My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: California (CHP)
Hello, I live in CA and my mother lives in OR. When my stepfather passed away in '03, my mother added me to the pink and reg for a Dodge Caravan that he drove. My mother is quite elderly and has lived alone since then. I travel up there several times a year, and on occasion, I will drive the van, especially if I have several large items to take up or bring back. There are times I leave the van up there, and fly or take the train home, and vice-versa, as I have two other vehicles for my personal driving in CA. The van is necessary up there, as I have to do quite a bit of work around the property, and her Toyota Celica is worthless at Home Depot. The van is a 1987 that was originally purchased and reg'd in CA. They moved up to Oregon three years later in 1990. The van has been registered in Oregon since then, over 20 years. I have never been pulled over in either OR or CA in this van until recently, when I was pulled over by CHP for no seatbelt. The Chippy told me that since I had a CA drivers license and an address in CA, he was going to write me up for no valid CA registration on the van. I briefly outlined the above for him, but he was having none of it. He told me that there is no point against my driving record. I could reg the vehicle in CA and pay a small fee to process the cite - or, pay the entire fine and do nothing. It was just the state's way of getting their money, one way or another.
My mom just recently renewed the reg on the van, and in Oregon, it's for 2 years. I can't honestly see the vehicle lasting 2 more years. With 260k miles on her, each trip up and over the Grapevine gets a little more miraculous. I figured this would be the last reg before retiring the van, but now CA wants me to go through a process to register it here. That van is an Oregon vehicle, and I don't think this is right. What can I do here? Court date is the 18th of Dec. The van is pink'd, registered, and insured under BOTH my mother and my names. I am aware that I can sell the vehicle or scrap it. Neither of those options appeals to me, as it becomes the state of CA who then dictates when a private asset must be retired, instead of the private party. Any help appreciated!

