Event Coverage MN Hambers State Bill to restrict use to weekends

State bill HF 3865 being debated on this Monday, will restrict any car not licensed with a normal license , to be used ONLY on weekends. This affects cars with collector plates and any other plates that we old car guys use. Check it out on the MSRA web site, or Facebook. They have the info on who to contact. I have contacted all the state reps. plus the people mentioned on the web site. We cannot let them do this to us for NO reason. ACT NOW!!!

 

OMG, do these people never stop? My roots are in Minnesota, I don't even recognize the place anymore.

 

With the given wording, it leaves the option of issuing a ticket to the police officer at the scene, and an actual fine to a judge at a court if your vehicle plating falls under the listed specific plates.

However, it sure sounds to me like originally they only allow vehicles under specific plates to be 'solely as a collectors item and not general transportation purposes. Operation as a collector's item includes
1) transportation for a collector vehicle club activity (then as I understand it, those club activities include) exhibition, tour, parade, or similar use.
2) operation on Saturday and Sunday from sunrise to sun set.
This wording does not appear to have been changed.

It sounds to me like if your vehicle is plated under the cl***es of plates listed, you probably were not suppose to cruise around on those plates except on day light hours on weekends to begin with. Maybe you need to change how your vehicle is plated.

They did eliminate all of the driving privilege for cl***ic motorcycles by changing the definition of a cl***ic motorcycle. Their bold printing, not mine, and have a line drawn through all the old allowed driving allowances that used to be allowed. That indicates that those things were what changed in the law.

They can do the same thing by changing the definition of a cl***ic car.

 

WOW!....I've said it before and no one wanted to believe me, they will ultimately legislate us off the roads.

 

Seems like there is/should be more important issues to deal with than the very small percentage of collector cars, and the driving habits of their owners.

 

Don't know what the fees are in other states, but in Tennessee, it cost me $29.00 per year for regular plates with no restrictions. It's the same price for my OT later model truck and the same price for my daughter's very late model Buick.

 

This is why I run a p***enger plate on my rod. The p***enger plate costs a little more, but has no use restriction.

 

I am not familiar with MN laws, so this is a clarifying question. It may not apply to many here, but is something I've seen in other restriction laws. There is no mention of having the car serviced which I have seen in other similar laws. Say you need a windshield or an alignment or other regular shop work. It's something reasonable usually included. Can't always get it done on Saturday, which is for the 9-5 people who can't take time off.

 

The MSRA is against it, so it can't be good for the hobby.

 

Here in IL we have an Expanded-Use Antique (EA) plate, which restricts old car usage from Dec. 1 to the end of Feb.

Even then, you can drive the car to shows and stuff, or to shops to get stuff worked on.

Up here in N. IL, pretty much everyone parks their stuff for the winter anyway.

The rest of the year you can drive that old car as much as you want, without restriction.

$45/year.

Prior to IL creating the EA plate, I ran a regular plate on my '68 GTO.

 

The language is the same in Texas but it isn’t enforced. No sane cop is going to pull you over to ask if youre driving to a show or working on their car. If you are pulled over just say you’re working on your car and testing your repairs. Most cl***ic car insurances have similar language on their policies. Again it isn’t enforced.

 

I wish mine were that cheap, here in Memphis my tags for my OT truck was $168 and my wife’s car is that plus another $35 for the Autism Awareness plates.

But your laws read the same as ours but nobody enforces them even after the federal takeover. At best they just wave at you and might ask what year is it whenever you’re sitting at a red light

 

Without seeing the exact language under the various subdivisions, I'd guess this is aimed at early restorations like br*** era up to 1939. My reasoning on this is the 'sunrise to sunset' restriction as the OEM lighting on most of these cars can be pretty poor, not to mention poor brakes and handling. 1940 and up can use modern seal beams. Did somebody get creamed in a restored model T?

As to the motorcycles, it appears to me that they're removing all restrictions of use, reducing the 'cl***ic' term to simply any bike over 20 years old. I'm sure there's a ton of those out there.

Then again, this may be a simple revenue grab, forcing you off the cheaper cl***ic plates onto pay-every-year regular plates.

 

You live in a county that hasn't added on a wheel tax. You're lucky. Regular tags in my county are $69. I run the special interest tags. I've run them for several years with no problems but blue dots might get you pulled over.

 

It's fun reading about how little folks understand what is actually happening

Did anyone actually look up what the current law says? The internet lets you do that.

 

We're hoodlums . We don't need rules.

All mine are tagged for normal driving. No worries. I drive them all the time.

 

I don't mean to be the prophet of doom but, I find it really troubling when everyone p***es it off as " It's the law, but they don't enforce it." This is where it all starts!. The noose doesn't tighten until they knock the box out from under your feet, but the noose is already in place.

 

As noted, just put regular plates on your car if you want to drive it daily. Maybe it costs a little more but then any restrictions go out the window.

I have collector plates on my current car mostly because I'm lazy. You only renew them every 5 years.

 

The law really needs to be amended. To my way of thinking it's almost unenforceable unless you or the cop are really being ***holes. Too many events happening during the week. I have Minnesota street rod plates on my coupe (avatar) and collector plates on my 40 Ford and 53 Dodge p.u. I have been running both for years and have never been bothered. If they intend to kick the box out from under us (lothiandon1940) we need to support the MSRA and get it straightened out to work for both sides. If not put on normal plates for $55.00 per year.

 

I kept my Buick in regular plates because of the restrictions. Since there are a few later model cars local to me that run collector plates, I decided last Friday to do collectors plates. Perusing the internet that evening had me seeing this proposed legislation.

If it p***es and they start enforcing it, I will go back to regular plates I guess. I really want to run a set of 1950 plates I picked up last year, though.

 

I register my OT 1960 VW with Maine antique plates. Although there are mileage and use restrictions, I don't have to put it through an annual inspection.

 

It's always about the money. Somebody figured out that the state gets no income from collector plates, after the initial purchase, so it's an attempt to force people to buy renewable plates. The thing they DON'T understand, is the loss of income from businesses, if the "collectors" aren't allowed to use their vehicles for "transportation." That should be pointed out to them, by the MSRA, and other groups in MN.

Here in WI, a few years back, they also made a few "tweaks" to the licensing laws. It was changed to read something like collector plated cars should have no modifications, and there is a hobbyist plate for that. I've run collector plates on my '39 Ford (it's got some mods) since the 80's and have never been stopped.

 

In some states like Washington, you can run an original plate from the year of the car as long as it (30) years old. Could be wrong on the year, and you pay for two years license fee and it's good for the duration of your ownership of the car. This means that you can leave the car in the garage for two years and then just drive it whenever and it's still legal. They did just amend this to say that you have to have proof of insurance on another normally licensed vehicle while driving the 30 years exception vehicle. I guess this is to try and force people from using this loophole to avoid licensing fees.

 

I’ve turned in “vintage” plates before. The limited miles listed seemed way to low.

 

Plenty of rotted to the door handle mid 90's trucks running year around with collector plates on.
I can see it to get more road tax from something like this.
Maybe a redefine of a collector is in order.

 

That's the way it is here as well. I never paid for the antique tags, because I don't want them having any reason to **** with me. The savings isn't really that much here. The only advantage is you can buy a 10 year tag.

 

The way I read the article is, as with most states, day to day use is limited to club functions etc. as listed, while the weekends are open for use at the owner's discretion.