Motorist gets vehicle registered online during traffic stop

[911SC Pilot]

NORTH BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) In less time than it took a North Brunswick patrolman to write a ticket for an unregistered vehicle, the driver got his car registered online Thursday.

When officer Jason Zier pulled over a 1992 Mazda 626 on Thursday afternoon, the vehicle's registration had expired. By the time he'd finished writing up Sean Leach for the infraction, the car was legal again.

That's because the 36-year-old Jersey City man had a cell phone, a friend with a computer who he could reach and the foresight to use the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission's online registration service.

Leach's ingenuity did not save him from getting a ticket, but it did keep him from having his car towed and getting socked with the towing bill.

Zier pulled Leach over on Route 130 after noticing the sticker on his license plate was expired, the Home News Tribune reported for Friday. When Leach told Zier he had not gotten around to renewing his registration, the officer mentioned that drivers can register online, North Brunswick Police Department spokesman Capt. Donald Conry said.

Leach took the renewal form the commission had sent him from his visor, which contained the access code he needed to renew. While Zier issued the summons and ordered the tow, Leach called a friend who took his credit card number and other information and renewed the registration for him, Conry said.

When Zier came back with the ticket, Leach told him the car was now registered. The computer inside Zier's patrol car confirmed it.

``It's immediate,'' Conry said.

Zier canceled the tow truck no longer needed since it was to tow an unregistered car off the road.

[cowtown]

I guess this begs the question: If it's that easy, why didn't the moron register his car online before getting pulled over? It would save his time and the cop's time.