Out of province vehicle getting a VI
 

Can a vehicle registered and insured in another province get a VI in BC? I was under the impression if it's in BC it has to play by BC's rules but some people seem to think they immune to a VI.

Yes, they can be issued a VI.
Regardless of what they may be saying, if you operate a vehicle on the roads of BC it has to meet the rules/laws of the province it is being operated in.

Unless you get pulled over again in BC, I'd personally ignore it lol

..... Lol wut? If it's a box 1, it gets put on the back of a flatbed. So good luck with that rriggi

Because all VI's are box 1's?

sucks to the guys from Washington with front tinted window then

you know what...THIS really grinds my gears, these goddamn mva rules differing from province to province..... is Canada like 13 different countries that only happen to be on one piece of land? They really should just unify all driving rules and have one system in place /rant.

I think as long as the car don't get impounded immediately, there's no way those people will own up to it. Afterall, the licencing stuff aren't shared between provinces, or at least that was the case a couple years back.

^^ tint, no front plate is one thing

Having unsafe wheels or a windshield that might shatter at any second is another

If you think it is bad in Canada...the 50 US States can have different laws...AND every County can also have different laws. Information is shared but I'm not sure anymore what kind of info is shared these days. Out of province drivers who get tickets get asigned a BC 'licence number' so the data can be entered in the system. The same may be so for VIs? If the vehicle fully complied with it's home province/state regulations and you were on a short legal holiday, then it would be unlikely you would be issued a VT...eg Alberta car with no front plate. Major concerns would likely NOT be let go...eg bald tyres, suspension mods, etc.

If you get a #1 VI you get towed on the spot...doesn't matter where you come from. #2 requires you pass an inspection within 30 days...so if you have a short visit and/or are not caught after 30 days in BC you might get away with it. If you are=$598 VT, #1 and tow job. #3...they are not entered in the system..but if the same Cop sees you have not fixed the problem...then a #2 or #1 could be issued.

^ good info, thanks. The car in question belongs to a student from Sask and got a VI for being too low, I'm not sure if it's a 2 or a 3 though.

IF it lacked ground clearance it should have been a #1 and therefore would not still be driving around, waiting to get caught or not. :).

Not to mention that some places like Montreal do not allow right turns on red light. It's like you have to read up on local driving rules too just to make sure you don't do something illegal.

The car looked to be quite close to stock height actually, so I have a feeling there's more to the story.

RCMP by ubc waved me through after seeing my plate was from another province. Was driving a subaru with 2.5 inch exhaust super loud. I did end up buying a silencer to avoid any potential problems

If he's a student and he's staying here for a bit, it'd be in his best interest to just get it inspected and decal in place. If he get's stopped again (maybe by the same cop, since you said there might be more to it), he's probably going to get a Box 1.

Of course one should familiarize themselves with the rules when traveling to different provinces and countries. Not only that, one should at least acquaint themselves with the customs, so as not insult the locals. To expect things to be same across the board is just ignorant.

Dude, I mentioned one specific example of how Montreal is one of the places that does not allow right turn on reds whereas most of the rest of Canada allows it. I did not mention anything about customs and that everything should be same across the board. I was specifically talking about traffic laws and not local customs.

Single solid line in centre of the road,...in BC...pass if safe...other provinces same as double solid. Many differences from province to province.

My point is, when one is in a different province/country, it should be expected that they've familiarized themselves with the rules (traffic laws or otherwise).

When you say:
Of course you should.

From what I have experienced and heard, plates from US such as CA or WA are left alone because the car is considered legal from where they reside.

My own car which I had at the time, has 35% tint all around and no front plate. Nothing has happened to me, on either side of the border. The police did not pull me over; Or ask me anything about the car for the drink and driving counter attack roadblocks. Maybe because my car is stock looking because I didn't mod the cosmetics of the car such that it grabs attention.

Oh yes, this is true. The tint laws for instance is a good example. WA and CA are different WA allows 24% VLT all around while CA allows 70% VLT front sides, and any% on rear sides and back.

CA are more strict and have pulled CA plates over for this. It often happens because people want to go darker and want to have the all around look.

As for my car, even thou it's 35% all around, it's within the legal limit of WA since it's about 24.5% VLT +/- 5 tolerance.

Full listing of all states below.
Tint Laws
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For US, l am not sure if this is still applicable, but Federal Law (which supersedes state law) saids that if the import/foreign import cars which were not designed to have front plates, it's not required.

This differs than US made cars is not applicable since they have by design a built-in license plate mount.

Anyways, any reasonable officer is not going to ticket out of province cars for tint, front plates etc etc

If cops in Canada ticketed every car visiting from the US for no DRL's, shit would go down.

For US, l am not sure if this is still applicable, but Federal Law (which supersedes state law) saids that if the import/foreign import cars which were not designed to have front plates, it's not required.

This differs than US made cars is not applicable since they have by design a built-in license plate mount.


So, if a LHD car imported from England with headlights facing towards the left side of the road, is imported into Canada...and BC, it does not have to install right facing headlights....because that is a BC Provincial standard? Funny...I had to replace my headlights...and install side reflectors...that were not on the car as it came from the factory in England.

The requirement for plates is actually that you must display all the plates supplied to you. Since Alberta only gives you one plate, they're fine to run one plate in BC. If they started handing out two plates they'd be required to run both in BC.

So, if a LHD car imported from England with headlights facing towards the left side of the road, is imported into Canada...and BC, it does not have to install right facing headlights....because that is a BC Provincial standard? Funny...I had to replace my headlights...and install side reflectors...that were not on the car as it came from the factory in England.

It does have to meet the legal requirements, like the headlamps so it does make sense. I guess I did not quite clarify foreign/import as I didn't quite mean personal import, therefore that was a good example you pointed out.

I mean cars which are made from a foreign country which are manufactured to the designated market specificatons (ie. Lexus).