Expired license plates: WRAL Investigates why you could pay for other drivers' procrastination

North Carolina is home to 10.5 million registered vehicles, about one per person when compared to the population.

By law, vehicles must have yearly safety inspections and owners must pay taxes. Viewers contacted WRAL Investigates after what they perceived to be an increase in the number of expired license plates out on the road. It turns out they’re right.

WRAL Investigates wanted to know not only why more drivers are on the road with expired plates, but what’s the impact?

In 2019, pre-pandemic, officers statewide listed "vehicle regulatory violation" as the initial purpose of their traffic stops, pulling over drivers 266,000 times.

In 2022, the last full year of data available, that number dropped about 10%, to 240,000. Those stops took an even more drastic dip during the pandemic in an effort to reduce human-to-human contact between the law and drivers.

"We started to deemphasize what we call regulatory stops in 2017," explained Chapel Hill Police Chief Celisa Lehew, who said the department decided to focus on safety issues instead of paperwork policing.

"We really looked at traffic safety and doing safety stops rather than emphasizing those regulatory in nature," Lehew said.

Lehew said most drivers with expired tags who were pulled over for other moving violations will get a warning, not a citation.

Court data researched by WRAL shows that may be a growing trend. The number of citations for expired tags dropped 40% last year compared from pre-pandemic numbers.

North Carolina State Highway Patrol’s policy also deemphasizes stopping drivers just for expired tags. Other departments said police are advised to stop drivers for expired plates, but they don't excessively.

"It is important, but for our officers it doesn’t rank high on our priority list," said Morrisville Police Chief Pete Acosta.

Although it’s rare, Acosta said his officers will pull over people for just expired tags. He said it's a safety issue if driver information is out of date.

"We always don’t know who some of our criminals are who are driving down the road," Acosta said.

"Historically, there are about 20% of owners that are late," Division of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Wayne Goodwin explained, adding his DMV officers enforce expired tags but he understands other departments have more pressing issues.

Goodwin said he would like to see enforcement of expired plates moved back up the priority list.

"I would like to hear more from them about what we can do together to ensure that the law is followed," he said.

Statistics provided by the DMV show late registrations are a growing problem. Renewals within the 15-day grace period are up 24% since 2021. Late renewals after that grace period are up even more, at 28%.

With a portion of registration paying for road construction and maintenance, Goodwin said procrastinators create budget problems.

With the state’s tax and tag program, counties and municipalities are also left with budget holes when taxes are late. In Wake County, late taxes and tags mean approximately $30 million annually in revenue not coming in when expected, if at all.

Money is one issue to Goodwin, but so are the missed safety inspections.

"It’s quite a hazard if the tires are not the way they need to be or something faulty elsewhere with the equipment," said Goodwin.

Both are issues that could impact drivers who follow the rules. A safety violation on one vehicle could cause a crash and damage other vehicles.

A shortfall in road maintenance could impact something as simple as filling potholes that can pop tires or knock off your alignment.

Despite the potential hazard, Chapel Hill’s chief said their focus remains on speeding, reckless driving and DWI — which make the roads safer rather than chasing expired tags.

Lehew said it’s going to stay that way.

When WRAL News asked if officers have the discretion to pull someone over for expired registration, Lehew responded, "No. They cannot. Only a warning."

Late renewals and property taxes do come with fees and interest.

Last year, North Carolinians spent more than $30 million on fees and interest for procrastination. The late registration fees go to the state Department of Public Instruction.

Interest on late fees go to the state’s highway fund, while interest on late property tax payments go to the county where the vehicle is registered.