It’s something we’ve probably all done– put a new registration sticker on the license plate of a car. But it might become a thing of the past.
A few years ago, legislators changed the law to make it harder for police to pull you over for an expired registration sticker. Now elected officials are asking if we even need the stickers to begin with.
Buchanan-area Republican Delegate Terry Austin’s bill would let the Department of Motor Vehicles make those car registration decals all digital.
“This is an issue the DMV has been wanting to do. They see the benefit, value and savings," Austin said. "Plus, there’s a lot of decals that are stolen throughout the course of the year, about 60,000 a year. And there’s a better way to police this.”
Austin said enforcement for failing to register your car will still occur; if you get pulled over for another reason, like speeding, police can run your registration. He says the change will save Virginia drivers some time and the DMV money, about $2.3 million to distribute the stickers.
At the bill’s first hearing earlier this week, Austin said DMV’s over 40-year-old IT system is getting overhauled and that helped set up the agency for this proposed change, including the ability to send digital notices when your registration is due. And while Austin said younger generations may already be hip to digital notices, he said his bill could push folks in his age group to modernize as well.
“The technology is there. Its people like myself who are of an era where this is a drastic change, it's a big change for us," Austin said. "But the new generations behind us, this is how they communicate and how we should be doing business.”
The bill was advanced unanimously out of the transportation committee Thursday morning. It could be brought before the full House floor as early as next week.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.