Is putting your own child in a vehicle that has an expired state inspection sticker and driving it a crime?

[russharv63]

Jurisdiction

Virginia

I live in an apartment building in Virginia and one of the tenants in another apartment has a two and 1/2 months old expired state inspection sticker on his vehicle. He is driving it and also places his one year old in the vehicle and drives it around town. Is this a crime of child endangerment or what?

 

[justblue]

I live in an apartment building in Virginia and one of the tenants in another apartment has a two and 1/2 months old expired state inspection sticker on his vehicle. He is driving it and also places his one year old in the vehicle and drives it around town. Is this a crime of child endangerment or what?

No, not based solely on what you posted.

 

[EeeeekitsaMouse]

This sounds like you have some sort of axe to grind with your neighbor and you're looking for a way to get him in trouble. Why do you care about an expired inspection sticker? Are you checking everyone's inspection stickers?

 

[justblue]

px hx.

 

[Zigner]

I live in an apartment building in Virginia and one of the tenants in another apartment has a two and 1/2 months old expired state inspection sticker on his vehicle. He is driving it and also places his one year old in the vehicle and drives it around town. Is this a crime of child endangerment or what?

Really? How does an expired inspection sticker endanger the child?

 

[EeeeekitsaMouse]

Really? How does an expired inspection sticker endanger the child?

It doesn't. It just really bothers the inspection sticker policeman and keeps him up at night. It must be quite hard to struggle with such turmoil. Perhaps Officer Inspection Sticker should branch out and start checking the neighbor's trash to make sure he's separating his recyclables, too. Of course, Officer Inspection Sticker doesn't break any laws himself. Wouldn't want to risk breaking any of his own glass walls.

 

[Tax Counsel]

West Virginia Code Chapter 61, Article 8D covers the crimes that fall into the category of child abuse. There is is no separate code for child endangerment. My link is to the table of contents for Article 8D. You can see just by looking at the titles of offenses that driving a kid around in a car without a vaild inspection sticker doesn't even remotely come close to being a crime in West Virginia. Simply having an expired inspection sticker by itself puts no one in any imminent danger. All she'd be guilty of is the failure to have the car inspected, which on a first offense results in a fine of approximately $100. And, of course, she'd need to get the inspection done to avoid more serious penalties in the future, and that will cost some money too.

Whatever beef you have with your neighbor, reporting this kind of crime to exact your revenge won't solve your problem with the neighbor and, frankly, comes across as very petty. Talk to your neighbor to attempt to resolve whatever issue you have in a way that you can both live with. Unless what the neighbor is doing or not doing that upsets you is itself a crime making reports to the police about minor infractions won't solve your issue. Instead it's my experience that doing that actually makes the problem worse because the natural reaction of most people to that kind of petty behavior is return it in kind — then you both get into a battle in which the only thing accomplished is generating revenue for the local government off the fines both of you end up paying.

If what the neighbor is doing that you don't like isn't illegal and attempts at resolving it with the neighbor calmly and rationally doesn't work, you're left with two realistically feasible options: (1) move away so you don't have to deal with it or (2) grin and bear it and hope the neighbor will move away at some point.

 

[zddoodah]

Is putting your own child in a vehicle that has an expired state inspection sticker and driving it a crime?

I'm not in a state that does state inspection stickers, so I'm not completely sure about the significance of one. That said, I assume it is a crime (albeit a minor one) to drive a vehicle with an expired sticker whether or not a child is also in the vehicle.

I live in an apartment building in Virginia and one of the tenants in another apartment has a two and 1/2 months old expired state inspection sticker on his vehicle. He is driving it and also places his one year old in the vehicle and drives it around town. Is this a crime of child endangerment or what?

So, this is just an idle curiosity?

I would hope it obvious that having an expired sticker does not pose a danger to anyone (adult or child). Also, despite my unfamiliarity with the state inspection sticker process, I have to assume that the expiration of the sticker does not somehow magically make the car unsafe to drive.

Without looking up the applicable statute, I assume that child endangerment would only apply if the vehicle being driven were actually unsafe for some reason. I also assume that the adult operator of the vehicle would have to have actual or constructive knowledge of the dangerous condition (i.e., he would have to know or have reason to know of the condition).

Do you know or believe that your neighbor's vehicle is actually unsafe for some reason?

 

[adjusterjack]

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