Car Troubles
It has not been a good couple of weeks for my cars.
About a month ago, my 1992 Saturn developed transmission problems. I didn’t have the money to fix it, so I had to buy a used 1994 Subaru. I went in a few weeks ago and got insurance for the new car and registered it in my name. The Saturn was parked in a parking garage for a few weeks, but I moved it to the street about two weeks ago.
The day before leaving to go to the SBL, I got a message from the insurance company stating that my insurance had been canceled because I had a suspended license in Maryland. This is an error, because my license in Maryland was never suspended. But because my insurance is canceled, they will also be revoking my registration on the Subaru.
I had this same problem when I traded in my Maryland license for a Massachusetts license. They told me that I had outstanding speeding tickets on my Maryland license, which is not the case. I have never gotten a speeding ticket in my life. When they showed me the record, I pointed out that unlike the person whose record they were viewing, I am not a 5′8″ black man (it’s obvious that I am taller). But despite what their eyes told them, I had to get an official document from Maryland stating that I was not the Kevin Wilson in question.
Apparently this same problem has come back to haunt me again. I now have to get the same document from Maryland again and try to sort the whole mess out before the revocation goes into effect in two more weeks.
But the car troubles didn’t end there . . .
Last Wednesday, I got back from the SBL meeting. While riding the taxi back from the train station, I passed the spot where my transmissionless Saturn had been parked for two weeks. It wasn’t there.
I called to police station, and they confirmed that it had been towed. They first told me it had been towed because Massachusetts license plate number 955 GGJ was expired. I pointed out that my car didn’t have Massachusetts plates; it is registered in Tennessee. They then claimed it was towed because it violated a city snow ordinance that says cars must park on alternate sides of the street on alternate days. I looked up the law on the Internet, and it said that snow parking does not go into effect until December 15th. So, I called back. They now said my Saturn was towed because it had been parked in the same place for over 36 hours. Apparently, being parked in the same place with out–of–state plates is cause for suspicion. So, they ran the plates (as TN plates) and they came back expired, even though my plates are not due to expire until next June. After multiple phone calls, I finally established that Tennessee has not sent their updates to the national database since the last time I renewed my registration.
So, I am stuck with the towing bill as well as a week’s worth of storage. Due to Thanksgiving, I couldn’t get the matter cleared up until today, but the private business the police paid to tow and store the car was still charging me for each day. The city of Lawrence refuses to pay it because they say it was not their mistake. And I have been advised that the only way to get Tennessee to pay for it is to take the to court, which I can’t afford to do.
Whoever said that state and local governments are more responsive to the people than the federal government obviously never dealt with the Department of Motor Vehicles.