Motor vehicle laws. Complicated jurisdiction question.

[AdvancedQs]

I have recently been wondering about something. I'll use a Florida RV as an example because I’m familiar with some things about that state and how it differs from others.

Florida: pretty dark window tints are allowed. Now, if I take my Florida vehicle up to a state where they do not allow window tinting, and my Florida vehicle has Florida license plates, Florida registration, I have a Florida license, can they give me a ticket for having window tints that meet the legal requirements of my state? Even if I’m just passing through another state?

what about inspection stickers? Florida doesn’t have motor vehicle inspections. What if you go through a state that requires motor vehicle inspections? Can you get a ticket for no inspection?

I ask because I did have something kind of similar happen to me. And they wrote up the ticket. Even though I was completely legal in my own state. they said I can just fight it in court and I would probably do fine. But why waste all this time?

[AdvancedQs]

Horsedoc wrote:
I might call BS on that business of not needing insurance if you have never had an accident in your life. With that rationale, an 18 year old male would not be required to have insurance and he is in the group that have the highest accident rate in the nation.
Why don't you show us the State law code section that says that it is not required.

Well, you might not know what you are talking about then. That’s what you are showing in this post.

Please stick to the topic if you're ignorant.

I’m not wasting my time on you. You can Google the law. Find it yourself.

I knew the idiots would come out of the woodwork the minute I started posting about the actual items. Maybe I’ll go back and delete that. So you can go back into the woodwork.

[Horsedoc]

I might call BS on that business of not needing insurance if you have never had an accident in your life. With that rationale, an 18 year old male would not be required to have insurance and he is in the group that have the highest accident rate in the nation.
Why don't you show us the State law code section that says that it is not required.

[PButler96]

JimR 1 wrote:
IMO and just from my experience with a west coast state the personal financial responsibility requires some form of documentation so what happened to you won't happen.

How do you expect the authorities to know you are financially responsible unless you have documentation?

JimR

Your papers please!

[AdvancedQs]

JimR 1 wrote:
IMO and just from my experience with a west coast state the personal financial responsibility requires some form of documentation so what happened to you won't happen.

How do you expect the authorities to know you are financially responsible unless you have documentation?

JimR

it’s just simply not required in my state. That’s it. There is no documentation either.

but in any case, that’s not what I’m asking about.

i’m asking if a vehicle is set up and all its paperwork is in order for the state that it’s registered in, doesn’t that make it valid to drive in every other state?

And it seems no one has the knowledge. Don’t we have former police on here? Retired? Do they know? Any former judges? Attorneys?

with a bit of googling, I found some lawyers arguing about the stuff online.

It would seem that no one, even on attorney forums, knows the answer to this question.

and you would think it would come up a lot. A lot of people drive into other states. People who don’t have inspections. People who have overly tinted windows for the state they drove into. Things like that. It’s the same premise.

[Community Alumni]

IMO and just from my experience with a west coast state the personal financial responsibility requires some form of documentation so what happened to you won't happen.

How do you expect the authorities to know you are financially responsible unless you have documentation?

JimR

[PButler96]

AdvancedQs wrote:

But I don’t want everybody arguing about this. OK? Please? It’s going to be controversial. People are going to get upset. I might as well be posting about wearing a mask or not. That’s the kind of thing it’s going to be.

there are actually two things. And I don’t want opinions on whether or not these things are correct. Or what you think about them. What I would like please is actual knowledge about if a vehicle being completely legal in its state is therefore legal in all other states that it can drive through. That’s the question. Please don’t get hung up on the actual items that I’m going to list now.

On these boards? ROFLMAO......

[AdvancedQs]

Tvov wrote:

AdvancedQs wrote:
So this is a very gray area then. I thought a lot of people would come on here and have the exact answer. You guys usually know exactly what’s going on with this kind of stuff.

I would tell you guys exactly what it is, but I don’t want to cause an uproar. People get very heated and emotional about this type of stuff. I don’t want to get into a bunch of arguments about it.

but suffice to say I’m completely legal in my state in the way my vehicle is configured and all of my paperwork. But, in the other state, I would not be.

this is not a moving violation. I drive perfectly. No accidents in my entire life. Driving record empty. It’s just the way my vehicle is set up which is legal in my state but apparently not in the state I was in. Much like the window tinting. That’s why I used it as an example.

What the? Now I REALLY want to know what you are talking about, lol!

OK. Maybe I should let everybody know. But I don’t want everybody arguing about this. OK? Please? It’s going to be controversial. People are going to get upset. I might as well be posting about wearing a mask or not. That’s the kind of thing it’s going to be.

there are actually two things. And I don’t want opinions on whether or not these things are correct. Or what you think about them. What I would like please is actual knowledge about if a vehicle being completely legal in its state is therefore legal in all other states that it can drive through. That’s the question. Please don’t get hung up on the actual items that I’m going to list now.

Item#1:. This is the one that got me pulled over. My DMV told me that I should not move my license plate off of the vehicle and onto the truck camper. They said keep it on the vehicle. They said the truck camper is just a load in the back and you can still see the plate.. And you can. It’s a little hard to see, but you can see it. I followed the instructions of my state. passing through another state, they didn’t like my state's advice and instructions. So they pulled me over.

Item#2:. My state is a little different. In my state if you have not had a motor vehicle accident in your life, you do not need insurance. I do not have insurance. I do not want insurance. I don’t want to listen to people talk about how I need insurance. This is a simple fact. I don’t have to legally have insurance. Because in my 34 years of driving I have never had an accident. We have something called personal financial responsibility. That’s actually what it’s called in my state. I take the financial risk. Because the officer was unaware, I showed him the law. Instead of not writing me a ticket, he tried to give me whatever he could. So he gave me some false ticket about not producing my insurance card. He didn’t give me the ticket for not having insurance, since I'm not required to. He gave me a ticket for not producing the insurance card. And then after he thought about it a little more, he said I would probably be just fine just showing the judge the law I showed him. It should get it thrown out. But he still gave me a **** ticket! And I have to waste my time showing the judge the law in court. Thankfully it’s on zoom though. Otherwise I would have actually been pissed off if I had to drive all the way back to this other state. BWhich got me thinking about everything in this thread.

I’m somewhat dissatisfied that the cop decided to reach to give me any ticket he could. Because he couldn’t really give me the one for no insurance. Because I’m not required to have any. Same as an inspection sticker. If I’m not required to have an inspection in Florida, then in his state, I don’t need to have an inspection either. It’s a matter of paperwork. My paperwork was not the same as the state that I was driving through. And in all actuality, it’s never the same as the states I’m driving through. Because my state is the only one that doesn’t require insurance.


So what’s the deal? If a vehicle is 100% legal and it’s physical configuration and paperwork to drive around its home state. Isn’t it legal to drive around the entire country also? By some reciprocity?

[opnspaces]

I think reciprocity only applies to drivers licenses. If you are licensed to drive in one state you can drive legally in any other state. But I don't think there is much for reciprocity with motor vehicle modifications.

[AdvancedQs]

wa8yxm wrote:
Inspection stickers: If you are legal at home you are legal period.

Window tint: I see a lot of cars where I suspect the tint is too dark.

I only know the rules in Michigan.. The "B" pillar (That's the one BEHIND the driver" Behind the "B" pillar. as dark as you like.. IN front of the "B" pillar (Driver and passenger doors and windshield) top 4 (I think) inches only and a limited percentage.. I see many cars much darker.. I've owned cars darker. FACTORY TINTED.

Oh and no reflective "tints".

OK, but my question is more about this. Say you had the darker, aftermarket tints or reflective ones. And say those were completely legal where you come from. The state that your vehicle is registered in and the state that you are a resident of. But you are passing through a different state. A state where that is not legal.

Doesn’t the set up of the car and it’s paperwork and everything which would include things like inspection go with the state the car is registered in?

Otherwise, how could everything make any sense as you travel? The laws are different in every state. We would need a national set of laws similar to gun transport. Is there such a thing?


What I’m really not understanding is the actual law. Is the configuration of the vehicle and its paperwork dependent on the state the vehicle is registered in when you are traveling nationally?

If not, this doesn’t make any sense.

[Tvov]

AdvancedQs wrote:
So this is a very gray area then. I thought a lot of people would come on here and have the exact answer. You guys usually know exactly what’s going on with this kind of stuff.

I would tell you guys exactly what it is, but I don’t want to cause an uproar. People get very heated and emotional about this type of stuff. I don’t want to get into a bunch of arguments about it.

but suffice to say I’m completely legal in my state in the way my vehicle is configured and all of my paperwork. But, in the other state, I would not be.

this is not a moving violation. I drive perfectly. No accidents in my entire life. Driving record empty. It’s just the way my vehicle is set up which is legal in my state but apparently not in the state I was in. Much like the window tinting. That’s why I used it as an example.

What the? Now I REALLY want to know what you are talking about, lol!

[2112]

Was this an excessive noise offence? Maybe exhaust mods?

Our local LEO will nail you on a loud stereo but seem to be less aggressive on loud exhaust mods.

[wa8yxm]

Inspection stickers: If you are legal at home you are legal period.

Window tint: I see a lot of cars where I suspect the tint is too dark.

I only know the rules in Michigan.. The "B" pillar (That's the one BEHIND the driver" Behind the "B" pillar. as dark as you like.. IN front of the "B" pillar (Driver and passenger doors and windshield) top 4 (I think) inches only and a limited percentage.. I see many cars much darker.. I've owned cars darker. FACTORY TINTED.

Oh and no reflective "tints".

[AdvancedQs]

So this is a very gray area then. I thought a lot of people would come on here and have the exact answer. You guys usually know exactly what’s going on with this kind of stuff.

I would tell you guys exactly what it is, but I don’t want to cause an uproar. People get very heated and emotional about this type of stuff. I don’t want to get into a bunch of arguments about it.

but suffice to say I’m completely legal in my state in the way my vehicle is configured and all of my paperwork. But, in the other state, I would not be.

this is not a moving violation. I drive perfectly. No accidents in my entire life. Driving record empty. It’s just the way my vehicle is set up which is legal in my state but apparently not in the state I was in. Much like the window tinting. That’s why I used it as an example.

[AdvancedQs]

KD4UPL wrote:
Some things are reciprical. Some aren't. Nobody cares about a Florida inspection except Florida.
Something like double towing is different. Double towing is not legal in VA, it doesn't matter if it's legal in your home state or not, you can't do it here.
We'd have to know exactly what you were ticketed for, where. And exactly what the laws are. I'd just call a lawyer if I were you.

Right, but that's a moving violation. I'm talking about administrative things or things inherent to the way the vehicle is set up.

[afidel]

Radar detectors are completely illegal in a few states
My FIL was a stickler about window tint but he never popped folks from out of state for it, not sure if that was a law thing or his personal "full faith and credit" thing, but since you can't easily remove tint like you can with most other things I'd be arguing that one.