This from
Ed Edwards Summary of the Senate Subcommittee hearing on HB1323
1 Win 1 Loss
In short, we will be able to title and register our HMMWVs and military vehicles as personal vehicles, HOWEVER we will be unable to have the safety inspection after July 1st, 2018. Therefore, no inspection means no use of standard plates. For those that want the new Former Military Vehicle tags for the purposes specified in the rules, then it will work just fine for their purposes. HMMWVs and military vehicles that are old enough can be titled as an antique, with all rules and regulations of the antique tag.
Get your HMMWV or military vehicle safety inspected in June.
I personally believe a couple of months after this supposed notice goes out on July 1st, vehicle inspectors will forget or simply be uninformed on these safety inspections. Keep in mind that these state inspections will technically be void, despite having them.
A special thank you to those that went today,
Austen Schwendnd, Kelly Cobean Cobean, David and Rhonda Glass Glass, Richard Tatum, and Daniel Urban.
Today in Richmond at the capital building we voiced our concerns on proposed HB1323. Austen Schwend was the rallying voice of our group and laid down the reasons why the current wordage of this bill would be detrimental to our ownership of HMMWVs and military vehicles. Senator Yancey originally sponsored the bill with the aid of the Captain Ronald C. Maxey, Jr., Safety Officer in charge of Virginia safety inspections. Originally this bill was designed to assist people who bought military surplus vehicles such as 5 tons, deuce and a halfs, and HMMWVs to register and title their vehicle. The version of the bill that we were against today would have revoked all current titled military vehicle registrations on January 1st, 2019 and forced everyone to re-register their vehicle as a Former Military Vehicle (FMV). This bill would have been detrimental to many HMMWV and military vehicle owners in VA who use theirs as a somewhat daily driver. This bill would have made it practically illegal to drive a HMMWV or military vehicle for business reasons, errands, work, school, etc. This plate would also restrict driving to 125 miles and to and from specific events, parades, etc.
1 Win
We were able to have this bill amended to remove the part where the DMV would revoke registrations and force re-registration in 2019. This bill would also clarify that a HMMWV and military vehicle can be registered as a personal vehicle with plates and titles corresponding. HB1323 kept the creation of a new FMV plate, with all the rules and regulations to follow. HMMWVs can also be titled as an antique vehicle with all rules and regulations to follow.
1 Loss
Despite now having the clarity of a HMMWV and military vehicle registration and how it can be registered, the pompous Captain Ronald C. Maxey, Jr. vowed to make a memorandum throughout all safety inspection stations that HMMWVs and military vehicles would be rejected any inspection sticker as it did not comply with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) of the year it was produced. Maxey also seemed to contradict and make foolish assumptions of law. He believes that the date of manufacture is the day the HMMWV or military vehicle was sold to the buyer, therefore, you would have to comply with all FMVSS of the date that you bought the vehicle. Maxis continued in saying that we would not have a problem if AM GENERAL sent out a statement saying something along the lines of all HMMWVs comply with FMVSS of the date of manufacture.
Summary:
Personal Use Plates
-You will be able to register and title military vehicles with personal use plates
-Despite being able to get a title and registration, you will be unable to get a safety inspection.
Antique Plates
-If your military vehicles is over 25 years old you will be able to register your military vehicles as an antique
-All the rules and regulations of a normal antique vehicle.
Former Military Vehicle Plates
-Many of the rules of a FMV plate are similar as antique tag regulations.
-No age requirement of vehicle
-Limited to 125 mile “pleasure” trips (Antique is 250 miles)
-$100 registration fee (Antique is $50)
-Punishment for not following the rules will be the same punishment as abusing antique tags
- Punishment for abuse of a antique tag is
“Any owner of an antique motor vehicle or antique trailer registered with license plates pursuant to this section who is convicted of a violation of this section is guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor. Upon receiving a record of conviction of a violation of this section, the Department shall revoke and not reinstate the owner's privilege to register the vehicle operated in violation of this section with license plates issued or authorized for use pursuant to this section for a period of five years from the date of conviction.”