From: "Carlos A. Alvarez" <carlos@theriver.com>
Driving is a privilege. How many times have you been told that? The key is that "driving" is defined under the law differently from how you or I use it. If you are merely "traveling" in your private conveyance, you are not "driving", and you have a RIGHT to do it.
For the privilege of driving, you must pay. You must register your vehicles, pay a yearly extortion fee so you don't get harassed on the highways, submit to and pay for vehicle tests, and obtain a license. All of this has for more value to the state for the purpose of tracking you than any supposed improvement it might make in highway safety. Even the most incompetent idiot can get a US driver's license.
Some of you who know me, know that I've never had a driver's license. Well, a few years ago I did get an international motorist permit, for convenience when I don't have time to argue with the cops. You too can obtain this, and foreign ID, for about $100. Now there is the matter of car registration. For my RX-7, the yearly fee is nearly $300 (this year, it goes down each year), and the one-time extortion for the purchase would be about $650. I decided I wasn't going to be part of this scheme, and did not transfer the registration when I bough the car. Of course, this makes me a very visible target for the road pirates.
The solution? I just paid $200 to register my car for FIVE YEARS in a foreign country. One that goes out of their way to refuse to exchange any information with US authorities. The car is untraceable, the registration can't be suspended or messed with in any way. Likewise for the foreign "license."
I've greatly increased my privacy while saving nearly $2000.
Many people ask whether this is "legal." I guess it depends on which layer of law you want to believe. The Supreme Court has upheld the right to travel issue a number of times. But there are state statutes that require you to register your car and yourself within the state. When in doubt, the Constitution wins.
You could argue the legal issue, but the cops will probably give you a ticket. You can then take it to court, but most people don't enjoy that as much as I do. The easy way out is to simply NEVER admit to the police, if questioned, how long you've been in the state. Remember you have a right not to answer any questions. Period. You can be asked for license and registration--then SHUT UP. If asked, you can respond with questions, say you refuse to answer, or whatever, but don't answer. A friend of mine very politely says, "With all due respect, sir, I prefer not to engage in any conversation with you. All the information you need is right there, and that is all the information I am required or willing to provide."
Simple, and non-confrontational. In fact, mor people should just say NO to police questioning, searches, and other intrusions. If they have probably cause, they can get a search warrant. Don't believe the bullshit line that it will "go easier on you" if you cooperate. Don't let them intimidate you; they are trained to do that, and are trained to use all sorts of psychological tricks. Don't fall for it.
Now, if you are still cited for failure to obtain local registration and/or license, this is easy to beat in court, and you probably won't have to even show up. I've been cited for this. In both cases, I mailed in a motion for dismissal due to lack of evidence. I noted that the officer had no evidence to support his contention that I had been in the state for any period of time, and that the burden of proof was upon him. I also mailed in copies of my foreign documents. In both cases I was given a dismissal in the mail.
It is unlikely you would be cited for this, however. In both cases, I had time to kill so I told the cop that I had these documents specifically so he could not track me, intimidate me (threat of license suspension, insurance rate increases, etc.), and that he could go write all the tickets he wanted, but they would make no difference. He can't attach them to my "license" since it is untraceable. He can assess no points against it, and if I blow off the ticket, nothing he can do about it. Oh, I also mentioned that his little $100 ticket might seem like a lot of money to him on his ublic servant's salary that *I* was paying, but it was barely an hour's work for me. With a little more finesse and tact, you probably would not get cited like I did...
Up next, when I have a little more time, my court cites on the driving "privilege" issue.
-- Carlos Alvarez, Tucson, AZ, USA, Earth, Sol System, Milky Way Galaxy http://www.neta.com/~carlos
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it lay on its back and float.