“Validation Improperly Affixed”

My son got charged with "Drive motor vehicle validation improperly affixed". We have a sticker attached to the ownership, and had one on the plate. I followed the same procedure every ownership purchase for the last 32 years of owning a car. The Peel Police charged him with that and nothing else. Does anyone have any options for me to consider? Or should I just #2 and speak with the Prosecutor?

We propose we had it on my car, but it was removed. To support our theory, last week my son was pulled over in the same car (which was his first time ever) because he looked "spooked" to a Police Officer. The car had ownership and insurance, but the insurance slip had expired by a month. The new one was in the centre dash but he didn't know that. He got charged for only that. We expect that to get tossed. If he didn't have the sticker on the plate then, he would have gotten a ticket by this picky perticular Officer.

Haven't seen jsherk around in a while, so I'm gonna take a chapter from his book.

I suggest you plead NOT GUILTY and request a trial with the officer present. Once you get your court date, request disclosure and review the officers evidence. That's the only way you can properly defend yourself. After reviewing the disclosure, you can call the prosecutors office and request an early resolution meeting.

On a side note - was the sticker placed on both the back of the ownership as well as the TOP RIGHT corner of the license plate? Those are the two places they need to be. If not, it is a charge. The charge was for "affixed improperly" which means that the sticker was there, but not in the right spot. If it was in the right spots, this case should be a slam dunk.

UnluckyDuck wrote:Haven't seen jsherk around in a while...

That is very true, wonder what's keeping him away

I hope the officer was not simply looking for cash grab situation, because if the ticket was issued for "incorrect placement" that is what it is IMO.

And yes, we all no the cash does not go to him, he is following orders...

UnluckyDuck wrote:On a side note - was the sticker placed on both the back of the ownership as well as the TOP RIGHT corner of the license plate? Those are the two places they need to be. If not, it is a charge.

They don't. You only need a sticker on your plate. Although it's probably best to just put it on both to avoid any hassle.

UnluckyDuck wrote:On a side note - was the sticker placed on both the back of the ownership as well as the TOP RIGHT corner of the license plate? Those are the two places they need to be. If not, it is a charge. The charge was for "affixed improperly" which means that the sticker was there, but not in the right spot. If it was in the right spots, this case should be a slam dunk.

Based on some new wording in the HTA, the sticker no longer needs to be placed on the back of the ownership, only the plate. There is some case law (non-binding) that supports this. Based on the OP's post it sounds like there was no sticker on the plate which would still be illegal. Not sure how being stopped a week earlier is a defence.

Stanton wrote:

Based on some new wording in the HTA, the sticker no longer needs to be placed on the back of the ownership, only the plate. There is some case law (non-binding) that supports this. Based on the OP's post it sounds like there was no sticker on the plate which would still be illegal. Not sure how being stopped a week earlier is a defence.

I think what he is trying to say is, the sticker might have fallen off the plate at some point between the two stops, If the sticker was not there the driver would have received a ticket for this violation at the same time as the insurance infraction, the fact that he was not charged is proof it was there. (just trying to decipher OP wording)

Quite often that charge is laid because the driver talked himself into it, or, the driver was getting a break on something else so the cop laid that charge which is no points. If the validation sticker is missing, it would still come up as valid when the cop ran the plate during the stop. If the plates came up as being valid, but the sticker was missing, then it is likely someone stole the sticker to glue onto their plate to make it look like they have valid plates. The number on the sticker on the back of the ownership is the same number in the middle of the validation sticker on the plate and can be entered on to cpic as lost or stolen. You will need to go get a replacement.

did this change,

I recently got my sticker, and on the instructions is clearly states where to put the stickers, on top/right number plate and on the back of the ownership

bend wrote:

UnluckyDuck wrote:On a side note - was the sticker placed on both the back of the ownership as well as the TOP RIGHT corner of the license plate? Those are the two places they need to be. If not, it is a charge.

They don't. You only need a sticker on your plate. Although it's probably best to just put it on both to avoid any hassle.

bobajob wrote:did this change?

Nothing changed. It has simply been decided that failure to put the sticker on the registration does not put you in a law-breaking situation.

waddya_know wrote:Nothing changed. It has simply been decided that failure to put the sticker on the registration does not put you in a law-breaking situation.

That's incorrect, the law actually changed a few years ago. You were actually required to affix the sticker to your permit until July of 2012.

The regulation for vehicle permits used to read (emphasis added by me):

It now reads:

screeech wrote:Quite often that charge is laid because the driver talked himself into it, or, the driver was getting a break on something else so the cop laid that charge which is no points. If the validation sticker is missing, it would still come up as valid when the cop ran the plate during the stop. If the plates came up as being valid, but the sticker was missing, then it is likely someone stole the sticker to glue onto their plate to make it look like they have valid plates. The number on the sticker on the back of the ownership is the same number in the middle of the validation sticker on the plate and can be entered on to cpic as lost or stolen. You will need to go get a replacement.

Thank you for the explanation, this is great peace of info.

This actually explains the purpose of having that little sticker that you "should" attach to the back of ownership, it simply helps to show that you did have a validation on your plate but some how (stolen or fell off) is gone missing.

Now, I have a question, HTA says you can not drive a car unless the permit is validated. If I have validated the permit but it was stolen and I was stopped and the officer runs my plate and verifies it was validated, do I still get a ticket because the sticker is not attached for one reason or another?

Observer135 wrote:Thank you for the explanation, this is great peace of info.

This actually explains the purpose of having that little sticker that you "should" attach to the back of ownership, it simply helps to show that you did have a validation on your plate but some how (stolen or fell off) is gone missing.

Now, I have a question, HTA says you can not drive a car unless the permit is validated. If I have validated the permit but it was stolen and I was stopped and the officer runs my plate and verifies it was validated, do I still get a ticket because the sticker is not attached for one reason or another?

Yes. If the permit was valid but the sticker was missing you could still be charged under the same section as the OP (in fact it's basically the same situation as the OP alleges). Now if it was legitimately stolen and you were unaware, you'd have to convince the officer or the Courts of that. You'd have to demonstrate some evidence of due diligence in periodically checking your plate for the sticker and/or replacing it ASAP upon learning it's missing. For instance, if it is stolen and you report it to the police, it's not carte blanche to drive around for several months without replacing it. Unfortunately many people fabricate stories about why their sticker or missing (or even better why they have one when they shouldn't) so police won't always take you at your word without some fact checking or supporting evidence.

FYI the MTO does record the serial number on your plate sticker. So while I don't disagree it's a good idea to affix the second copy to your permit, police can still verify that you have the correct sticker on your car even without it.

You see, this where I find this a bit a bitter pill to swallow.

I never check my plates to make sure the sticker did not come off or some one did not steal it, never...

The only time I ever look at it is when I get the new one and clean the old one so I can make sure the new one is on there securely.

So if anything happened to it, it could go months un-noticed.

At the same time, I know what you mean, police get all kinds of song and dance excuses and have heard it all.

So there is no simple way of determining who is be hones and truthful and who is blowing smoke. I think HTA should be revised to include some sort of guidance in this regard to provide better tools to the officers in making a determination when an offence should be issues if an when it has been verified the validation was purchased.

I seen to recall for similar type of offences police had the discretion of giving 48 hours grace period to the driver to bring proof to the police station and he/she would cancel the ticket, if not, the ticket would stand and driver would have deal with it in court. I don't think this is happening any more, no idea why, but if you ask me, it was a great way to weed out innocent people from having to go to court and tie up the system.

ooh let me go re-read mine

Stanton wrote:

waddya_know wrote:Nothing changed. It has simply been decided that failure to put the sticker on the registration does not put you in a law-breaking situation.

That's incorrect, the law actually changed a few years ago. You were actually required to affix the sticker to your permit until July of 2012.

The regulation for vehicle permits used to read (emphasis added by me):

"A permit for a motor vehicle shall be validated by means of evidence of validation provided by the Ministry and affixed in the appropriate space provided on the permit"

It now reads:

"Evidence of validation not intended for the number plate may be affixed in the appropriate space provided on the permit for the vehicle"

bobajob wrote:ooh let me go re-read mine

The vehicle validation sheet you get from ServiceOntario with the two stickers remains the same. It'll still give you instructions to place the one sticker on the back of the permit, and then instructions for the plate sticker on personal/commercial vehicles.