismiss cross-state travel, because that’s a very common reality that has to be addressed.
Picky, picky. Yes, I equated nonpayment with lapse in coverage, because that’s the most common reason that insurance companies in NYS will notify the DMV of a lapse in the first place - they’ve cancelled your policy for nonpayment. Other reasons the NYS DMV gives for lapses:
I forgot once - just once - to send in my semi-annual premium on time. My ins. company had a 10-day grace period before notifying the DMV, and with a reminder from them I was able to avoid having a lapse due to policy cancellation. However, I was also told that if it happened again any time in the next three years, the company would immediately cancel my policy (no grace period) and I’d have to find a new insurer, probably at a higher rate.
Maybe Michigan is more laidback. Last I heard, New Jersey barely gave a damn. I see upthread that NH doesn’t require any insurance. Clearly this is a case where YMMV.
I think it’s an error to assume that all states are progressing towards better computer electronic system of communication. It assumes aside from advancement of technology, that all cities and counties have the money to get such technology and have the infrastructure for it. For example, about two years ago, I got stopped by the cops here in McAllen, Texas. He asked for my driver’s license and didn’t have it with me [ :smack: ]. The police officer told me to hold on and called in my name to HQ. After 10 minutes, he didn’t get a response and, being quite nice, let me go.
Ah, but effectively, you DO carry registration. You just call it a “tax disc”, and stick it in your window, apparently. We don’t have those in the US. Most US states issue the same info on the “registration” card that we carry in the glove box. I suspect the “bulky” documentation being talked about is what we refer to as the “title” (in most states), and DO NOT carry in the car.
My CA registration is a 4.5 by 4 inch slip of paper. Here’s the DMV sample:
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/images/vr/regcard_w_arrow2.jpg
The year sticker goes on your license plate, the left hand part s the registration card carried in the glove box.
I’m curious–you need a separate insurance card for Canada?
I’m in Canada and my car insurance card states quite plainly that it is valid in all of Canada and the United States. I don’t believe we even have a choice in the matter–if you buy car insurance in Canada, you will get coverage for driving in the US automatically. If this is the case for insurance purchased in the US as well (and it sounds like it is, if a card proving coverage in Canada is free, as you state), I’m left wondering why US cards don’t just say so and why you would need to order a separate card. Does anybody know?
Aha, we have a breakthrough.
And that part of the US system is a bit nutty (IMO). What exactly is it? Can’t they be peeled off? Our cars’ license plates are usually unchanged for life (there are exceptions, but that’s the norm).