usvi-on-line
IMPORTANT!! Police to ticket rental vehicles on STJ and STT
IMPORTANT!! Police to ticket rental vehicles on STJ and STT
Looks like some of the car rental companies haven't been keeping up with the registration or inspection of their vehicles.
http://www.onepaper.com/stjohnvi/?v=d&i ... 1223613978
According to an article in the Source, Police will be ticketing vehicles "Especially on St. John."
It's my understanding that if your vehicle is ticketed while you are driving it, then you are responsible for the ticket -- although I would expect any self-respecting rental car co. to reimburse you for a ticket like this.
Not sure that this is a very good policy from a tourism standpoint. I think that the BMV SHOULD contact the companies and remind them to update the inspections and anything needed for their cars rather than punishing the tourists.
Although the article also states that they've told the police to be EXTRA polite if they give a ticket to a tourist.
I guess the lesson is to check the registration and inspection stickers on the vehicle and if they aren't up to date ask for another car.
If they don't have another vehicle I would ask for something in writing from the car rental co stating that they will bear any costs associated with a ticket like this.
Anyone else have any thoughts?
http://www.onepaper.com/stjohnvi/?v=d&i ... 1223613978
According to an article in the Source, Police will be ticketing vehicles "Especially on St. John."
It's my understanding that if your vehicle is ticketed while you are driving it, then you are responsible for the ticket -- although I would expect any self-respecting rental car co. to reimburse you for a ticket like this.
Not sure that this is a very good policy from a tourism standpoint. I think that the BMV SHOULD contact the companies and remind them to update the inspections and anything needed for their cars rather than punishing the tourists.
Although the article also states that they've told the police to be EXTRA polite if they give a ticket to a tourist.
I guess the lesson is to check the registration and inspection stickers on the vehicle and if they aren't up to date ask for another car.
If they don't have another vehicle I would ask for something in writing from the car rental co stating that they will bear any costs associated with a ticket like this.
Anyone else have any thoughts?
*Another fine scatterbrained production
I've never, ever rented a car without valid registration and inspection. Really are there really agencies that would do this...I understand a car with an out of date inspection just slipping through the cracks, but as a routine practice I just can't imagine that. Maybe I am naive.
Again, this is another good reason I stick with Conrad. He's more anal about his cars then I am with my own at home and it shows.
Again, this is another good reason I stick with Conrad. He's more anal about his cars then I am with my own at home and it shows.
Not good 
You can easily tell if the inspection sticker is current or not as it is on the windshield with a number on it as well as the month and year of expiration. For example, mine is a number 5 (for May = 5th month) on a red sticker and reads Expires May 2009. I'm not sure what color this years stickers are - I would check the number sticker on the windshield before you leave the rental car lot.
Pia
You can easily tell if the inspection sticker is current or not as it is on the windshield with a number on it as well as the month and year of expiration. For example, mine is a number 5 (for May = 5th month) on a red sticker and reads Expires May 2009. I'm not sure what color this years stickers are - I would check the number sticker on the windshield before you leave the rental car lot.
Pia
I gotta admit I've NEVER paid attention. I just assume if they are letting me leave with a car then its legally inpsected, licensed and registered.
I did get burned in Birmingham AL once though because I didn't check.
When you rent a car they ask you to check for scratches etc you assume the other stuff is taken care of.
Well in this case the car didn't have an TAGS.
That's right no license plates on the front or the back. I just didn't notice. Several days into the trip I was pulled over by one of Alabama's finest and they practically strip searched me and the car assuming it was stolen. I had my mom, aunt and 96 year old grandfather in the car with me. It was nighttime and it was scary!
I was livid. When I got back I fired off a letter to Hertz and they sent me an immediate apology and a full refund plus a free future rental.
Clearly the article doesn't identify any particular car rental company but I would imagine that it must be happening quite a bit if they are coming out and announcing something like this.
I did get burned in Birmingham AL once though because I didn't check.
When you rent a car they ask you to check for scratches etc you assume the other stuff is taken care of.
Well in this case the car didn't have an TAGS.
That's right no license plates on the front or the back. I just didn't notice. Several days into the trip I was pulled over by one of Alabama's finest and they practically strip searched me and the car assuming it was stolen. I had my mom, aunt and 96 year old grandfather in the car with me. It was nighttime and it was scary!
I was livid. When I got back I fired off a letter to Hertz and they sent me an immediate apology and a full refund plus a free future rental.
Clearly the article doesn't identify any particular car rental company but I would imagine that it must be happening quite a bit if they are coming out and announcing something like this.
*Another fine scatterbrained production
My brother was moving once and rented one of those little Uhaul trailers to pull behind his truck. He was moving from Florida to Ohio. In Georgia, the tire on the trailer went flat, so he pulled over to the side of the road. While he was waiting for help to come, a police officer stopped to see if everything was OK.
And that's when the cop noticed the tags were almost a year expired (my brother, too, never thought to check). And being that here was my brother in Georgia with an Ohio license, they made him pay the ticket before he could continue on with his travels.
After many heated discussions, he was finally reimbursed by Uhaul for the ticket that he paid. It was a big hassle, and to this day, I don't believe he has used them again.
Getting your tags renewed and keeping up on inspections is just the cost of doing business in the rental car industry.
I'm trying to remember if our last rental on St. John had a current inspection tag, but I do believe it was red, so we might've been OK!
And that's when the cop noticed the tags were almost a year expired (my brother, too, never thought to check). And being that here was my brother in Georgia with an Ohio license, they made him pay the ticket before he could continue on with his travels.
After many heated discussions, he was finally reimbursed by Uhaul for the ticket that he paid. It was a big hassle, and to this day, I don't believe he has used them again.
Getting your tags renewed and keeping up on inspections is just the cost of doing business in the rental car industry.
I'm trying to remember if our last rental on St. John had a current inspection tag, but I do believe it was red, so we might've been OK!
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Eric on St John
- Posts: 104
- Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2006 2:12 pm
- Location: St. John, VI
For years rental companies have not had to bring the actual vehicle to the Motor Vehicles Bureau (MVB) to register them.
Companies may have 20--30 vehicles to register in a month.
For nearly the entire year most vehicles are rented out Saturday to Saturday.
Initially, this was done for vehicles until they were 3 years old, but over time seemed to apply to them in their 4th & 5th year as well.
In any case, this December WITH NO NOTICE, this policy was changed & we are now required to bring the vehicles to MVB.
MVB staff have been extremely helpful in facilitating the registration process given the great difficulty. Often we can run down and have the inspection done and old paperwork stamped and go back later to have it processed. Once processed we then can try & get the new sticker in the right car with a copy of the reg. sometime when the car is parked in our spaces or on the turnaround day.
Processing an additional 685 vehicles this way is a logistical nightmare.
Maybe some companies got told, but I know at least two other companies showed up at MVB in mid-December with a stack of registrations to process to be floored with the news that we had to track down all these vehicles that were rented out somehow before the holidays.
So it should not be any surprise that some vehicles were being driven around with expired paperwork and an old sticker for a day or two (and will be in the future at the end of every month). In most cases, those vehicles had been inspected but by the time the paperwork was processed the car was out at a villa in Coral Bay for 10 days.
Generally, if you are stopped in this situation. The officer will either let you go and ask you to contact the rental company or, if you are town, follow you over there so they can put the sticker on. Rarely do they write a ticket for that on a rental car that is probably registered. A ticket written on a car that you can show you had valid registration & insurance on at the time of the ticket, is almost always dismissed by the court.
As a company that has both loaned the police vehicles for undercover work & placed the police commissioner & other brass in our villas for free when they needed to be on the island for work reasons, we are a little disappointed by the lack of notice AND now by the scolding tone of the quotes in the article. Conversely we cannot overstate how great MVB staff have been working through this mess.
After going through this with nearly twenty 2008,2007 & 2006 vehicles and having to change a grand total of ONE brake light, I think we can say this has been a complete waste of time (imho).
So you probably don't have to demand another vehicle. Just point it out in case they forgot while rushing to get the car ready and they will get it out of drawer for you, or if the paperwork is not fully processed by MVB yet, will let you know when they are able to get the sticker from MVB.
Companies may have 20--30 vehicles to register in a month.
For nearly the entire year most vehicles are rented out Saturday to Saturday.
Initially, this was done for vehicles until they were 3 years old, but over time seemed to apply to them in their 4th & 5th year as well.
In any case, this December WITH NO NOTICE, this policy was changed & we are now required to bring the vehicles to MVB.
MVB staff have been extremely helpful in facilitating the registration process given the great difficulty. Often we can run down and have the inspection done and old paperwork stamped and go back later to have it processed. Once processed we then can try & get the new sticker in the right car with a copy of the reg. sometime when the car is parked in our spaces or on the turnaround day.
Processing an additional 685 vehicles this way is a logistical nightmare.
Maybe some companies got told, but I know at least two other companies showed up at MVB in mid-December with a stack of registrations to process to be floored with the news that we had to track down all these vehicles that were rented out somehow before the holidays.
So it should not be any surprise that some vehicles were being driven around with expired paperwork and an old sticker for a day or two (and will be in the future at the end of every month). In most cases, those vehicles had been inspected but by the time the paperwork was processed the car was out at a villa in Coral Bay for 10 days.
Generally, if you are stopped in this situation. The officer will either let you go and ask you to contact the rental company or, if you are town, follow you over there so they can put the sticker on. Rarely do they write a ticket for that on a rental car that is probably registered. A ticket written on a car that you can show you had valid registration & insurance on at the time of the ticket, is almost always dismissed by the court.
As a company that has both loaned the police vehicles for undercover work & placed the police commissioner & other brass in our villas for free when they needed to be on the island for work reasons, we are a little disappointed by the lack of notice AND now by the scolding tone of the quotes in the article. Conversely we cannot overstate how great MVB staff have been working through this mess.
After going through this with nearly twenty 2008,2007 & 2006 vehicles and having to change a grand total of ONE brake light, I think we can say this has been a complete waste of time (imho).
So you probably don't have to demand another vehicle. Just point it out in case they forgot while rushing to get the car ready and they will get it out of drawer for you, or if the paperwork is not fully processed by MVB yet, will let you know when they are able to get the sticker from MVB.
Eric on St John
As our old friend Paul Harvey says..."..and now the rest of the story."
Eric, thanks for pointing out the back story on this issue. It's easy for folks to vilify the businesses when the press only reports one side of the story. I guess it would be good to make a mental note to check the paperwork and stickers as part of your walk-around before you leave the lot. It would seem more prudent to have DMV do inspections on the island a couple of days a month. But hey, that would be too easy...
Eric, thanks for pointing out the back story on this issue. It's easy for folks to vilify the businesses when the press only reports one side of the story. I guess it would be good to make a mental note to check the paperwork and stickers as part of your walk-around before you leave the lot. It would seem more prudent to have DMV do inspections on the island a couple of days a month. But hey, that would be too easy...
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Boston Mike
- Posts: 974
- Joined: Sat Dec 27, 2008 5:41 am
- Location: Boston, MA.
Pay Attention
Looks like I'll need to pay attention to that next time. Didn't even look at the sticker or anything when I picked my jeep up. 
Life begins where the land ends!
Now that I've heard Eric's side of the story, I'm wondering exactly how getting all the vehicles compliant will be possible, espcecially with it being high season and knowing most vehicles will be rented. With a lot of villa rentals being Saturday-Saturday, most of us do have the rental cars during the hours of operation for the motor vehicles bureau.
Sounds like a big mess, and I hope they work the kinks out of it soon!
Sounds like a big mess, and I hope they work the kinks out of it soon!