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Car accident with expired registration
Anonymous2 views3 answers
What are the legal repercussions of getting in a car accident with an expired registration? Does it matter if someone else (not the cars owner) was driving? Does it also matter whether the car's owner had told the driver not to drive the car?
Thanks!
I am not quite sure what you mean by "legal repercussions".
if you are asking whether there is any effect on who is at fault for the accident, there is none. The fact that a vehicle is unregistered has nothing to do with how the accident occurred or who may be responsible for the accident.
If you are asking, whether the driver or owner of the unregistered vehicle could be written up for it, the answer is most certainly. If the registration expired 30 days or fewer from the date of the accident, a warning is given. If it has been more than 30 days but less than 150 days, it is a traffic infraction with a maximum penalty of $50. If the reistration expired 150 days or more ago, it is a class E crime.
The penalty applies only to the driver. The penalty also applies to the owner, but only if the owner "allows" the operation.
In order:
1. The only repercussion is that you may get cited for expired plates if law enforcement arrives and investigates. The expired plates have nothing to do with fault.
2. Yes.
3. Yes -- if the driver was not a permisssive user of the vehicle, your own insurance may not cover possible damages claims.
Good luck.
