A North Texas police department recently ticketed a man for driving a truck without plates, however the truck in question was part of a test drive. It seems the cops and area dealerships are reportedly butting heads over proper dealership tagging protocol for test drives and innocent people are getting caught in the crosshairs.
Needing a new car, Daniel Rocha walked into Longo Toyota of Prosper, Texas to check out a new truck, ABC 8 reports. He ended up test driving the truck but minutes into the test drive police pulled Rocha over:
“When he stopped me, he asked for my driver’s license and said the reason why I stopped you is because you don’t have a license plate in the back,” Rocha explained. Rocha received a citation for “Operating a Vehicle Without License Plates,” and he claims the officer suggested that this was an ongoing issue with the dealership.
The cop explained to him that cars test driving without proper plates has been a problem, so much so that the police had been getting on the dealer for it. Apparently since the dealer wasn’t listening, the cop told Rocha that “we’re going to start citing the customers.” In a statement, the Prosper Police Department confirmed the ticket and even cited the reasoning and law for it.
Failure to properly display dealer tags on test-driven vehicles is a violation of Texas law and can pose safety risks, potentially resulting in enforcement action by law enforcement. Under state law, vehicle operators are held responsible for any citations if this law is ignored.
Dealers are usually supposed to issue what’s known as a demo plate for a test drive. In Texas, they’re called an authorized agent tag and “can only be used for test drives, loaners, road tests and transportation to and from the auction, another dealer, or service.” Had the cop been cool, he could have just simply taken the man back to the dealer for this tag. Rocha says the officer seemed to imply this kind of ticketing was a regular occurrence along the street he where he was stopped.
The dealer disputes the cops claim that tag less test drives are a common occurance. In a statement to ABC 8, a general manager for the dealer confirmed Rocha’s ticket, but said that this was the first time something like this had happened to one of their potential customers. “We recently became aware of an issue during a test drive, which we are actively working to address and resolve.”
Now, Rocha is left on the hook for the ticket. He says that the dealer did offer to reimburse him for the ticket cost, but that reimbursement was in the form of a discount on the truck. The dealer general manager denies this. Suffice to say, the only good guy here, Rocha, didn’t buy the truck. It’s all just more that he has to deal with as Rocha recently lost his son in a car accident in August. “It does upset me that I’m in the middle of this feud that’s going on,” he told ABC8.