Legal Question in Traffic Law in Virginia

Does the lawsection code and charge have to match on a traffic ticket?

I received a traffic ticket today because my front license plate was not attached to the front of my car. I normally just place it in my front dash because I have placed a custom plate in my front license plate holder (used to live in NC where you only needed the rear tag). It just so happens that last night I took the plate out of the windshield last night and forgot to replace it this morning.

On my traffic summons the officer notated that this was a city violation (Virginia Beach) per 21-1/42-715. The charge is listed as ''TWO LIC PLATES REQUIRED (NO FRONT TAG)''. I researched the Va Beach traffic code and found 21-1 as a generic section under Motor Vehicle Code. The ''42-715'' was not listed anywhere. The VA State code 46.2-715 is the section about the two license plate rule. Even then it only says one tag must be attached to the front. It doesn't say WHERE.

It is obvious the officer misdocumented the referencing code (or just a typo of sorts) on my ticket. Would this be something I could fight in court to have this stupid thing thrown out or should I just suck it up and pay?


Asked on 8/02/06, 8:14 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: Does the lawsection code and charge have to match on a traffic ticket?

A typo or misreferencing of the Virginia Beach Code on your ticket will not be a cause for dismissal of the charge which apparently is spelled out in English quite plain, i.e., "TWO LIC PLATES REQUIRED(NO FRONT TAG)" By your own admission you apparently had only one such plate attached to your vehicle at the time the officer was writing up your infraction.

CONCLUSION: BETTER SUCK IT UP AND PAY.

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Answered on 8/02/06, 11:39 pm


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