My porsche has been non op for a year and last week I got the new form to register it. I have it all fixed up and ready to go again. Yesterday I took it in for smog Pass got my cert and I was on the way back home to garage it when I got pulled over. I was unaware I had to get a 1 day permit to drive it on the street.

Instead of giving me a ticket the officer had my vehicle towed and impounded.

I was reading the paperwork and they sited vc 22651 for the reason of tow because it had not been registered for 6 months. More info here:
http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc22651.htm

The thing though is the car was registered, it was a PNO registration. From what I am reading online it says that I should have been given a ticket and would have been forced to pay a full years registation along with the fine but they have no right to tow the vehicle.

Can anyone comment on this?

I have the option of challenging the right to tow which I will assuming they cant retroactively ticket me. Can they retro a ticket?

Thanks in advance

 

Since the car is PNO, it cannot be parked or driven on public street. I suspect you pulled over on a public road?

Where did you park the car when you pulled over? If it's a private lot, you may have a defense.

If you win, I don't think they would ticket you again. That'd be double jeopardy, wouldn't it?

 

I did drive on a public road and he pulled me over on the public road. After he decided he would tow me he had me drive to a private lot though.

Im not sure if its double jeopardy. Its not like they are ticketing me twice for the same offense. But it would be like if you got pulled over for speeding and he let you go and then 3 days later decided to give you a ticket. I dont think it can happen.


I guess the 'law' that I see say that a car that is not registered for 6 months of longer can be impounded. My registration was current, it was a PNO registration but it was current. Everything I read says that driving on a PNO registation on a public street is ticketable and comes with a fine plus you have to pay the full registration for the time it was PNO. No where does it say drving on a PNO is a impoundable offese.

I believe the officer was incorrect in stating that my vehicle hadnt been registered for a year when it had actually been registered and was current. It was just PNO.

 

in reading that VC code, it appears that non of those conditions apply to you. the VC refers to parking concerns, rather than operating. i believe you do have a case based on wrong VC charged against you. good luck!

 

What makes you think he has a personal injury case? Because he got a citation?

 

That is a tough break. I strongly suggest that you consider the following before you compound your situation.

You need to understand that your car was NOT registered. At least not so in the state of California. The PNO saves you from having to pay the full registration fees AS LONG as you do not park, drive, move, or otherwise place that vehicle anywhere upon the public doman until it is either currently registered or has an Emergency Moving Permit issued by the DMV.

In these days when cities are running out of money you can't expect to get a break, as how many $$ the department brings in will have an effect on what the city council decides when they are cost cutting. That is the reality. Same with the courts. You have the right to fight it, but you are going to end up paying for the court time also. 22651 is a catch all and I would hate to see you wasting your time or more money. Just be aware that you are unlikely to get breaks on anything until the economy gets a lot better and these cities,etc are feeling flush again.

 

I ended up not fighting this and I ended up not barely having to pay anything.

First Im not sure if it was a mistake but the DMV did not require me to get the car registered as the officer told me I would have to. I just got a day pass and the CHP signed it off.

Then when I got my vehicle the impound yard tried to charge me for 3 days for being impounded for 22 hours. I contested 2 of the days with my credit card company and when the tow yard failed to reply I got 2 of the days credited back.

My intention was never to break the law. I had thought I was in full compliance with everything I did. I support law enforcement but the the CHP officer who pulled me over was a very bad seed. I should have filed a complaint for some of the things he said to me. In the end its easier to walk away with a small fee and some headache and not worry about jerks like this.

 

Joel,

I am glad it worked out..somewhat. I worked in law enforcement for 27 years and.. like everything, you have all types. Some times it is just having a really bad day, but the sad part is that most decent people only get involved with law enforcement in driving situations... and that is the one area of the law that is many time NOT fair.

Good luck and, remember, the officer is ALWAYS right [at least act that way and you might have a chance]. But never admit to anything you could ever want to contest. And.. I didn't say that.

JR