Re: [A/S] Digest Number 2396

[chasgould@xxxxxxx]

Actually, Massachusetts does allow a temporary swap of plates under certain  
circumstances. First of all, you must have purchased the new vehicle from a  
licensed dealer, and second, you must have traded and surrendered the old  
vehicle to that same dealer. In these circumstances, you are allowed to attach  
the old plate onto the new vehicle for a period or five or seven days, I can't  
remember which. I do not know if this is available with trailer, but it does 
not  matter as he did not buy from a dealer or trade his old trailer in to the 
same  dealer. Mass is very strict, as are most eastern states, and if he was 
stopped,  he would have had some trouble to deal with, even though many of us 
have done  this at one time or another. He is correct that he is a properly 
insured  operator under his tow vehicle policy and that simply swapping tags 
would not  likely allow the insurance company to avoid paying a loss to someone 
who was  injured, but it is still illegal. By the way the dealers cards that you 
see on  cars in Georgia and other states are allowed only for licensed 
dealers whose  cars are being used for test drives, or as a temporary tag after a 
sale for a  limited period of time.
Chas