Evening star., 1920-03-14

Every state is watching constantly
for ways to improve the motor Fe'iio'
laws, especially as REGARDS iicens'"s
of cars. Most states haxe wen ee-
fined system of registration ou' tnere
10 always room for Improvement
california is the latest to make
change this year.
The Golden state for number OF
wears has been following a plan that
seemed to be a Eood one. a iic.o od
number was issued to car owner anu
that number was permanent. Each
wear the owner would send ms lee 10
tho superintendent of the motor We
hicle department and new SEQ
would be issued. This would De at
tached to the plate in posl,ioh pr
yided for that purpose ana IN tnis
vav a car could be Identified quite
easily as having: a new or old Incense
r'his plan disposed of the costly sys-
tom of buying new tags each year
and appeared to be all right.
Sees Need Of Better Laws.
There came a time. though. when IT
was proved that a better system OIL
repistration could be followed. Au-
tomobile thieves became busy IN the
state. especially in Los Angeles ana
San Francisco, and with the pelma
rent license plan it was easy Ior
thief to beat the game. He did not
have to appear personally for IL
cense or make any thorough state
ments as to ownership. In this way
once a license had been issued on
car it was easy to obtain ne" sea,s.
The thieves having supply OF IL
cense plates always on hand, these
plates being issued legally coulo oe
Used on any stolen car.
Take, for instance, a thief VINO was
ir the business of stealing Fora;
Buick and other such cars. he Wouiu
buy tag for a Ford. tag for Buick
and SO on. These would be bonafide
purchases which he could back up at
any time by showing the car ne
owned. He then would take the Ii.
cense for his Ford, if he intended
stealing a car of that make, go OUT
and drive away the car he wanted
switch his own plates to it and be on
his way Without a complete record
in the hands of the state or the po-
lice it was next to Impossible 10 ue-
tect the theft, because it would ap-
pear from the license number that the
rogue was driving his own car. a..
plan used in Michigan and other states
Discarding the permanent NUMBER
which always remained in the posses
sion of the original buyer. the state Is
nroyidinR for new set OF pidees eoch
wear. In the event the car, is solo the
| license goes with the car instead OF
remaining in the name of the nrst pur-
chaser. The new buyer pays the Zee
for the remainder of the year. Which
| is divided into quarters. the man VINO
| sold the car is refunded by the state
! for the period he did not use the an
nual license.
Another Feature Explained.
! Another interesting feature or the
law is that a man who changes his
fplace of residence must notl1y the mo-
tor vehicle department of such change
within ten days. Failure to 90 SO con-
stitutes a misdemeanor, and the guilty
marty may be prosecuted in court by
the state. While this adds a great dea
~ detail to the registrars work. 1t is
a matter worth considering, for 1t per
mits Of an immediate check on the
owner Of a car in case his vehlcie mas
fipured in a serious accident.
A certificate Of registration is issued
for each car. 1t contains the owner $
name and address, date issued, Zee paid
,e9istratio number, make OF car. year
built. type Of body, number OF model,
engine Rumber. number or cylinders,
bore. registered horsepower and own
er's signature A metal ceRtainer is
nroyided by the state, this container
being tackled in the drivers compart-