Any advice for an upcoming “mitigation hearing” for expired tags (on an older secondary vehicle)?
I currently drive a 2007 Nissan Frontier but decided to take out an ’84 Toyota Pickup that my grandfather had gifted to me a while back. This vehicle usually sits parked by the house but a friend of mine and myself have started in on fixing it up. When we took it out for the night there were no issues, it ran pretty decently. The only bad thing was it turns out the tabs were 11 months expired. The following Monday after receiving the (indicated) “traffic” violation I renewed the tabs to cover the next two months and for the hearing that was to come. Additionally, I have two previous tickets in the last 10 years, one for not wearing a seat belt and another for speeding.
**Second note** The citation was marked as a “traffic” violation and was given to me without any review (unless that is standard.) Will this affect my car insurance rates?
Traffic Lawyer Richard Simon’s Answer
Washington state is similar to Missouri in the fact that both use moving and non moving violations. According to WAC 308-104-160-Parking violations, equipment violations or paperwork violations relating to insurance, registration, licensing and inspection are considered “nonmoving violations.” This means your case should not affect your insurance. RCW 46.16A.030 states that failure to renew your tags is a traffic infraction. So to the best of my knowledge, pay your ticket and move on.
