Colorado city could strengthen penalties for some drivers without license plates
It's not uncommon to see vehicles with expired tags or no plates at all in Aurora. The Aurora Police Department has already increased enforcement. Now a city council member wants to get even tougher on drivers who think they're above the law in Colorado.
"There isn't a time that I go out on the street where I don't see at least three or four cars with no plates," said Robbie De Jong, who runs an online community group for stolen vehicles. "If I have to do it, so does everybody else."
This month, Aurora City Council Member Stephanie Hancock will introduce a proposal to crack down on vehicles with expired registrations and with missing plates.
Under the new proposal, vehicles without license plates will be pulled over by Aurora police. If a driver also can't produce a valid driver's license, and insurance, the vehicle will be towed and impounded.
Mayor Mike Coffman says it's the first in a series of steps that Hancock is working on to help with the compliance and enforcement of the state's motor vehicle registration requirement.
"I appreciate council member Hancock's leadership on this important issue, and I will continue to support her efforts on enforcing the vehicle registration requirement because having so many drivers who have stopped paying their annual vehicle registration fees is unfair to everyone else who does," said Coffman.
Aurora police tries to enforce the massive issue. The Motorcycle Enforcement Team is focused on these violations this summer.
Lt. Chris Carleton with APD's Traffic Investigation Unit says it would take all their resources to pull over every vehicle on the road without plates.
"When they have the time to be proactive and make those steps, we're asking them to make those steps," said Carleton, who says the problem has skyrocketed since the pandemic. "A lot of folks are just like, 'Oh, I forgot, or my husband takes care of it.' Some of them say they just don't have the money to do it."
Carleton says a lot of cars without plates aren't stolen. Thieves don't want the attention of driving without a plate.
When pulled over for not having a plate, Carleton says a driver usually gets a ticket to appear in court.
"We let them keep on rolling until they get to court and take care of it," explained Carleton.
While many are hopeful the proposal to impound vehicles will encourage drivers to get plates, Carleton says there are drivers who simply can't afford it.
"It might not be any kind of influence for them because they wouldn't have the money to get their vehicle out of the impound either," explained Carleton.
In the first week of their summer registration crackdowns, police issued more than 75 summons.
