License Plate Stickers May Be Out In 2017, Or Maybe Not
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- It has become so habitual that we take it for granted -- putting a registration sticker on your car once a year when you pay the registration fee.
But that sticker is about to become a thing of the past, beginning in 2017.
During his last years in office, Gov. Tom Corbett and the state legislature voted to do away with the little sticker on your license plate.
But now, the legislature is having second thoughts about whether that's a good idea.
"We made a mistake," acknowledges Pennsylvania Rep. Dom Costa of Stanton Heights.
Costa, a former police chief in the city of Pittsburgh, says the absence of the sticker hampers law enforcement.
"Without the presence of the sticker tells the law enforcement officer a number of things," says Costa. "Number one, they possibly didn't pay the registration fee to allow the vehicle on the road. Number two, there's a possibility that the vehicle is not properly inspected because without that sticker you cannot get the vehicle inspected.
"And number three, but probably most importantly, without the sticker there may not be insurance on the vehicle," the representative told KDKA political editor Jon Delano.
Costa wants cops to continue to pull people over with an outdated sticker, but not everyone likes the idea.
"If the reasoning to bring the sticker back is to have a reason to pull people over, then, yeah, I have an issue with that. Definitely," says Jamie Mentzer of Hopewell. "I just think they should have more than a reason to pull someone over than just not paying a fee every year to have a sticker on your car."
But others say it's good, especially if it leads to catching a criminal.
"I think the stickers are a good thing," says Mark Steffey of Sewickley. "I think having them on the cars is a good thing because I think if it does alert the police that your registration is expired and if that does lead to them finding a warrant out or something like that, that's making our community safer."
The state House just voted overwhelmingly to restore the sticker, but it still awaits Senate approval.
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