Dear Mahatma: At a stoplight I noticed the car ahead of me with a paper temporary tag from APRIL. The next week in a parking lot I saw one from MAY. Aren't these just good for 30 days? -- Jane Ann
Dear Jane Ann: We communicated with the chief communicator of the Department of Finance and Administration. His name is Scott Hardin.
Hardin reminded us that after 30 days the temporary tag is expired. Kaput! So said Lili Von Shtupp in Blazing Saddles. (Hardin didn't actually make this reference. He's a grownup. We, on the other hand ... )
The 30 days, by the way, is from the date of sale. After that, the owner will owe a penalty of 10 percent on sales tax and $3.00 for every 10 days up to the full price of a yearly registration. Law enforcement is responsible for writing citations for expired tags.
Good Morning Sir: It's frustrating to drive around town and see all the expired car tags. I realize our police force has more important things to do, but the revenue the state is missing out on is unbelievable. Is there anything that can be done about this? -- Richard
Good day to you, dear frustrated reader. Expired tags are among the most griped about things we have experienced over the past decade of writing this column. One reader in particular has sent in numerous photos of the same yellow car with expired tags. For at least two years. Good gravy.
People who feel really, really strongly about this can get the information off the expired temporary tag. Also the make and model of the vehicle. Then contact the city attorney's office, make a complaint, and ask that an arrest warrant be issued. The warrant will wind its way down to the city police who presumably will serve it, right after they solve all the murders, robberies and burglaries.
If anyone out there has actually done this, please report in.
Dear Mahatma: Does law enforcement ever actually ticket people who drive around with an expired temporary tag? -- Frustrated
Dear Frustrated: Back to Scott Hardin for this. We have learned over the years that the Department of Finance and Administration's Office of Driver Services has a database of all sorts of traffic violations. Maybe this database could tell us how many tickets were written in Arkansas for expired tags in 2016. With this number, readers could be assured that law enforcement gives a darn about expired tags.
Did someone say darn? Hardin reports that expired vehicle tag citations aren't listed on an individual's driving record. And so the database doesn't have that, um, data. Oh, darn.
For some reason we are compelled to add another quote from Blazing Saddles: "Mongo only pawn in game of life."
Vanity plate seen on a new Impala: HADA64. Personally, we had a 1963 Impala. It came with The Most Beautiful Girl in the World. The car is long gone; the girl has stayed around.
Fjfellone@gmail.com
Metro on 09/02/2017