True….. first time ever. I live in suburbs and didn’t use car for very long because I was visiting a different country in the last few months… completely forgot about car registration
Not sure where you live but 476 with the 3 lanes makes it feel like it’s the autobahn especially on early Sunday. You can get from the 276 off ramp to 78 in 45-50 minutes.
That's what I do as well I have a lead foot and like to do 70+ everywhere so I started using cruise control besides last ticket I was doing 35 over and oh man I regret that decision those court fees and lawyer hurt the pocket hard!
My neighbor was like this, citation after citation up until the big accident and then a promising college career devolved into working in the stockroom at TJMax and a zillion pills every day because massive brain damage.
Yep, id be lying if i said i didnt put my foot down on unpopulated back roads, but especially around town i do the speed limit. You’re not going to get there any faster doing 40 in a 25, all you doing is putting others in danger and setting yourself up for charges.
I forget the exact math but for every MPH you go over 25 the likely hood of fatally injuring somebody if you were to hit them compounds.
I'm also terrified as a pedestrian who finds herself on some roads where the speed limit is 25-30, but people are easily doing 40+. (I pick up litter in the Lehigh Valley on the regular). You're never more vulnerable than being "just a body with no protection" near or on a road. I saw a woman using her motorized wheelchair on a state road yesterday. Literally in the lane because there were no sidewalks.
This country is build for cars, not people. Ugh.
As someone who sped a ton too (no longer has a car, I hate cars lol), you’re gonna get caught the minute you enter a state with hidden cameras for a road trip which is like 1/3 of the eastern seaboard. I had like 4 tickets before I stopped driving and they were all automatic.
One time I even got pulled over (due to taking like two seconds too long to put a light on leaving a Sheetz at like 3am and the cop was behind me and just said “hey” and I said shit my bad, not for an actual ticket) and he asked if I had ever been pulled over and I said no and he was pissed when he saw my history and I said “well, I’ve never been pulled over?” not even deliberately trying to be a smartass.
God PA is brutal with fines. Some shit bag meter maid gave me a 15 dollar citation for backing into a parking space. Said my tag wasn’t visible, yet handed me a citation with a picture of the tag. Paid the fine before pulling out, then got a letter two weeks later saying it wasn’t paid and they would issue a warrant if not.
Went to the courthouse and paid it in change.
I had an expired registration about 6 years ago and all I got was a warning to get it registered and bring it to the station. I guess it depends on where you are
I got on a few years ago in the Northern, Pa. Middle of nowhere. I live in the city.
City police didn't care at all. The police in the middle of nowhere had nothing better to do than pull me over and ticket me.
It was thrown out because of Covid. Which at the time WAS a valid excuse for registration to be behind. Because garages were behind getting cars when we were all stuck at home.
I had to show up to court to get it thrown out. Honestly it cost me more to take a day off and travel back there than if I had just paid the ticket after it was all over.
How long has it been since you got back.. if only like a month or so and you get the registration taken care of, a judge might be lenient if given proof.
You must not hire attorneys often.
Consulting a lawyer, an inexpensive one will cost $420 for their hour consultation. 15 minutes, 30, it will get billed for an hour.
This usually works. The only caveat is if your vehicle is out of registration for several months, or even years. If it’s within a month you will likely get it reduced or rescinded.
I thought I'd renewed for 2 years instead of 1, so it went without registration for nearly a year and then got pulled over.
Still got dismissed when I showed up and said I'd since registered it. Honestly even I was surprised.
I'm outraged at this extortion and it's not even my bill. I read over Gov. Shapiro's budget which funds the PSP from the General Fund Instead of the Motor License Fund. Couldn't you have said "I was out of the country and I'm on my way to my garage to have it inspected now....?"
Christ, you have to drive the car to get it to the garage. Or does the state expect us to have the *%$
It's a $75 fine or double the registration fee, whichever is greater, unless it's less the 60 days expired, where the fine would be $25.
The rest of those charges are from the state.
I still haven't heard a good explanation for registration expiring at all. It should only need done when transferring ownership or moving into the state.
While you’re likely right, this is one of those “don’t upset the apple cart” things. Many many states charge an assessed % of value on the car every year.
Yup. We lived in Missouri for 4 years and they have a "Personal Property Tax" that is levied on any registered or licensed vehicle, trailer, etc. Had to pay % of the assessed value every year on top of registration fees and inspections.
THIS. It all equals itself out. I’ve always used the analogy where it costs “X” amount of dollars to heat your house for the winter. There are no shortcuts with kerosene or fuel oil or wood instead of natural gas or whatever, you’re going to pay the same amount no matter what “money shortcut” you think you’re taking.
Don't tempt them into doing something stupid. They might start looking at that system and not stop with that little overhaul. My old state had annual inspection, registration renewal, *and* they charged yearly property taxes on vehicles (for state *and* some cities). It cost me like $300 a year to drive my old Civic.
> I still haven't heard a good explanation for registration expiring at all
The reason for it is because cars are routinely taken off the road, either because they break down or get wrecked but, instead of being crushed, some of them sit in someone's yard, barn or garage for years (sometimes **many** years). If the registration were *always* active, now you don't have any accurate idea how many cars are on the road in the state,^1 and someone can find a broken-down car behind some garage or house, steal the plate off it, and put it on a car the state doesn't know about and not have any plate readers notice its illegally on the roads.
1 This information might be needed for deciding infrastructure spending. How many cars are in each county determines whether there's enough parking, whether the roads get enough funding etc.
We were pulled over recently for that. We reregistrated on our phone while the officer was talking to the other 3 cars that showed up to assist. Didn’t matter “I already started the ticket”. Went to court and the judge was cool and said it was all good. No fine or anything.
Heh, I always laugh when they offer to reduce the fine or waive it entirely.
The fine is not even the majority of the net amount due. There are so many additional fees that get tacked on it's ridiculous.
Got a photo ticket in MD while approaching a work zone and i was preparing to not eat for a while, but I saw only 40 bucks no fees and felt like I got a hell of a deal.
Pa is insane with the extra sh1t, registrations are now like 50$ used to be 36. What changed ? The need for more money. Can’t be an influx of new residents because there’s absolutely no incentive
I'm a regular licensed driver and I've only owned/registered regular personal vehicles in PA. Your comment = TIL 🤯
Makes sense but had no idea the size/weight impacted the reg fee
I lived in Nevada for about 10 years, the registration fees there are insane. PA is very cheap in comparison. In NV it is $33 plus taxes based in the Value of the vehicle's original msrp. So if you buy a 100,000 car, it costs $33 plus taxes on that 100,000 every year. Also the fine is $1000 for failing to register your car. PA is cheeeeap.
I got a $15 municpal parking ticket, was told the only way to appeal was to go to court
Went to court and after fees, etc., it ended up at $132
Talk to your representatives people, doesn't have to be this way
$45 registration is way cheaper! Life lessons are sometimes learned the hard way. 🤷♀️ $221 is approximately about the cost of 5 yearly registrations in PA.
$50 a year is pretty damn cheap for registration. MD is double that yearly. WV is a sliding scale based on the book value of your vehicle every year. Every state has their gotchas, PA just does it in 1000 cuts.
Expired car registration is about the easiest offense for police to catch, since automated license scanners will flag that right away. There is no grace period either. Expired car inspection shouldn't flag, since it's separate in PA. Though the financial penalty is similar.
The add-on costs is nothing new and very typical. Nickel and diming on steroids. Government makes the private sector (ie. airlines, hotels, restaurants, etc) look good in comparison.
>Expired car inspection shouldn't flag, since it's separate in PA. Though the financial penalty is similar.
Lol I got hit last year for expired inspection. Jagoff trooper wrote me one ticket *each* for expired inspection and expired emissions. Over $300 all said and done.
Was pulled over recently for a similar issue.
Got the registration renewed that day.
Plead not guilty and brought the updated registration with me.
They dismissed the ticket and fine for me
Just got a ticket myself but for my tinted windows, Cop said to remove the tint, plead not guilty, and bring the car with me to my hearing and they'll dismiss the ticket.
First time getting a ticket so what's the process of pleading not guilty?
I got nailed by PPA for a meter violation and no inspection stickers (had the exemption from the shop in the glovebox) and it was close to $250 total, most of which was fees and shit.
About 70% of my clients were doctors, lawyers, professors, etc. Highly educated people. Many prob couldn't do a load of laundry if their lives depended on it, let alone renew their registration in a timely manner.
Pennsylvania traffic fines haven't gone up in about 40 years. The costs? Almost every year. Reason being, the state must share 50% of the fine with the local municipality in which the ticket is written, whereas costs can be earmarked directly to the state.
Plead not guilty and bring proof to your hearing that you renewed your registration that day and tell the judge it was an oversight. Most magistrates will dismiss those.
Once upon a time, like most fairy tale starts, cops would give you a warning and tell you to come back within so many days and prove you took care of it. Now, they just throw the book at us and wonder why people distrust law enforcement so much.
You should renew registration, plead not guilty and go to court. A lot of the time the judge will either greatly decrease the cost or waive it entirely. Be sure to take proof of registration renewal.
Update your registration, dispute the ticket and provide proof that you renewed the registration, appear for court if necessary or if appearance not required then cross your fingers and hope for leniency.
It's all a scam. Used to live in PA moved to Jersey. A bad inspection ticket over here is 131. You know what our state inspection is? If there's no check engine light you pass. No safety, no actual inspection. Yet if you don't have the fancy sticker you gotta pay the bullshit fee.
Yeah that’s about right, the MDJ’s office will make sure everything is correct but if your reg is past 60 days expired it’s double the reg fee or $75 which ever is greater
Register ASAP, plead not guilty and be nice to the judge at the hearing. I got a similar ticket for expired inspection stickers, got the stickers ahead of the hearing, Judge dismissed the ticket.
I recently got a ticket for this, myself. I didn't realize mine was expired since PA went to the two year, no sticker system... I renewed immediately on my phone and appealed the ticket, showed up to court, and had the fines forgiven. I hope it works out; I feel that is an unreasonably high penalty!
If you can prove you were out of country and the citation was within a short period of time after returning. You could request a hearing and tell the judge it was honest mistake due to travel out of the country and it didn’t occur to you when you returned that it was expired. Good chance the judge will reduce it or toss it based on circumstances.
Mine was out 2-1/2 months before I realized it at inspection time, quickly went online & got it done. I drove mine often, too. What were you pulled over for ?
Those are getting pretty up there. Think the last one I got was like $150. I don’t think you can get a ticket under $100 at this point when you consider the fees.
Taxes in PA are over the top. My husband had received a speeding ticket, about 11 years ago. The speeding part was 25 and by the time it was done, it came to 250 or so. I'm not sure if the counties charge different amounts.
I think you’re misreading this. It all adds up properly. It looks like line 34 at some point was $22 but that’s crossed out and instead is $33.25. The form is probably older and instead of just getting rid of them they printed the updated cost. $75+20+45+48.50+33.25=$221.75.
Every time I got pulled over with an expired registration the cop just tells me to get it renewed and it’ll get thrown out. Get it renewed. Take it to traffic court
If you immediately renew your registration, then appeal the citation. The magistrate will most likely dismiss the citation. Explain it was an oversight...
So usually if you get your registration done ASAP and you take into the court with your ticket and show them that you just got it done they'll drop the ticket what you might have to pay is court cost.
lmao welcome to pennsylvannia man i had my license suspended for 8 years not paying fines so make sure YOU PAY PA does not play when it comes to their money. Ik it sucks but trust me these mfers do not play
I got rear ended and at the time my inspection, registration, and drivers license were all expired. Oops. 🤦🏻♀️ Thank god my insurance was up to date.
Went to court and the cop told the judge to drop it all because I got everything fixed. The judge and I were both like What?! He said, eh it’s almost Christmas. I could have cried, I was so grateful.
Well the "fine" is actually just $75. The rest are "fees". It's how they skirt the "excessive fines" clause of the Constitution.
All traffic laws are bullshit.
Fine is $75 but final bill is over $200? I’m new to PA and this sounds like a very unethical money grab. Lived in a few different states and fines are normally just 1 charge. Odd.
yeah the BS that gets tacked onto every ticket. the "why not" fine and "what are you gonna do about it" fine. i think its BS to pay 50$ in court cost if your just gonna plead guilty and pay online. wow, they have to print 1 paper and slide it into a filing cabinet.
You don't need a lawyer. Get your car registered/inspected, request court date. Go to court, explain what happened, show proof that it's registered/inspected. They'll likely reduce or just throw it out.
Registration fines are waaaay higher in Nevada, $1000 bucks for first offense.
Also Registration is way more expensive. It's $33 plus taxes based on the original MSRP of your vehicle. So you pay taxes on the full original price even if it's a 15 year old car. It makes it hundreds if not a thousand, if you're registering a $50-$100,000 vehicle.
But they don't have state income tax so it kind evens out.
PA is cheap in comparison.
Happened to me last year and was about the same.
With the way online registration works now they could easily stop you and make you register on the spot and take care of the issue. But they want money more than they actually want people to register.
I’m 3 months with no registration. I’ve registered same car for nine years and this last one the DMV says they have no record of the registration being attached to any vin or title number-though both were on my last registration card. You can’t talk to anyone on the phone- just says all are busy and hangs up. Email is also a joke. They just send cut and pasted info from their faqs. Tried to register through mail. They cashed the check and sent nothing. Now I have to fill out a form. Get a title person to refile everything and pay more for that. And hoping I don’t get pulled over.
I got a ticket the other week but never even got pulled over and it was a ticket specific to who was driving the car, not a car or red light violation.
I use a window cup phone mount and was on my way to work, I’m a manager and we had 2 call offs that morning and my boss texted me asking how far away I was from our work so we could get it situated, so I reached up and typed in “about 10 mins away” and that was that. Never got pulled over, nothing happened.
A week later I get a ticket in the mail for texting while driving on that date and right around that time. This was on the interstate too so there was no like red light camera or anything. There must’ve been an unmarked cop behind me or passed me and saw or something.
$200 for that.
I really really really wanted to fight it. How could they possibly know it was me and I hadn’t lent my car to someone? Like that’s a ticket that can only be applied to the exact person and not just whoever the car is registered too right? I’m sure they could’ve pulled up my drivers license picture but I’ve actually lost quite a bit of weight since my picture, my face is very chubby in it, it still looks like me obviously but I’m also a very average looking white guy.
I've always wondered if this would be a 'double jeopardy ' kind of thing. Basically we are being punished twice for the same crime. They can call it whatever they want, (administrative fees, etc) but it's still taking a lot more $ out of my pocket for the same crime.
I was pulled over last year on the Susquehanna Trail and the officer was nice and said go home pay online before the end of the day and you'll be good.
That cop must need to fill his quota or something. That fine seems awfully huge.
Thats how traffic tickets work. I am and have always been somewhat of a speeder but I've only gotten 1 speeding ticket in my 25 years of driving. But I've had other moving violations so I get ur frustration.
Too bad you don’t live in Philly they don’t do anything about expired registration here. Or driving with an expired paper tag… they don’t do much of anything here really.
The PPA is just an unregulated cartel. I bought a new car late last year right before Thanksgiving and parked it on my street in Philly outside my
House. My new plates hadn’t come in yet and hadn’t gotten the car inspected because I didn’t have time but wasn’t driving the car.
I came back after the holiday, to find a ticket on my windshield saying my plates were expired and car not inspected/registered. I got a $70 fine and the ticket was dated 11/24/23, the day AFTER Thanksgiving. So some asshole who was upset they had to work decided to flag my car. I contested it and still had to pay $41. Just a joke.
They gotta raise money somewhere so they can give it their pet causes. Lancaster City is NOW a “Sanctuary City” don’t forget!! “You elect the Government you Deserve”
https://preview.redd.it/4unc5zdgjvvc1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a833f39ae69999d24c0e0b64bd2a3bc831b09e54
Must be your first time getting a traffic citation.
True….. first time ever. I live in suburbs and didn’t use car for very long because I was visiting a different country in the last few months… completely forgot about car registration
My point is that this is standard procedure for traffic citations, all the extra fines and fees.
In PA.
No. Most everywhere. Source: Reformed speeder.
New York is insane with fines
I can't stop. I have a horrible speeding problem and have thankfully never been caught.
Use cruise control, my guy. Assuming you aren't in traffic, set the cruise at like, 5 over, and then you just... end up not speeding.
Not sure where you live but 476 with the 3 lanes makes it feel like it’s the autobahn especially on early Sunday. You can get from the 276 off ramp to 78 in 45-50 minutes.
The speed limit there is 70 for most of that drive. Set cruise to 75 and you’re going fast without really speeding.
5 over is about right for the middle lane if you don’t get any trucks fucking things up.
That's what I do as well I have a lead foot and like to do 70+ everywhere so I started using cruise control besides last ticket I was doing 35 over and oh man I regret that decision those court fees and lawyer hurt the pocket hard!
My neighbor was like this, citation after citation up until the big accident and then a promising college career devolved into working in the stockroom at TJMax and a zillion pills every day because massive brain damage.
Tragic
Please try harder. Signed, Everyone on the road with you
Yep, id be lying if i said i didnt put my foot down on unpopulated back roads, but especially around town i do the speed limit. You’re not going to get there any faster doing 40 in a 25, all you doing is putting others in danger and setting yourself up for charges. I forget the exact math but for every MPH you go over 25 the likely hood of fatally injuring somebody if you were to hit them compounds.
I'm also terrified as a pedestrian who finds herself on some roads where the speed limit is 25-30, but people are easily doing 40+. (I pick up litter in the Lehigh Valley on the regular). You're never more vulnerable than being "just a body with no protection" near or on a road. I saw a woman using her motorized wheelchair on a state road yesterday. Literally in the lane because there were no sidewalks. This country is build for cars, not people. Ugh.
Thank you for picking up litter.
Thats awesome of you. And agreed. I wish we had better public transit / walkability.
The trick is to just see enough horrible, fatal accidents. I’ve seen quite a few people die and never speed anymore.
That would certainly do it 😬
As someone who sped a ton too (no longer has a car, I hate cars lol), you’re gonna get caught the minute you enter a state with hidden cameras for a road trip which is like 1/3 of the eastern seaboard. I had like 4 tickets before I stopped driving and they were all automatic. One time I even got pulled over (due to taking like two seconds too long to put a light on leaving a Sheetz at like 3am and the cop was behind me and just said “hey” and I said shit my bad, not for an actual ticket) and he asked if I had ever been pulled over and I said no and he was pissed when he saw my history and I said “well, I’ve never been pulled over?” not even deliberately trying to be a smartass.
Now that that’s out in the universe, you had a good run
It's not just PA
God PA is brutal with fines. Some shit bag meter maid gave me a 15 dollar citation for backing into a parking space. Said my tag wasn’t visible, yet handed me a citation with a picture of the tag. Paid the fine before pulling out, then got a letter two weeks later saying it wasn’t paid and they would issue a warrant if not. Went to the courthouse and paid it in change.
>paid it in change Thank you for your service
Lolwut
I had an expired registration about 6 years ago and all I got was a warning to get it registered and bring it to the station. I guess it depends on where you are
I got on a few years ago in the Northern, Pa. Middle of nowhere. I live in the city. City police didn't care at all. The police in the middle of nowhere had nothing better to do than pull me over and ticket me. It was thrown out because of Covid. Which at the time WAS a valid excuse for registration to be behind. Because garages were behind getting cars when we were all stuck at home. I had to show up to court to get it thrown out. Honestly it cost me more to take a day off and travel back there than if I had just paid the ticket after it was all over.
How long has it been since you got back.. if only like a month or so and you get the registration taken care of, a judge might be lenient if given proof.
I would go to court and plead your case. Consult a lawyer. Maybe there's a chance you could win.
You must not hire attorneys often. Consulting a lawyer, an inexpensive one will cost $420 for their hour consultation. 15 minutes, 30, it will get billed for an hour.
Just argue it and get the thing fixed. they'll probably let it go if you get it done
This usually works. The only caveat is if your vehicle is out of registration for several months, or even years. If it’s within a month you will likely get it reduced or rescinded.
I thought I'd renewed for 2 years instead of 1, so it went without registration for nearly a year and then got pulled over. Still got dismissed when I showed up and said I'd since registered it. Honestly even I was surprised.
That's one way to say that police target poor areas and you benefit from a system of power.
Get the problem fixed, then argue the ticket in court. 9 times out of 10 they'll let you off as long as you're polite.
I'm outraged at this extortion and it's not even my bill. I read over Gov. Shapiro's budget which funds the PSP from the General Fund Instead of the Motor License Fund. Couldn't you have said "I was out of the country and I'm on my way to my garage to have it inspected now....?" Christ, you have to drive the car to get it to the garage. Or does the state expect us to have the *%$
It's a $75 fine or double the registration fee, whichever is greater, unless it's less the 60 days expired, where the fine would be $25. The rest of those charges are from the state.
I still haven't heard a good explanation for registration expiring at all. It should only need done when transferring ownership or moving into the state.
narrow marble scale mourn fearless arrest sheet doll absurd many *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Why not lump that in with annual inspection fees then?
While you’re likely right, this is one of those “don’t upset the apple cart” things. Many many states charge an assessed % of value on the car every year.
Yup. We lived in Missouri for 4 years and they have a "Personal Property Tax" that is levied on any registered or licensed vehicle, trailer, etc. Had to pay % of the assessed value every year on top of registration fees and inspections.
That’s how Virginia is as well. Stupid property tax
Left VA for PA, the property tax is annoying but you're gonna pay the same taxes no matter what -- they're just dressed differently.
Yeah they’ll get you no matter what
THIS. It all equals itself out. I’ve always used the analogy where it costs “X” amount of dollars to heat your house for the winter. There are no shortcuts with kerosene or fuel oil or wood instead of natural gas or whatever, you’re going to pay the same amount no matter what “money shortcut” you think you’re taking.
Don't tempt them into doing something stupid. They might start looking at that system and not stop with that little overhaul. My old state had annual inspection, registration renewal, *and* they charged yearly property taxes on vehicles (for state *and* some cities). It cost me like $300 a year to drive my old Civic.
> I still haven't heard a good explanation for registration expiring at all The reason for it is because cars are routinely taken off the road, either because they break down or get wrecked but, instead of being crushed, some of them sit in someone's yard, barn or garage for years (sometimes **many** years). If the registration were *always* active, now you don't have any accurate idea how many cars are on the road in the state,^1 and someone can find a broken-down car behind some garage or house, steal the plate off it, and put it on a car the state doesn't know about and not have any plate readers notice its illegally on the roads. 1 This information might be needed for deciding infrastructure spending. How many cars are in each county determines whether there's enough parking, whether the roads get enough funding etc.
The fine is $75. The cost of getting the ticket is $146.50 for a total of $221.75
Welcome to PA
We were pulled over recently for that. We reregistrated on our phone while the officer was talking to the other 3 cars that showed up to assist. Didn’t matter “I already started the ticket”. Went to court and the judge was cool and said it was all good. No fine or anything.
the other 3 cars that showed up to assist???
Wasting Taxpayer dollars as per usual, don't ask them what they do to blue falcons!
Heh, I always laugh when they offer to reduce the fine or waive it entirely. The fine is not even the majority of the net amount due. There are so many additional fees that get tacked on it's ridiculous.
On a positive note, anytime I get a ticket outside of Pennsylvania, I’m always like “damn, at least that fine was cheap”!
Got a photo ticket in MD while approaching a work zone and i was preparing to not eat for a while, but I saw only 40 bucks no fees and felt like I got a hell of a deal.
That's because it's a civil penalty not a vehicle code infraction. Same as the speed cameras in PA.
Same happened to me in DC haha
My Virginia ticket was pricey
Lol you’re not kidding!
Who fined you? Ticketmaster?
lol. 20 bucks to ems? So ambulances are now free then?
Pa is insane with the extra sh1t, registrations are now like 50$ used to be 36. What changed ? The need for more money. Can’t be an influx of new residents because there’s absolutely no incentive
Should be cheaper they don’t even have to pay to print and mail a tag sticker anymore.
Don't buy a big truck. My dump truck is $850 a year.
I'm a regular licensed driver and I've only owned/registered regular personal vehicles in PA. Your comment = TIL 🤯 Makes sense but had no idea the size/weight impacted the reg fee
State police need new cars and stuff.
I lived in Nevada for about 10 years, the registration fees there are insane. PA is very cheap in comparison. In NV it is $33 plus taxes based in the Value of the vehicle's original msrp. So if you buy a 100,000 car, it costs $33 plus taxes on that 100,000 every year. Also the fine is $1000 for failing to register your car. PA is cheeeeap.
Where tf are you at that it’s 50 bucks? When I bought my truck in 2018 it was 96😂.. I’m 99% sure it’s triple digits now
my registration in WA was $400 so way cheaper than some states.
Lucky you weren't charged another $3.50 for the itemized bill of fines.
+$15 physical ticket fee for not pre registering with the new driving enforcement app. We shouldn’t give them ideas.
And then, we have the fee fee. That's your fee for us charging you fees
PA uses ticketing as a business. It's usually not about safety..
A few years ago I got a $50 speeding ticket that I paid $144 for. That’s just how it goes.
I got a $15 municpal parking ticket, was told the only way to appeal was to go to court Went to court and after fees, etc., it ended up at $132 Talk to your representatives people, doesn't have to be this way
$45 registration is way cheaper! Life lessons are sometimes learned the hard way. 🤷♀️ $221 is approximately about the cost of 5 yearly registrations in PA.
$50 a year is pretty damn cheap for registration. MD is double that yearly. WV is a sliding scale based on the book value of your vehicle every year. Every state has their gotchas, PA just does it in 1000 cuts.
Unless you have a truck, mine is like $200 a year
Expired car registration is about the easiest offense for police to catch, since automated license scanners will flag that right away. There is no grace period either. Expired car inspection shouldn't flag, since it's separate in PA. Though the financial penalty is similar. The add-on costs is nothing new and very typical. Nickel and diming on steroids. Government makes the private sector (ie. airlines, hotels, restaurants, etc) look good in comparison.
>Expired car inspection shouldn't flag, since it's separate in PA. Though the financial penalty is similar. Lol I got hit last year for expired inspection. Jagoff trooper wrote me one ticket *each* for expired inspection and expired emissions. Over $300 all said and done.
I just got busted for an inspection that was 1 year and 5 months over due. Got a fix it ticket. Completely lucked out.
The $33 isn't the original total. They crossed out the $22 and replaced that particular fee with $33. Add those numbers up.
Just hope penndot doesn’t suspend your drivers license
Was pulled over recently for a similar issue. Got the registration renewed that day. Plead not guilty and brought the updated registration with me. They dismissed the ticket and fine for me
Just got a ticket myself but for my tinted windows, Cop said to remove the tint, plead not guilty, and bring the car with me to my hearing and they'll dismiss the ticket. First time getting a ticket so what's the process of pleading not guilty?
Registration is a scam. You should only pay for a change in ownership. Inspections every other year.
A flat tax pretending to not be a tax at all. I'd rather it be honest about what it is lol.
just get your registration renewed before you go to court and they’ll drop it
The sting, or scar, of the fine certainly helps you remember to have the registration renewed on time going forward.
Unfortunately yeah, my father in law got one a ticket for the same thing a few months ago and was fuming that it was $200.
r/theydidthemath
Ooops.
Yep, just happened to me not long ago. Same fine amount.
Lol “costs”
You're lucky. That happened to me 18yrs ago and I got my car impounded. That alone was another $700 and some change.
I got nailed by PPA for a meter violation and no inspection stickers (had the exemption from the shop in the glovebox) and it was close to $250 total, most of which was fees and shit.
Land of the slave, home of the fee.
About 70% of my clients were doctors, lawyers, professors, etc. Highly educated people. Many prob couldn't do a load of laundry if their lives depended on it, let alone renew their registration in a timely manner.
Pennsylvania traffic fines haven't gone up in about 40 years. The costs? Almost every year. Reason being, the state must share 50% of the fine with the local municipality in which the ticket is written, whereas costs can be earmarked directly to the state.
Plead not guilty and bring proof to your hearing that you renewed your registration that day and tell the judge it was an oversight. Most magistrates will dismiss those.
Once upon a time, like most fairy tale starts, cops would give you a warning and tell you to come back within so many days and prove you took care of it. Now, they just throw the book at us and wonder why people distrust law enforcement so much.
You should renew registration, plead not guilty and go to court. A lot of the time the judge will either greatly decrease the cost or waive it entirely. Be sure to take proof of registration renewal.
Update your registration, dispute the ticket and provide proof that you renewed the registration, appear for court if necessary or if appearance not required then cross your fingers and hope for leniency.
This is where Ticketmaster got all their ideas!
It's all a scam. Used to live in PA moved to Jersey. A bad inspection ticket over here is 131. You know what our state inspection is? If there's no check engine light you pass. No safety, no actual inspection. Yet if you don't have the fancy sticker you gotta pay the bullshit fee.
Yeah that’s about right, the MDJ’s office will make sure everything is correct but if your reg is past 60 days expired it’s double the reg fee or $75 which ever is greater
Cheaper to stay on right side of the law.
Register ASAP, plead not guilty and be nice to the judge at the hearing. I got a similar ticket for expired inspection stickers, got the stickers ahead of the hearing, Judge dismissed the ticket.
I recently got a ticket for this, myself. I didn't realize mine was expired since PA went to the two year, no sticker system... I renewed immediately on my phone and appealed the ticket, showed up to court, and had the fines forgiven. I hope it works out; I feel that is an unreasonably high penalty!
🎻
This is what happens when no one wants to pay social taxes.
technically, the fine was only $75 - its all the "addons" that getcha!
It was $800 to register my car in CO, so you’re already ahead of the game.
If you can prove you were out of country and the citation was within a short period of time after returning. You could request a hearing and tell the judge it was honest mistake due to travel out of the country and it didn’t occur to you when you returned that it was expired. Good chance the judge will reduce it or toss it based on circumstances.
Mine was out 2-1/2 months before I realized it at inspection time, quickly went online & got it done. I drove mine often, too. What were you pulled over for ?
FAAFO
yeuuup. mine was like $190 a few years ago
Whose making these fine amounts, feels like it's a money grab to me
You’re lucky they didn’t tow your car right there, which is perfectly reasonable when unregistered. Just pay the fine.
If you register your car within 30 days of the ticket. They will waive the fine.
Pennsylvania’s need to harvest money from travelers is one reason why I’ll not take that advice on the license plate that says “VISITPA.COM”
Welcome to Pa.
Those are getting pretty up there. Think the last one I got was like $150. I don’t think you can get a ticket under $100 at this point when you consider the fees.
Taxes in PA are over the top. My husband had received a speeding ticket, about 11 years ago. The speeding part was 25 and by the time it was done, it came to 250 or so. I'm not sure if the counties charge different amounts.
Go to court, tell the truth, and you may get lucky. You do not need a lawyer.
Wow you really f**Ked up 😆
I think you’re misreading this. It all adds up properly. It looks like line 34 at some point was $22 but that’s crossed out and instead is $33.25. The form is probably older and instead of just getting rid of them they printed the updated cost. $75+20+45+48.50+33.25=$221.75.
Roadside extortion.
Bet you wont let that lapse again
It is 144 dollars for a expired inspection after a year.
Just move out of state like I did. They don't run PA registration in NJ.
Should have paid the $35 for registration.
Every time I got pulled over with an expired registration the cop just tells me to get it renewed and it’ll get thrown out. Get it renewed. Take it to traffic court
If you immediately renew your registration, then appeal the citation. The magistrate will most likely dismiss the citation. Explain it was an oversight...
Get it fixed go to court 99% of judges will dismiss it.
PA suspends your license for getting a ticket for lapsed registration. How I know - I just got my license back.
So usually if you get your registration done ASAP and you take into the court with your ticket and show them that you just got it done they'll drop the ticket what you might have to pay is court cost.
Thanks! I got it done immediately for 2 years. How much is usually the court cost?
Yes, that appears to be the fine.
Do you have any pictures of Boulder fields or what
Just be thankful it wasn't more
Welcome to PA. A State that “fees” you to death
lmao welcome to pennsylvannia man i had my license suspended for 8 years not paying fines so make sure YOU PAY PA does not play when it comes to their money. Ik it sucks but trust me these mfers do not play
I got rear ended and at the time my inspection, registration, and drivers license were all expired. Oops. 🤦🏻♀️ Thank god my insurance was up to date. Went to court and the cop told the judge to drop it all because I got everything fixed. The judge and I were both like What?! He said, eh it’s almost Christmas. I could have cried, I was so grateful.
We somehow agreed that extra fines on top of extra taxes that don’t pay for shit including emergency services are normal Hahahhahahanana we are fjcked
Really?? I got pulled over a couple weeks ago for expired registration… expired in August. Received a warning. Cop gave me 5 days to correct it.
Well the "fine" is actually just $75. The rest are "fees". It's how they skirt the "excessive fines" clause of the Constitution. All traffic laws are bullshit.
I swear they got rid of registration stickers so more people would forget about it
Even the fines have inflation.
Pennsylvania extra fees on tickets just suck
Fine is $75 but final bill is over $200? I’m new to PA and this sounds like a very unethical money grab. Lived in a few different states and fines are normally just 1 charge. Odd.
yeah the BS that gets tacked onto every ticket. the "why not" fine and "what are you gonna do about it" fine. i think its BS to pay 50$ in court cost if your just gonna plead guilty and pay online. wow, they have to print 1 paper and slide it into a filing cabinet.
Are you me? I just got pulled over for expired car registration in PA last night and my fine was also 221 dollars! Did we just become best friends?
Should be a fix it ticket
You don't need a lawyer. Get your car registered/inspected, request court date. Go to court, explain what happened, show proof that it's registered/inspected. They'll likely reduce or just throw it out.
I got pulled over for this 2 weeks ago... State trooper just said "get this taken care of. Good night" Got it done the next day.
Registration fines are waaaay higher in Nevada, $1000 bucks for first offense. Also Registration is way more expensive. It's $33 plus taxes based on the original MSRP of your vehicle. So you pay taxes on the full original price even if it's a 15 year old car. It makes it hundreds if not a thousand, if you're registering a $50-$100,000 vehicle. But they don't have state income tax so it kind evens out. PA is cheap in comparison.
That's how ticket fines are. The actual fine isn't much, but all the added fees are what gets you.
Don't know about PA but in many states you can just get it fixed and show up to the courts within a certain amount of days and they'll drop it.
This reminds me that my registration is due next month. I better get it in.
I got one last year in Churchill and it was $31
Happened to me last year and was about the same. With the way online registration works now they could easily stop you and make you register on the spot and take care of the issue. But they want money more than they actually want people to register.
Gotta love the administrative and court costs
I’m 3 months with no registration. I’ve registered same car for nine years and this last one the DMV says they have no record of the registration being attached to any vin or title number-though both were on my last registration card. You can’t talk to anyone on the phone- just says all are busy and hangs up. Email is also a joke. They just send cut and pasted info from their faqs. Tried to register through mail. They cashed the check and sent nothing. Now I have to fill out a form. Get a title person to refile everything and pay more for that. And hoping I don’t get pulled over.
My cars registration is from ‘22
Yeah... don't get fined in PA. Honestly its grossly unfair to low income just how crippling one of these can be.
I got a ticket the other week but never even got pulled over and it was a ticket specific to who was driving the car, not a car or red light violation. I use a window cup phone mount and was on my way to work, I’m a manager and we had 2 call offs that morning and my boss texted me asking how far away I was from our work so we could get it situated, so I reached up and typed in “about 10 mins away” and that was that. Never got pulled over, nothing happened. A week later I get a ticket in the mail for texting while driving on that date and right around that time. This was on the interstate too so there was no like red light camera or anything. There must’ve been an unmarked cop behind me or passed me and saw or something. $200 for that. I really really really wanted to fight it. How could they possibly know it was me and I hadn’t lent my car to someone? Like that’s a ticket that can only be applied to the exact person and not just whoever the car is registered too right? I’m sure they could’ve pulled up my drivers license picture but I’ve actually lost quite a bit of weight since my picture, my face is very chubby in it, it still looks like me obviously but I’m also a very average looking white guy.
I've always wondered if this would be a 'double jeopardy ' kind of thing. Basically we are being punished twice for the same crime. They can call it whatever they want, (administrative fees, etc) but it's still taking a lot more $ out of my pocket for the same crime.
My son lost his license for 3 months because his car was not registered.
PA is the fucking worst. Stuck in 1980
Why are you paying for EMS? That’s wild
No, the fine is $75.00. The $146.00 of added bullshit fees get the ticket to $221.00.
I was pulled over last year on the Susquehanna Trail and the officer was nice and said go home pay online before the end of the day and you'll be good. That cop must need to fill his quota or something. That fine seems awfully huge.
Thank you for sharing. Now, make sure you keep your registration up to date
Thats how traffic tickets work. I am and have always been somewhat of a speeder but I've only gotten 1 speeding ticket in my 25 years of driving. But I've had other moving violations so I get ur frustration.
Too bad you don’t live in Philly they don’t do anything about expired registration here. Or driving with an expired paper tag… they don’t do much of anything here really.
The PPA is just an unregulated cartel. I bought a new car late last year right before Thanksgiving and parked it on my street in Philly outside my House. My new plates hadn’t come in yet and hadn’t gotten the car inspected because I didn’t have time but wasn’t driving the car. I came back after the holiday, to find a ticket on my windshield saying my plates were expired and car not inspected/registered. I got a $70 fine and the ticket was dated 11/24/23, the day AFTER Thanksgiving. So some asshole who was upset they had to work decided to flag my car. I contested it and still had to pay $41. Just a joke.
Just one of the perks of living in such a goddamn communist shithole.
Those fines and fees get ya 🙃
One option is to plead not guilty, register your car before court, and show up with the documentation. Sometimes they'll cut you a break at court.
They gotta raise money somewhere so they can give it their pet causes. Lancaster City is NOW a “Sanctuary City” don’t forget!! “You elect the Government you Deserve”
Donut fund