Drive reader Nancy was recently heading north on Penn Avenue from Crosstown Hwy. 62 to 50th Street in south Minneapolis and noticed expired license tabs on the vehicle in front of her.
She eyed a few other plates and they, too, had expired tabs ranging from two to eight months overdue.
"I certainly considered tab renewal to be mandatory and enforced, but it appears that, like speed limits, paying is discretionary," she said in an email.
Drive reader Pam said she's also seen lots of vehicles with expired license tabs from 2021 and 2022. "Is it no longer required that we renew our yearly car tabs?" she asked.
Several others also have contacted the Drive in recent months, wondering if non-compliance is becoming more frequent.
State law requires vehicles driven or parked on public streets to display tabs showing the month of expiration in the lower left corner of each plate and the year of expiration in the lower right. Some vehicles are exempt, such as those owned by the government, nonprofit charities when used for specific purposes, and some collector vehicles.
The number of vehicles with expired registrations is fluid, said Dave Boxum, a spokesman with Driver and Vehicle Services. Motorists delay renewing registration for many reasons, such as when a vehicle needs repairs, is in storage, is being held for resale, he said. Others simply didn't realize the tabs were expired.
A registration period runs 12 months. Vehicle owners renewing anytime during that 12-month period owe the entire registration fee for the year. There are no prorated rates and there are no penalties for renewing late, Boxum said.
