Ohio License Plate Laws (suck!)

That`s what I was thinking. I have never had a problem in Clark County and I drive my cars to work & back all the time. As long as you`re legal and sane not much they can do..


Going to the swap meet Saturday, Carl?

 

theres always a malcontent somewhere wanting to muck up the works for someone, it gets you boiling mad and @#$#%$^&**

 

rebstew187, I think you better read the Kentucky statute on YOM plates. It clearly states the YOM plate must be a Kentucky plate. Running an Ohio YOM plate on a car registered in Kentucky will get you a deserved ticket or possibly arrested. The statute is #186-043. Running an improper tag in many cases is worse then running no tag. In most states running an improper tag is a felony. My 62 wagon is registered in Kentucky with a Historic tag but spends a lot of time in Florida. I was going to run a 62 Florida tag until I read the Kentucky statute. The longer I think about it YOM plates are no big deal. I think I'll just run the Kentucky Historic Tag.

 

Guys, the girl at the dmv told me when i got my historic tags(with my 64 vintage plate add on)that i should be able to run either set at any time with no problems. When they run one or the other both plate #'s show up in my name for said car. She just said you shouldnt be running historic plates everyday(daily driver). I have ran both sets on and off with no problems, ever.... It was way easier than i thought it would be to run vintage plates. I HAVE EVEN HAD COPS TELL ME AT THE FILLING STATION, THAT IT'S PRETTY COOL HOW WE ARE ALLOWED TO RUN THE OLD PLATES. MAYBE WE JUST HAVE COOL COPS, AND TROOPERS AROUND HERE.

 

sound fishy to me. what are they writing the ticket for? whats the infraction? the only restriction on hitorical plates even when using model year plates is the car can't be your primary transportation. there isn't a mileage limit or law restricting when the car can be driven. you must have a primary car that does not have historical plates.

 

NO State will let you register a YOM plate(s) from another State in that State. It must be from the SAME State as the vehicle is registered. This is the case in EVERY State that allows YOM registration, period, dot. Nothing to "interpret" here, it's illegal, end of story.

Please work on your punctuation and capitalization, your post was downright painful to read!

 

ask 10 cops, and they'll all tell you something different about the situation.
cops vs DMV, and now your in for a world of headaches.

neither one knows what the other is doing in Columbus, and they both contradict one another.

good luck!!

 

Bringing up an old thread due to an occurance yesterday that left me feeling a little helpless.

Got the `55 out to take to work for the last cleanup of the season and had a car back out of a driveway in the darkness and wound up spinning the car around to avoid him and caught a small tree with the left fender/bumper. Not much damage but still sucks.
The offending driver asked if I was hurt then proceeded to beg me not to call it in but there was a lot of property damage so I dialed the phone as he left the scene with me reciting his license plate to 911. They got him later and he admitted blocking the road and having a suspended license. At least he had insurance.

The State Trooper came and I had settled down enough to calmly explain what happened and he took my statement and pics of the scene.

Here`s where I started getting that helpless feeling. After looking at my drivers license, Historical plate registration, Year of manufacture plate registration and physically producing the historical plates he advised me I was breaking the law "general driving on a historical plate" and was issuing a citation to me.

I countered with the "maintenance drive to work for detailing" line and this was the second time the `55 had left the garage this year so he put me through a stern warning and citing the plate restrictions a second time before letting me go.

Today I went to the DMV to get a clarification on the law and they stated "to and from car events" I stopped a local city officer and he stated the same thing after looking it up in the computer.

According to the Ohio law, if I want to take the car to get gas or wash it, I`m illegal. The car cannot move on a public street under any other circumstances other than shows and car events.

Now I know it would take a real hardass State guy to not talk your way out of it but the situation seems totally rediculous and has me more than a little concerned. The county and city officers are cool unless you`re an idiot but a law IS being broken and possible $100 fine per occurance is possible. Same with collector plates.


Anyone got any imput?

 

I got a ticket (along with 4 other people) at the Mopar Nationals in 2002 while we were sitting in traffic on Brice Rd.

"Failure to display a front plate."

We are all from Florida...they only give us one and request we put it on the back.
Cop did not want to hear it and said we require both plates in Ohio.

A 15 minute discussion with his Lt. solved that problem really quick.

And you could be taking the car to clean the treads off or coming back from same, going to or coming back from showing your car to somebody (everybody that you pass), getting an estimate on some work you want done on it, etc etc.

And I don't run YOM plates because they are white with green numbers which would look like crap on this...

 

Dang if all you can use them for in to shows and events,whats the use ? Just for looks,ain't worth the hassle. Run your regular plates on the car,drive it all you want and if you go to a show or event slap the plates on when you get there. If you know you are breaking the law and get stopped for it you deserve what you are asking for. Come on down to Fla. our cops don't know what a warning ticket is.

 

From what I know here in Ohio, registering the plate from the year of the car is the same as Histarical plate, In all Ohio it is not legal to drive these registered cars as everyday drivers. They ar intended for parades, events, and only during day light hours, However no one enforces it, except in your case for this Over zealous cop. Techinicaly he is not wrong. Its just one of those laws.

 

Texas is awesome for YOM plates. They register just like personalized plates, so there's no second "historical" plate - the YOM plates are it. I can register the car two different ways - if I register it as an "antique", it is exempt from yearly inspection, but my driving privileges are limited to parades, shows, etc. If I register it as "classic", I have to get it inspected every year, but have no driving restrictions of any kind... drive it as my daily driver if I want. You can still get "historical" plates here if you want, but YOM plates are well covered here in the law.

I've done YOM plates on my former '68 Camaro, former '67 Austin Healey and about to do it again on my '35 Ford, and the police have never given any of them a second glance.

~Bob

 

well there is a way around getting picked up just buy a regular yearly plate for 45.00 bucks

 

It's an ancient thread but I think you nailed it. There is either one guy who is looking for an excuse to write tickets or one who hates hot rods, customs or old cars in general.

I can see getting a ticket if you blatantly drove the car to work year round and used it for work at times. Or if it was a truck used it to haul stuff besides a piece you hauled home from a swapmeet/show. Sometimes we are our own worst enemies though, we want the privilege of having yom plates but also want to drive the car way beyond the guidelines that the state set for using them.

 

Why dont you call the DMV or drive your car there & do some research before you get all upset. Know the law and you will be able to drive your car. its an easy fix buddy

 

Same as above, you must have your current plate and also have the matching plate's ### on the registration in Ga. But Ga's pretty cool about it. I've never heard of no one getting pulled over or anything. I think you can do up to 72', which wouldn't affect us.

 

If you are responding to my post please read it again. I had all of the right paperwork and registrations done correctly AND did my"research" at the DMV. Also approached and questioned a county deputy and city officer so I`m getting all of the info and clarification of the law that is available. I just cant` believe I`m illegal driving it to put gas in it.

As far as paying $45.00 to relicense the car, it`s a little more than that plus having to do the same with the remaining cars in our collection. If it was one car I wouldn`t have a problem other than having to run a front plate and not getting to run a year of manufacture plate. The yearly cost wouldn`t make sense as some of these cars rarely get driven.
I`m illegal just warming them up around the block!

My post was to see if anyone else had discovered a solution or had experience with a fine or defense of a fine in OHIO only.

Thanks.

Bill

 

Well I know ARIZONA's easy. Been running a YOM plate for a few years now, no other plate needed. Drive anywhere, anytime.

Damn fine Dart there, Dave!

 

I'm lucky, I run a YOM plate on my 53, but 1953 was the only year that ohio didnt have matching front and rear plates. It was the 150th anniversary of statehood, and the front plate that year varied county to county and so forth.

 

With all the bullshit going on in the country about old car registration I would think making an issue out of something like this is doing more harm than good. Get a set of regular plates, put them on your car, drive it. Problem solved. Spend your time helping to change the laws that make it hard to register cars in this country. Something everyone can benifit from. I couldn't care less if people don't know what year my car is, the people I hang around with know.

 

yeah i understand what your saying i own four cars with antique plates up here in toledo suburb. i drive each one to a show or rod run every day during the spring and summer months. never been stopped in any of them. your cops must have a hard on for old cars or you. go to dmv get the laws and follow it. man iam glad i dont live there.

 

Kentucky to me has the most reasonable YOM plate law there is. You can run a YOM plate providing its a Kentucky plate with no charge. All you have to do is have a current plate in the vehicle. I've never been stopped or hassled in all the years I've been in Kentucky. I'm sure our law enforcement officers have more important things to do then hassle people with old cars.

 

Only a "Stick up the ass cop" would issue such a chicken sh#t ticket for that. I would ask the officer did you join the acadamy and the force to protect and serve your community and keep it safe ? or did you join to issue chicken sh#t tickets and harrass non criminals here in our community ? How the hell is my license plate hurting anybody there Barny Fife ?

 

I wonder what the OP experience has been in the 6 years interviening since his orgianl post. Did the Dickhead cop ever write you a ticket, did you register the car in another fashion, are you still runining YOM plates???

I have been running 46 plates on my 46 car since 2000. I have driven the car from central NY to NC, Virginia, Vermont, Detroit (through Canada) Pa, MA, Delaware, NH,
never even been looked at crosseyed by the police. One new fellow pulled me oer for not displaying a front plate, but when I pointed out that NY has run both single ad dual plate systems, and the 46 is one of the single plate years, and that it was in the vehicle and traffic laws, he went back looked it up and I was on my way.

NY specifies occasional pleasure usage, and does restrict historic/yom registerd vehicles to 2000 miles per year. Go to your state's website, you should be able to download and print the sections of the vehicle and traffic laws that pertain to special registratios, and keep it in your vehicle. When in doubt shut up cooperate with the constable, take the ticket, then go to court of call the DA. In all likely hood the ticket will be thrown out. After all in OHIO even if you drive your old car everyday in the summer with the crappy weather the other 9 month of the year its still occasional use............

 

I passed a state trooper on Sunday afternoon in my slightly OT 66 Buick convertible in Beavercreek, just outside of Dayton. I was doing nothing wrong, i.e. running the speed limit, signalled when turning, etc. The trooper pulled behind me in the gas station and asked about my car and where I was heading... Not thinking quickly, I thought it was a "I just wanted to look at it"-stop. I told him I was on my way to Young's Dairy with my family for ice cream. He then asked for my license, insurance, and registration, at which point I asked him if I did something wrong. He then told me that I cannot use my car with historical tags (not YOM, the ugly brown and white ones) for that purpose. I told him that I did not wish to argue or debate, just to become more educated as I have multiple cars with historical tags and would like to know what the law states. It took him a few minutes, but he showed me in the book on the hood of his cruiser that it does state " car with historical tags can only be used for parades, shows or club events, not general purpose transportation" or words to that effect. It has nothing listed for a mileage limit, etc. He ended up giving me a lecture about how people buy the historical tags to avoid paying registration fees and a written warning. I think it was a slow day for him, he was out of donuts and coffee, but he was doing his job and by description, I was using the car beyond the limits of the law. I have 3 cars that I drive regularly with historical tags and have done so for the past several years. I think I will consider the money I saved by not buying the normal (ugly) tags a bonus and will buy the daily plates for the cars when my others expire. Though, I do wonder if I would've said that I was meeting my car club for ice cream at Young's dairy, if he would've given me any grief or a warning.

Andy

 

I've seen your car out and about, though I don't personally know you... As seen above, I did get pulled over by OSP on Sunday for that one offense at Indian Ripple Rd. and 675, so I'm not sure if this is a trend.... What part of town are you in?

 

You guys have hit the crux of the issue, the cops are saying you are not supposed to be out just riding around in your car if it has historical plates or YOM plates on it. Most States that issue these spell out that you can only use the car for parades, club functions, car shows, or to go for maintenance purposes.

I would think that saying you just did some suspension work on the car and are out testing it would be a legal defense, or something to that effect. (It has been running badly and I have been changing parts to find the problem, etc, etc.) But if you have a car full of buddies and they are all munching on burgers you picked up at the local McDonalds, it might be a problem. You might also say you heard of a car show in some nearby town that you are going to check out, or to talk to some business about hosting a car show for your club. (wouldn't that be a club function?)

Mostly, it depends on the cop you get too. I have Sheriffs and cops pass me all the time and have no problems, but if you get a Barney Fife type you might be in trouble.

Don

 

Been running year of manufacture plates since the mid 80's. I even changed the color to match my body. No one will know what color these old plates are suppose to be.
Anytime I'm driving I am going to a car show if anyone asks.
Hell, everytime I get into my cars its a car show for everyone else.
And yes it is nice not to have to buy registration every year.
My day may come too. I'm glad thats all the police have to worry about in this day and age.

 

I've never had an issue driving to work with YOM plates and I wear a shirt and tie everyday, so it would be obvious to an officer. With that said, I don't abuse the issue and rarely drive to work and try to go different ways in case the same cop is on duty. If I get caught driving to work, I'll take my lumps and pay the ticket.

The only reason I can see them cracking down is now that 25 years is the mid 80's; I'm seeing rusted out Cadillacs, old pickups, and Citations with historical tags. Even the scrap man that comes around my house on trash day has historical tags on his '77 rusted out ranchero. They'll be the ones who ruin it for the rest of us.

 

I live close to New Carlisle/Fairborn area and occasionally drive my cars to work and back to exercise them(approx 20 miles) and I work at a dealership. Having the accident is the only reason the Trooper brought the subject up but it gave me something to consider. This issue isn`t about running year of make plate only the restrictions concerning licensing your car as historical.

I think from now on I will be taking it in for an oil change if stopped.
Or maybe just recently changed the transmision and on a shakedown drive before an upcoming show. I don`t think they could prove otherwise.
An improptu oil change is better than a ticket....


The paint/repairs on the `55 are completed and it`s back home safe and sound. I was lucky.