On the Road Again

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Q: I have a fleet vehicle and was told to renew the licence plate sticker on the vehicle I am driving, which I did at the service kiosk. Last year it was just sent to me in the mail without my having to do anything. I'm hoping you can settle an argument for me. Whose responsibility is it to renew the sticker, the company that owns the vehicle or the driver? What does the law say or where can I look it up?

A: Vehicle registration is first and foremost the responsibility of the registered owner. Fleet vehicles are typically registered by the Ministry of Transportation to a company name or a numbered company as the case may be, and assigned or leased to employees of the company for their business, and often personal, use.

Part of the ministry's registration process does require a valid mailing address that, at the discretion of the company, could be either a company address or the address of the person who normally drives the vehicle. All licence sticker renewals are sent in care of the registered owner to the registered address on file.

Often companies leave the renewal task to the employee who normally drives the vehicle, however under the Highway Traffic Act it remains the registered owner's sole responsibility to ensure the licence sticker is current and valid. Any person can apply for a renewal sticker but they will need to provide proof of insurance and pay the required fee in order to have a new sticker issued.

While the owner company bears most of the responsibility for ensuring the vehicle has a valid sticker, drivers of fleet and company-owned vehicles need to be aware, should the police stop the vehicle bearing an expired licence sticker, Section 7 (1) of the Highway Traffic Act kicks in and both the driver and the registered owner can be charged with an offence for operating or permitting the operation of a vehicle with an expired permit (sticker).

While there are no points for this violation, the fine for both the owner and driver is $115.