Should I have driven it home anyway?

That sucks.

Assuming that you could get it out of the DMV parking lot….What’s the probability of you passing a cop en route? If it’s small, probably nothing. It would only take one cop paying attention to pass you to get slammed, though, as not having a license plate is pretty easy to spot.

Impound. Very, very expensive. It’s really just as well.

You would have gotten in an accident—Murphy’s Law.

What if you had just left it there with no plates, and went back to put them back on later? It’s not illegal to have a car exist without plates, just to drive it around on city roads, and then you would not have had to tow it, though you would have to get yourself back and forth.

You may have made it but the cost is quite dear. NY State takes driving without insurance very seriously:

If you are convicted of operating an uninsured motor vehicle or permitting another person to be operate your uninsured vehicle, your license will be revoked for at least one year. The same penalty applies if the Department of Motor Vehicles receives evidence that you were involved in an accident without being insured.

Some revocations require you to pay a civil penalty before your application can be accepted for a new license. This includes revocations for No Insurance or Uninsured Accident. These violations come with a $750 civil penalty.

The civil penalty is an additional monetary payment over the normal fine amount. NYS Vehicle and Traffic law 319 notes that being caught without insurance is a traffic infraction and upon conviction you may be fined not less than $150 or more than $1500 or may be imprisoned for not more than 15 days or both the fine and jail time.

Whew! I’m glad I didn’t drive it home.

I probably could have left it in the parking lot with no plates, but I was worried that the owner of the plaza would have it towed. (Parking isn’t allowed there overnight.)

Definitely not worth it but it probably would have been cheaper to just get a ride to the DMV then have it towed. Don’t ever let insurance lapse. Even if you pay it the day before it cancels you’re covered. I never pay any bills in advance. That only serves their books not mine.

Ironically, the insurance never actually lapsed… it’s just been in the wrong name. My parents sold me the car, but we never changed the registration. (In retrospect, that’s obviously where I screwed up.) They signed the title over to me and I obtained insurance in my name, but that was it. According to NYS, if the registration and insurance are in different names, it’s equivalent to the car not being insured. Which makes no sense to me, but hey, that’s the DMV for you.

Wow, they are seriously deep in the pocket of the insurance industry there in New York! I wonder what other industries will try to make it a legal offense to not buy their service!

@Zaku Do you live in a state where it is legal to drive without car insurance?

@marinelife: You would have gotten in an accident AND the other driver would have been uninsured as well.—-Murphy’s Law.

:-D

@JLeslie – I wish I did, but no. However, I think Washington State does not revoke your license nor imprison you for not having insurance. Here frequently officers do not even check or don’t actually cite drivers without insurance.

@Zaku Why do you wish you did? So you wouldn’t have to buy it?

@JLeslie That’s one reason. But because I think it is corrupt and wrong to compel drivers to purchase an insurance product.

@Zaku Interesting. I kind of think it is the “right” thing to do. If someone causes an accident they should be responsible for the damage. But, there are no fault states, like Michigan, not sure where else, and from what I understand everyone takes care of fixing their own car no matter who caused the crash. I don’t know if that applies to an medical care for an occupant of the cars or not? In that type of scenerio I guess a driver would not need insurance, because it is his choice for himself, it does not affect other people.

Honestly, I think people receiving a driver’s license should be required to sign a document stating they understand and accept the fact that it is possible, even relatively likely that they may be grievously injured or killed while operating a motor vehicle and that they agree to hold no one liable except in cases of criminal negligence. Then again, with our litigation-happy society, I don’t see that happening any time soon.