Police often use an expired inspection sticker as the basis for a traffic stop.
Massachusetts car owners must have their vehicles inspected every year.
If your car fails inspection, the inspector will put a red “R” sticker on your windshield, and you’ll have 60 days to make the necessary repairs. See 540 CMR Section 4.07(3)(b). (The repair period is only 20 for motorcycles.)
Can police stop your car during that 60-day grace period if they see the rejection sticker?
It depends.
If the officer has access to a mobile data terminal (MTD)–which is standard in most cruisers–he must check it before initiating a stop. If your rejection sticker is less than 60 days old, he cannot lawfully stop your car. For the applicable case law, see Commonwealth v. Jones, 100 Mass. App. Ct. 600.
Nevertheless, there’s also case law that allows police to stop any vehicle with a rejection sticker–even within the grace period–if the officer does not have access to an MTD.
According to the Appeals Court,
unless the information is available by computer in the police car, the officer cannot know if the sixty-day grace period has expired. Therefore, there are reasonable grounds to allow the stop in both cases.
See Commonwealth v. Rivas, 77 Mass.App.Ct. 210, note 10.