No Tag No Insurance Problem If You Live In Charlotte

If you are a taxpayer in Charlotte you may have noticed that every 3rd car has either an expired tag, or obviously fake temporary tag. 

You may have even questioned why your neighbor has Texas plates on both his cars, in fact they are the same plate. Never mind that he said he was from New York and has a Bills football flag at his front door.

Then there are the neighbors that have Indiana tags that have a 7-2029 expiration sticker and the guy at work, who drives a Ford "MayStart" with South Carolina tags that expired the same year your 8 year old was born.

Did you know you can skip the DMV line and order your paper tags on line? 

Yes you can buy tag both metal real license plates and fake paper ones on eBay. 

In fact several West Charlotte "C-Stores" will print your paper temporary tag while you wait it's only $20.00. 

Of course the fine print says "Not valid for motor vehicles - purposes entertainment only".

So why are these people allowed to clearly violate the law with impunity?

Basically the system is overwhelmed. NCDMV is out of control and we don't have enough law enforcement to enforce the laws and a segment of our society are such low life that they just do not give a flip.

The Greater Costs to You

Not only are their license plates expired but they likely have:

No insurance

Have not paid their auto property taxes

Have never had a basic safety inspection

Additionally

It's likely ....

they have a not valid drivers license in years

they have at least one Outstanding arrest warrant

or Its a stolen car

Bonus

and the don't pay express lane fees.

So why don't CMPD and SHP light these clowns up?

Well that would be racist of course, but seriously:

Given the number of offenders CMPD Officers would not be able to do anything else.

SHP is more likely to stop these clowns in fact they seem to enjoy hearing "why are you harassing me CMPD never stopped me before".

How bad is it?

The specific number of vehicles with expired registrations in Mecklenburg County is unknown, as official state agencies will not provide this data (we've asked). 

While it's estimated there are potentially thousands of cars with expired registrations statewide, this number is difficult to pinpoint for any specific county. 

Why the number is unknown: 

Lack of Data: The N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles (NCDMV) will not release data on the number of expired registrations within specific counties.

Law Enforcement Policies: CMPD has changed their policy and they no longer allow officers to use expired registration as the sole reason for a traffic stop. This makes it harder for law enforcement to identify and track vehicles with expired plates.

What to know about expired registration:

Legality: It is illegal to operate a vehicle on public roads with an expired registration in North Carolina. 

Late Fees: The NCDMV charges a late fee for registration renewals submitted after the expiration date. 

No Insurance penalties also add up quickly.

But once you go more than 2 years the DMV can't determine your past due property taxes and they will only charge you for the current year due.

So what about the tax revenue:

There is no publicly released, specific figure for Mecklenburg County's 2024 revenue from vehicle property taxes. The county's budget reports do not break down property tax revenue by property type. 

However, Mecklenburg County's 2024 fiscal year shows that the county achieved a 99.5% collection rate for all ad valorem (real property) taxes.

For the same period, total property tax collections for all jurisdictions in Mecklenburg County (including the city and towns) surpassed $2 billion for the first time.

Property taxes account for over half of Mecklenburg County's general fund revenue. 

In other words they are "flush with cash" so your dead beat neighbor not paying his motor vehicle tax is not a big deal.

How Mecklenburg County collects vehicle taxes

The process for collecting vehicle property taxes in North Carolina is integrated into the vehicle registration system, which may explain why the data is not itemized separately in public reports. 

North Carolina's "Tag and Tax Together" program allows the NC Division of Motor Vehicles (NCDMV) to collect both the vehicle registration renewal fee and the vehicle's property tax at the same time and the NCDMV is absolutely dysfunctional.

Insurance

While exact numbers fluctuate, recent estimates for North Carolina drivers without auto insurance range from about 6.5% to 11.8%, with some sources suggesting a figure closer to 10% of all drivers. These percentages indicate that thousands of drivers in North Carolina are operating uninsured, violating state law and leaving others to cover accident costs. 

Insurance Information Institute, found that 11.8% of North Carolina motorists drove without insurance in 2023. 

A high percentage of uninsured motorists increases the risk and cost of lawsuits, leading to higher rates.

What this means to the rest of us is higher auto insurance costs 

Why haven't Charlotte, Mecklenburg County and North Carolina done anything?

Much of the reason for no enforcement is lack of resources. 

But sadly there are a lot of people who think it doesn't concern them so why care.

When Ryan Barnett @Rb__barnett who posted most of these photos asked on "X":

Why is it okay to never register your vehicle and drive with no insurance in Charlotte? 

and then added:

I would estimate that 90+% of these fake plates as I've been sharing the city is over run with them, do not have insurance

Internet Trolls like Adam Butler were quick to respond with:

Note about Adam Butler @AdamButler__ he loves to troll people and take the opposing view. 

·

But I suspect when his daughter starts driving he'll figure out that maybe getting uninsured and un licensed drivers off the road is a good way to keep drunks from killing our kids.

A few years ago my then 23 year old daughter was hit by a drunk driver in a Ford 150 with an expired tag and no insurance, an illegal alien from El Salvador that ran a stop light on 74 in Monroe. 

She was returning with friends from a beach trip in a Tahoe when he hit the passenger side at about 45 mph. She was thankfully in the left rear seat, but her bestie in the right front seat was almost killed and spent a total of 8 weeks in the hospital. She's ok.

I pray Adam doesn't get the same call I did at 11 o'clock that night. All I heard was "Daddy" and a cascade of sobbing from the biggest part of my life. 

Finally that North Carolina General Assembly needs to address this along with other crime issues. If the only people driving with expired tags were criminals look at how easy it would be to identify the bad guys. Oh wait they are criminals.