NY - Failure to Display Registration

I was returning from college and pulled off just across the state line to fill up. I get detained at a roadblock and ticketed for Failure to Display Registration, in violation of Section 14 of NYS V&T law. I would have had to be in court on an inconvenient date to defend myself so I just plead guilty. What kind of a fine am I looking at? The court clerk said $85 - isn't that a bit excessive for a non-moving violation? I've gotten speeding tickets for less! Anyone know if there is a schedule of fines codified anywhere in NYSVandTLaw?

The law student in me wanted to plead not guilty, but then again, is it really worth all the aggravation? I'm sure I could get off on a technicality (specifically, I wasn't cited for a specific subsection violation) or some other loophole, but the fact of the matter is I was in violation, and I accept this. I kept putting off actually affixing the new registration and removing my expired sticker, and it caught up with me. I don't think I should have to pay that much for a non-moving violation. Can I, after receiving the fine from the court, appeal or contest it as being cruel and unusual, excessive, or something of that sort?

Thanks in advance and sorry for the long post, but if anyone has answers to any of these questions it would be greatly appreciated. Happy holidays.

Unfortunatly I believe once you plead guilty thats it you just have to pay the fine now. Thats like pleading guilty to murder and then going to try to fight it LOL.

so you have the new registration but are too lazy to peel the old one off and affix the new one? Damn thats stooping to a new level of laziness!


I would have peeled it off and slapped the new one on right there in front of the cop. Sometimes they'll let you off for things like that. I've been pulled over for taillights out before and swapped them with some spares right in front of him and they were happy and didn't give a fine.

Some of these roadblocks are a good "revenue enhancer" ,for municipalities. The cops will ticket you for even the most minor infraction, because a lot of drivers are either too lazy to fight the charge(s), not from the immediate area so they don't want to have to go back and fight it in court, or inexperienced in the way the laws are or how the courts function. One of the problems of living in NY state is the excessive fees and surcharges that are placed on top of fines levied. Sometimes they equal or exceed the original fine. I hope you learned from this experience and the next time you get your new sticker to immediately affix it on your windshield to save yourself from the aggravation. It was a policy in one of the garages I used to work in that if a customer brought their vehicle in for the state safety inspection, the registration sticker must be current and affixed to the windshield. If not it was when the vehicle left the shop. I've seen cops give out tickets for improperly affixed registration stickers, as there are specific places you can place them on your windshield.

yeah they can def. bust your balls at road blocks. I almost got a ticket at one once because the ink on my registration sticker had faded from my car being parked in the sun all the time. The sticker was only 6 months old and I still had like a year and a half left or something. Dmv obviously isn't going to give me a new one so I just used it, I mean soooorrrryyy that the state used shitty ink haha. But anyway the officer tried being a dick and was like "How am I supposed to read that?" I just said I dunno I can see it from in here try looking closer or look at the registration card from my wallet. Well he didn't like my answer too much. However he did let me go. Maybe faded ink on valid stickers falls into a gray area in the law.... haha

I remember those years when the DMV used poor quality inks on their stickers. Actually they still are trying to "get it right." They also had a big problem with the adhesives they were using and the stickers would literally fall off the windshield after a few short months. I had all my stickers scotch-taped to the windshield. That problem alone is good reason enough for the cops to give you a citation for improper display of reg. sticker. Now the ink literally adhers itself to the windshield after you remove the old sticker. :lol:

Some of these roadblocks are a good "revenue enhancer" ,for municipalities. The cops will ticket you for even the most minor infraction, because a lot of drivers are either too lazy to fight the charge(s), not from the immediate area so they don't want to have to go back and fight it in court, or inexperienced in the way the laws are or how the courts function. One of the problems of living in NY state is the excessive fees and surcharges that are placed on top of fines levied. Sometimes they equal or exceed the original fine. I hope you learned from this experience and the next time you get your new sticker to immediately affix it on your windshield to save yourself from the aggravation. It was a policy in one of the garages I used to work in that if a customer brought their vehicle in for the state safety inspection, the registration sticker must be current and affixed to the windshield. If not it was when the vehicle left the shop. I've seen cops give out tickets for improperly affixed registration stickers, as there are specific places you can place them on your windshield.

Yeah, I did learn my lesson, and it wasn't that I was lazy - if anything it was an act of omission. I had been out of state for the past 6 months, kept my car registration and driver's license based out of NY for several reasons - most importantly in-state tuition since I planned to transfer to NY. I got the registration sticker and filed it away and I should have just put it on right there, regardless of whether I was in state or not. Anyway, I'm switching all my paperwork to SC - cheaper insurance, cheaper everything. Also, you don't even have to get your car inspected and the DMV is close to dropping it's policy of requiring insurance.

NYS changed it's policy last year. They used to let the townships keep the mandatory surcharge. They recently decided that the state should get the money. That left the towns to raise the fines to get the revenue back. Gotta love NY.

I don't "personally" know about the sticker laws but I bought a 1960 Chevrolet Apache 10 and it STILL TILL THIS DAY has an inspection sticker on the windshield from the state of mississippi from 1986 and it hasn't faded or ran or anything, hell it WON'T peel off. (not that I should be too worried with it because i'll need a new windshield as soon as I get it running) I just wanted to post my bragging rights because it's just another reason to move to "THE GREAT BAMA" A.K.A. Tha Dirty South....

And as far as the 85 dollar moving violation, feel lucky, there isn't a moving violation that you can get that isn't at least 125 or more down here, I guess living in the dirty south has it's disadvantages.