Tonight I elected to take my wife, mom, and brother for a ride in the 1986 Brazilian DC. We headed out north of town and were slowly approached from behind and in the other lane by a Nebraska State Trooper. We were going plenty slow as the KPH speedo doesn't work and so I noticed the trooper slow down, then slowly pass me, then he tapped his brakes and started slowing down. Uh oh! I assured my wife this is normal when you drive a VW as I've been pulled over more times in my VWs than in any other vehicle I've ever driven.
Sure enough, as he tried to get between me and the vehicle that was tailgating, he kicked on his lights and I pulled over beside our Ace Rent to Own store. As he approached, I said, "I bet you've never seen one of these before." (trying to be jovial) He asked for my driver's license and other paperwork and of course I had left it at home. I had gotten the truck titled in our names, but left the plate on. That is a big no-no in Nebraska although okay in Kansas and Iowa evidently. I was asked to step out of the DC and stand out front while he read the VIN plate behind the driver's seat. I was able to procure Matt's registration that was still in the glove box so he took that back to his car. I was asked to get back inside the vehicle and I waited a long time. I ended up with a warning for ficticious plates as they need to come off when you buy it and when he ran the plate, it came back inconclusive. (he was curious when he saw it on the road and had to run it no doubt.) I also had no bill of sale or title with me and normally I have it with me but this time I didn't (momentary lapse of reason.) The trooper explained that he ran a background check on me and I had a clean record so he was cutting me a break and saved me over $148 in fees. I thanked him and shook his hand. So we all went home our tails between our legs. I took the plates off and took my warning to the local PD to have them sign me off. The officer asked for proof of insurance, but I pointed out the warning didn't ask for that...only bill of sale/title and to make sure I took Matt's plates off. I was informed that in Nebraska, you have to have insurance immediately upon ownership of the vehicle. Interesting because the law used to give you 30 days. I thought maybe the officer would give me a ticket for no insurance, but he just informed me and cut me loose. So tomorrow, Enid and I will get the proper paperwork taken care of so our next forray with law enforcement won't be so on-the-edge. Ah the perils of driving a rare vehicle. NQ _______________________________________________ vintagvw site list [email protected] http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/vintagvw
